| Mary Williamson Erd, the only woman to appear in the Gallaudet Lecture Films, became deaf at the age of 7 from scarlet fever. Soon after she entered the Michigan School for the Deaf where she graduated with the high class as one of the school's brightest and best. Entering Gallaudet College in 1897, Mary was unable to complete her degree due to ill health, so she returned to Michigan where she was hired to teach in the primary department of her alma mater in 1900. After leaving the teaching profession in 1914, Mary Erd continued to be actively involved in activities of the deaf community and was well known for her literary and dramatic prowess which was captured on film in her creative rendition of ""The Death of Minnehaha"". |