COVID-19 Mask for the Deaf and Hearing Impaired
date: label: date made
content: 2020
label: Associated Date
content: 2020
name: label: maker
content: Gossiaux, Klodia
notes: label: Description
content: On March 11, 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared that the COVID-19 outbreak had become a pandemic. On April 3, 2020, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommended that Americans wear face masks when they were in public spaces and unable to maintain a social distance of 6 feet or more. In the initial aftermath of this declaration, N95 masks were extremely difficult to find and some Americans began to make their own masks. Many of these mask makers responded to soaring COVID rates and the ubiquitous shortage of masks by making and donating masks for communities which were suffering disproportionately from the pandemic.
label: Description
content: The pandemic hit the deaf and hearing-impaired communities especially hard. Klodia Gossiaux, a seamstress, began making masks but she quickly realized that while masks protected individuals from COVID-19, these same objects presented serious challenges to those who were deaf or hearing-impaired. Masks, which typically cover the lower half of the face with fabric or other impermeable materials, prevent lip reading and also hide facial expressions making communication difficult, if not impossible, in the deaf and hearing-impaired communities.
label: Description
content: As a member of this community, Gossiaux quickly recognized the problems mask-wearing presented for those like herself and her husband who was hearing-impaired. She then focused on creating masks for her community.
label: Description
content: Gossiaux, who has been a seamstress for over twenty years, made several versions of a mask with a plastic shield before settling on a pattern and approach which she felt worked well. Her customers agreed, with one pointing out that Gossiaux’s masks had a larger shield than most which enabled those who were deaf or hearing-impaired to see more of the speaker’s face. Gossiaux then began marketing and selling her masks through her company,Klodia’s Masks and More.
label: Description
content: Gossiaux noted that her masks are not a perfect solution as the plastic shields on the masks can and do fog up. To address this problem, Gossiaux included instructions on how to prevent the mask from fogging with each of her masks. Gossiaux also noted that her masks tended to be more expensive because the materials used to create these masks have been more expensive and more difficult to obtain.
label: Description
content: By the spring of 2020, Gossiaux had become a local celebrity in the Detroit area for her masks. She was interviewed by multiple news outlets. In telling her story, these various news media focused attention on a community especially hard-hit by the pandemic but they also presented Gossiaux’s story as part of a broader national narrative which explored American ingenuity during the pandemic.
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
place: label: place made
content: United States: Michigan
topic: label: general subject association; web subject
content: COVID-19 (Disease)
label: general subject association; web subject
content: Public Health
label: associated subject
content: 2019 novel coronavirus disease
label: associated subject
content: Infectious diseases
label: associated subject
content: 2019-nCoV disease
label: associated subject
content: Disease prevention
label: general subject association; web subjec
content: Communicable Diseases
label: general subject association; web subjec
content: Medicine, Preventive
label: general subject association; web subjec
content: Hearing Loss
label: general subject association; web subjec
content: Hearing Loss
label: related event
content: COVID-19 Pandemic, 2020-2023
setName: label: See more items in
content: Medicine and Science: Medicine
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Klodia and Andrew Gossiaux
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: 2022.0016.01
label: catalog number
content: 2022.0016.01
label: accession number
content: 2022.0016
objectType: label: Object Name
content: face mask
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: fabric; plastic (overall material)
label: Measurements
content: overall (with earloops extended): 5 in x 14 in x 2 in; 12.7 cm x 35.56 cm x 5.08 cm