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CarolynI can trace my love of history back to fourth grade, when my teacher Mrs. Southwick took us on weekly visits to the library. My parents had always read to us, and it was such a joy to have regular opportunities to choose for myself from the wonderful collection our school, Hillview Elementary in Ammon, Idaho, possessed.
I was drawn to books about people who had really lived; I remember reading biographies of Geronimo and Daniel Boone, among many others. Other lives, so different from my own, were fascinating to me. When I was older and interested in family history, I researched my Grandma Pierce’s application to become a Daughter of the Utah Pioneers. As I held Grandma’s application, I felt honored to be reading the paper that my grandmother herself had held and written. The room was full of original documents and almost seemed sacred, as it held the memories and histories of so many women. I attended Brigham Young University and credit a wonderful teacher, Jack Rose, with helping me to recognize that interpreting was my passion and could be my career. Jack had told me that I was a natural signer and should push myself to excel. I was so moved that I wrote his words on a piece of paper, and that now-yellowed sheet remains in my journal today. |
I began to wonder about the history of interpreter education after I was hired as the Coordinator of the Salt Lake Community College (SLCC) Interpreter Training Program. Many of the teachers who had been at SLCC for years left at that time; they were not qualified for the positions due to new requirements. I valued the insights and information they had accumulated through teaching and was grateful that they shared some of it with me. However, I neglected to document their vast knowledge.
I had a second wake-up call soon after, when the wonderful interpreter educator Annette Tull died suddenly. I remember feeling great regret that I had not honored her history. More and more I was realizing that the past had much to teach us.
At SLCC I was privileged to work with Anna Witter-Merithew, who was the Co-Founder of the Conference of Interpreter Trainers (CIT). Anna would tell us stories about people who had helped the profession grow. I loved learning more about the history of the people who were interpreter educators.
Then, when I moved on to become Department Chair of the ASL to English Interpreting Department of William Woods University, I became close friends with Charlotte Hamilton, one of the oldest interpreters in Missouri. Charlotte spoke to my classes about the interpreter education profession. I videotaped her talking about her life, her deaf parents, and also the history of interpreting in Missouri.
Charlotte’s sister, Virginia Lee Hughes, is an important figure in interpreter education. She was an early teacher at California State University Northridge (CSUN), one of the first programs in the United States.
While visiting Virginia Lee in the spring of 2005, I began to talk to her about interpreting and interpreter educators. She shared her memories of my beloved BYU teacher, Jack Rose, who had been one of her employees at CSUN. She called him a “newbie” and remembered that he always wore white athletic socks. It was as if my interpreting life had come full circle; I had met the woman who had trained the teacher who had the greatest impact on my life and future career.
Virginia asked me if I had ever heard of Boyce Williams, and told me that he was the catalyst for interpreter training programs in the United States. I was working on my dissertation and realized that even after many years of interest, I still knew very little about our great profession. And when I could not find an account of interpreter education’s history, it became my task to create one.
I began by asking CIT members for help. Many of them sent me books that were no longer published, as well as newsletters that no one had copies of, not even the organization. I also interviewed key players who were involved with the history of interpreter education, and later reviewed documents from workshops, organizations and publications instrumental in the field.
In 2009 I moved back to Utah to work as Executive Director of Sorenson Communications’ VRS Interpreting Institute, and started looking for opportunities to share the information I had collected. In June 2010 I presented “The History of Interpreter Educators” at the RID Region V Conference in Salt Lake City, Utah. To my surprise and pleasure, two pioneers in interpreter education, Gary Sanderson and Sharon Neumann Solow, were in the audience. Gary and Sharon helped me fill in dates that were missing and information that was incomplete. After my presentation was over, they continued to share amazing stories with me.
Gary Sanderson passed away early in 2012, and the urgency of interviewing as many people as possible became even more clear. The yearning I had for reading about history in the fourth grade was the same yearning that I was feeling to learn about the people who were interpreter educators. It was my dream to share this important history and honor the many dedicated educators, researchers and policy makers who have contributed to the evolution of interpreter education.
This book is the result of that dream. The text provides documentation of the chronology, pivotal theories and key people, key events, and state and federal laws that have influenced the development of the interpreter education profession. It is my hope that having a deeper understanding of the wisdom of the past can benefit the field, and perhaps guide future developments.
It has been my privilege to compile and share the history of a profession that has given me so much. Of course this history will never be finished, as each person and each program has its own ongoing story. I am grateful to all of the people who were willing to help me, and to share those stories. This book is yours, too.
I had a second wake-up call soon after, when the wonderful interpreter educator Annette Tull died suddenly. I remember feeling great regret that I had not honored her history. More and more I was realizing that the past had much to teach us.
At SLCC I was privileged to work with Anna Witter-Merithew, who was the Co-Founder of the Conference of Interpreter Trainers (CIT). Anna would tell us stories about people who had helped the profession grow. I loved learning more about the history of the people who were interpreter educators.
Then, when I moved on to become Department Chair of the ASL to English Interpreting Department of William Woods University, I became close friends with Charlotte Hamilton, one of the oldest interpreters in Missouri. Charlotte spoke to my classes about the interpreter education profession. I videotaped her talking about her life, her deaf parents, and also the history of interpreting in Missouri.
Charlotte’s sister, Virginia Lee Hughes, is an important figure in interpreter education. She was an early teacher at California State University Northridge (CSUN), one of the first programs in the United States.
While visiting Virginia Lee in the spring of 2005, I began to talk to her about interpreting and interpreter educators. She shared her memories of my beloved BYU teacher, Jack Rose, who had been one of her employees at CSUN. She called him a “newbie” and remembered that he always wore white athletic socks. It was as if my interpreting life had come full circle; I had met the woman who had trained the teacher who had the greatest impact on my life and future career.
Virginia asked me if I had ever heard of Boyce Williams, and told me that he was the catalyst for interpreter training programs in the United States. I was working on my dissertation and realized that even after many years of interest, I still knew very little about our great profession. And when I could not find an account of interpreter education’s history, it became my task to create one.
I began by asking CIT members for help. Many of them sent me books that were no longer published, as well as newsletters that no one had copies of, not even the organization. I also interviewed key players who were involved with the history of interpreter education, and later reviewed documents from workshops, organizations and publications instrumental in the field.
In 2009 I moved back to Utah to work as Executive Director of Sorenson Communications’ VRS Interpreting Institute, and started looking for opportunities to share the information I had collected. In June 2010 I presented “The History of Interpreter Educators” at the RID Region V Conference in Salt Lake City, Utah. To my surprise and pleasure, two pioneers in interpreter education, Gary Sanderson and Sharon Neumann Solow, were in the audience. Gary and Sharon helped me fill in dates that were missing and information that was incomplete. After my presentation was over, they continued to share amazing stories with me.
Gary Sanderson passed away early in 2012, and the urgency of interviewing as many people as possible became even more clear. The yearning I had for reading about history in the fourth grade was the same yearning that I was feeling to learn about the people who were interpreter educators. It was my dream to share this important history and honor the many dedicated educators, researchers and policy makers who have contributed to the evolution of interpreter education.
This book is the result of that dream. The text provides documentation of the chronology, pivotal theories and key people, key events, and state and federal laws that have influenced the development of the interpreter education profession. It is my hope that having a deeper understanding of the wisdom of the past can benefit the field, and perhaps guide future developments.
It has been my privilege to compile and share the history of a profession that has given me so much. Of course this history will never be finished, as each person and each program has its own ongoing story. I am grateful to all of the people who were willing to help me, and to share those stories. This book is yours, too.
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Read Dr. Ball's Dissertation: |
