Finding collections relating to d/Deaf, disabled and neurodiverse people

One of the aims of our project is to make collections relating to d/Deaf, disabled and neurodivergent people more visible – and to share some of the objects our Fellows and Trainees are discovering.

Some will have quite obvious connections to disabled people’s lives – a walking stick, some braille or images of disabled people. But we will also be exploring less obvious connections too. Sometimes the significance of an object is its owner; its part in a bigger story, or the way someone with lived experience of disability has responded to it. In this way we hope to broaden the ways that d/Deaf, disabled and neurodivergent stories are told.

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CANARY CAGE (Bird cage)

1991/147/077

Rectangular based bird cage painted with green paint. The bottom of the birdcage is made from an old delivery crate. Part of the original stamp is visible on the bottom and reads 'pure cream Queensland.' and in the centre 'Austr...'. Small pins and 3 flat head screws have been used to attach the bottom to...

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Rights information: Copyright: Black Country Living Museum

Description

Rectangular based bird cage painted with green paint. The bottom of the birdcage is made from an old delivery crate. Part of the original stamp is visible on the bottom and reads 'pure cream Queensland.' and in the centre 'Austr...'. Small pins and 3 flat head screws have been used to attach the bottom to the sides. The inside floor of the bird cage is untreated wood. Attached to the bottom are wooden sides to the cage. These are narrow pieces of wood which have iron alloy spindles inserted into them. There is then a cross beam of wood and then another row of spindles before a small wooden rim which attached to the roof of the cage. In each corner, a squared rod of wood supports the cage and forms the corners. The roof of the cage is attached with pins to the sides and in the centre is an iron alloy handle which is formed by a piece of bent metal that is pinned down to the roof. On one of the long sides of the cage is a small door in the centre of the top row of spindles which is wooden framed with three spindles in the middle. There are two catches: one attached to the door and one to the roof rim which are formed from metal bent into a diamond shape which can be moved around to hold the door shut. Inside the cage the roof and sides are painted. Across the middle of the cage, attached to the central beams of the long sides of the cage, is an untreated octagonal cross-sectioned rod of wood for the bird to sit on.

Canaries were used in British mines from 1911 until 1986 to detect carbon monoxide and other poisonous gases. These birds are more sensitive to smell so when they showed signs of distress or died, it warned people to exit the tunnel. When they had trouble breathing, they would stop singing and this warned the miners. If you were deaf, or had hearing loss (which many did develop in the mines from hazardous noises), you would be less likely to notice that the canary had stopped singing. This would have put you at a greater risk of breathing in poisonous gases.

- Claudia Davies, Curating for Change Fellow at Black Country Living Museum

Meet our Fellows and Trainees

The Curating for Change project is running eight Fellowships over 18 months and eight Traineeships over 40 days based across 20 partner museums. Learn more about our Fellows and Trainees here.

Find out more