Elizabeth English Benson
Elizabeth English Benson (1904–1972) was an American educator for deaf students who taught at Gallaudet College for two decades before being named Dean of Women there. During World War II, she temporarily joined the military so she could help newly deafened soldiers injured in the war. Later she was an occasional interpreter for two U.S. presidents. Life and work. Benson was born September 5, 1904 in Frederick, Maryland to deaf parents, Harry and Minnie Benson, who worked at the nearby Maryland School for the Deaf. She was designated a CODA, child of deaf adults. Out of necessity , she learned American Sign Language from an early age to communicate with them. At two, she was pictured with her sister and parents in the popular deaf newspaper, "The Silent Worker" (May 1906, vol. 18, no. 8), which regularly featured "typical children of deaf parents." Education. Benson earned her B.A. from George Washington University; M.A. from Gallaudet College; honorary doctorate from Gallaudet, 1962; LL.B. from George Washington School of Law. Teaching. She joined the faculty at Gallaudet in 1926 to teach graduate students audiology and lipreading and then became a regular faculty member. In 1950, she succeeded Dr. Elizabeth Peet  as the Dean of Women and remained there until her retirement in 1970 after 44 years of service to the Gallaudet. On her own, she taught in Virginia,Her influence also extended beyond the Gallaudet Campus as she lent her considerable skills and knowledge to training African American instructors at the Hampton Institute in Virginia. She spent her summers helping to prepare those students to meet teaching certification requirements. Wartime service. With the call to service during World War II, Benson left the university temporarily to join the American Women's Voluntary Services and, then the Women’s Army Corps  where she could "provide support and resources to newly deafened soldiers." Even after the war and her return to the Gallaudet faculty, Benson sometimes acted as an interpreter for influential figures in Washington, D.C., including Presidents John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson. Around the same time, she decided to earn a law degree "so that she might better serve deaf people in the courtroom." Benson died in Frederick on December 13, 1972. References.