Harold J. Conn

by J.J. Rivera

Introduction

I'm a deaf student. So I think it's interesting to read and write about deaf scientists. I picked Harold J. Conn because I'm interested and curious about bacteria.

AboutHarold J. Conn

Harold J. Conn was born on May 29, 1886. While he and his family traveled through Europe, he first realized that he was losing his hearing. In school he was never blamed for inattentivness because of his deafness. He studied lessons for the next day during class because he couldn't hear the teacher. If he studied for the next day, he would know what the teacher taught and what happened the next day.

He made few friends because it was hard to communicate. He might have used speechreading but it was very hard for him. His social life was limited. Harold thought his wife has more problems with his deafness than he. Harold thought deaf people divided hearing people in two groups: People who help and try to communicate with deaf people and people who avoid deaf people. He was shocked at "defeatist" deaf persons. He has no patient with them. He gave up trying to help them.

His father gave him a microscope, and sent him to a lab to make preparation of slides. He used alcohol to make the slides dry more quickly, not realizing that he used a formula usually taught to older students. This made his father surprised and proud.

He went to Weslyan College. The professor there was surprised that Harold turned in good papers without hearing what he said. The professor didn't realize that what the professor said nearly mirrored the textbook. Conn successfully graduated from Weslyan College.

He became a bacteriologist. He studied bacteria in soil. He decided to study "general soil flora". Harold discovered that when the soil was frozen, the bacteria gains numbers instead of deceasing as people thought. He published "Manual of Methods for Pure Culture in Study of Bacteria", "Bacteriology", "Bacteriologic Stains", "History of Staining" and "Staining Procedures".

Harold was lucky to have lots of support during his life. His wife supported and helped him a lot. His wife died in 1963. His daughter, Jean helped him study bacteria for 20 years. She became a successful bacteriologist herself. I think he was lucky because his wife was gone, but his daughter was still there and was willing to help him. Harold Conn died on Nov. 10, 1975.

I'm surprised at how much change in life Conn had. At young age he was upset about his deafness. He always blame himself for not being able to speech read and other things he couldn't do because of his deafness. As he got older, he began to accept his deafness.He found a strategy to communicate and go into the real life in the world. He ended up as a successful scientist. He showed that no matter if you are deaf you can still have a successful life.

Lang, Harry G. and Bonnie Meath-Lang. DEAF PERSONS IN THE ARTS AND SCIENCE. Westport, Conn: Greenwood Publishing Group, Inc., 1995.