Inclusion

Everybody's Different

Communication has evolved to be accessible for people of different backgrounds and abilities. Translation guides and other tools allow people to communicate across cultures.

In the past, differences of gender, class, education, and physical ability created barriers that we are still overcoming today. Not everyone has the opportunity to learn sign language, braille, or other forms of accessible communication.

Modern advances in technology and social structure make resources available to keep people from being left behind. Today, technology makes connecting with each other easier and more accessible.

What you wear and how you present yourself can tell others about you. Hats like these ones are very fancy, and that can carry the message that the wearer is of high status. Expensive fabrics like fine silk show that the wearer can afford luxury items.

This green velveteen lady’s hat dates to 1907. It was worn by Mrs Medd as part of her going away costume, on her wedding day.

Ladies Hat PMA, 968.113.4

Learning Since Day One

From the day we are born, we are trying to communicate. It allows us to feel connected to one another. We teach our children our languages and customs as we were once taught by our families. Social status influenced the values and traditions that each family shared. We all have unique ways of interacting. What unites us all, is our desire to communicate.

Sometimes, the customs that are passed down to us are damaging to others. We are always learning, and sometimes that means we have to learn a new perspective.

Pictured, here are Margaret, Eva, and Alta Bradd. This is a local medical doctor’s family dressed up in their fancy clothes. The traditions and values of this family may have been different than those around them because of Dr. Bradd’s social status as a doctor.

PMA, 2000-012-018222-1

Tools of the Trade

In the past, written communication was limited to pen and paper, and took a long time to send a message. Developments in technology have improved the way people communicate with each other, on both a local and global scale.

Some accessibility tools are more obvious, like braille slates, while others are more abstract. The invention of the telephone allowed conversations to happen in two places at the same time. Computers and the internet only made this process faster. Now, with smartphones in our pockets, communicating with the world has never been easier.

How do you think we will communicate in the future?

Not all accessibility tools are obvious. This is the interior of J.W Browett’s Optical Institute, where he is giving someone an eye exam. Being able to see clearly makes communicating with others much easier.

PMA, 2000-012-002210-2