Dorothy Casterline was a deaf linguist and contributor to the Dictionary of American Sign Language (ASL) on Linguistic Principles whose innovative treatment of ASL as a distinct language led to greater mainstream acceptance.
- Died: August 8, 2023 (Who else died on August 8?)
- Details of death: Died in Irmo, South Carolina, at the age of 95.
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Dorothy Casterline’s legacy
Born Dorothy Sueoka in Honolulu when Hawai’i was still an annexed territory of the United States, Casterline became deaf at the age of 14. She studied at the Hawai’i School for the Deaf and the Blind, then known as the Diamond Head School for the Deaf, before moving on to Gallaudet University in Washington, D.C., to earn her bachelor’s in English. It was at Gallaudet that she met Jim Casterline; the pair married and remained together until his death in 2012.
At Gallaudet, she and fellow student Carl Croneberg were recruited by linguist William Stokoe to assist with a major project: codifying ASL as a language unto itself. After graduation, she joined the school’s faculty in the English Department, and the trio’s work continued. Together, they created the “Dictionary of American Sign Language on Linguistic Principles,” a groundbreaking work that helped push the language into mainstream acceptance. She and Croneberg were awarded honorary doctorate of humane letters for their work – but not until 2022.
The effects of Casterline’s advocacy as part of the deaf community extended beyond linguistics. In the 1950s, deaf people were not permitted to drive in Hawai’i. Casterline worked with the National Association of the Deaf to have those restrictions changed. When not studying language, Casterline was also a writer and poet.
Tributes to Dorothy Casterline
Full obituary: The New York Times
