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History of CHS
1916 to Present

Our Beginnings

Chicago League for the Hard of Hearing sponsored this exhibit in the early 1920's to promote employment, education and prevention.

It was January 23, 1916. A group of about 30 hard of hearing individuals and teachers of the deaf met for the first time and organized under the name Chicago League for the Hard of Hearing. The group was led by Rose Dickinson and Gertrude Torrey, who modeled the organization after leagues which had been founded a few years earlier in Boston and New York.

The League incorporated as a non-for-profit agency on May 6, 1916. Its original purposes were:

Promotion of social intercourse among the membership.
Assistance for the deaf and hard of hearing in the matter of procuring and retaining employment
Promotion of an interest in lip-reading
Aiding and furthering in each and every way possible for any helpful work among the deaf and hard of hearing

In 1918 Miss Torrey wrote, "The most difficult and most important part of our work is finding employment for our applicants." In addition to job placement, the League's early programs included lip-reading classes and social activities to alleviate the isolation which hearing loss imposes. Headquarters for the League were located in the old Auditorium Building.

In these early days the old fashioned speaking tubes or ear trumpets were the hearing aids used by many. A few people used the carbon type hearing aids, but these were almost "as big as a bread box".