Ely, Newby,

Newby Ely has been an avid collector of film memorabilia for the past 40 years, amassing a private collection of thousands of items, including scripts, lobby cards and posters. After reading John Schuchman's "Hollywood Speaks: Deafness and the Film Entertainment Industry" and taking his course in the early 2000s, Ely started collecting Deaf-related film memorabilia and video recordings. He eventually donated this collection to the Deaf Studies Archives at RIT. He continues collecting film memorabilia and films produced in Europe. Since 2007, he has been employed as an archival film researcher/consultant for a private historical video company, and enjoys frequent research trips to film archives in New York and Washington, D.C. He lives in the Philadelphia area with his wife.

Noted Deaf historian Newby Ely holds several degrees. He received a bachelor's degree in history from Gallaudet University, a master's degree in geography from the University of Maryland at College Park, and a second master's degree in deaf education from McDaniel College. He also holds a deaf history program certificate from Gallaudet University. Ely has written and presented extensively on the Deaf experience in the Holocaust and World War II. Currently, he is an archival film researcher and consultant for a private historical video company.