Looking Back... the First Film

The earliest known film depicting a deaf person and sign language is one of a collection of short clips made by Thomas Edison to demonstrate what "moving picture films" could do in 1902. In the film, a deaf woman recites the Star Spangled Banner in sign language. Made by the American Mutoscope and Biograph company, The Library of Congress has preserved a paper print copy of the film, but the film itself was not preserved, and the identity of the woman, is unknown.