Douglas Tilden
The deaf Sculpter
His Deafness
Douglas Tilden was born in 1860. At the age of five, he had a severe case of scarlet fever which left him deaf. Two years later he attended the California School for the Deaf and graduated as an honor student. He took a job as a teacher there and served 8 years.
Start of his Career
At the age of 23 he discovered his talent with sculpting. And from a $600 grant from the Durham Fund, he followed his dreams to become a sculptor in Paris, becoming the first California-born sculptor to become famous outside of the United States.
His part in the Deaf Community
Since he found extra time from sculpting he tried to take part in the the Deaf Community. He became a vice president of the World Federation of the Deaf and the president of the California Association of the Deaf. Tilden has many chapters of his life in deaf history books, he became an icon in deaf history. He died in 1935 of a heart attack.