{"id":229,"featured":0,"modified":"2026-09-28 20:29:28","latitude":35.774390825968595208905753679573535919189453125,"longitude":-78.6405336856842041015625,"title":"Effie Whitaker","subtitle":"","fullsize":"https://mail.raleighhistoric.org/files/fullsize/802d6e1bd0a5ce6a669deec1d13e3986.jpg","address":"129 W. Lenoir St.","all_locations":[],"zoom":19,"creator":["City of Raleigh"],"description":"Effie Whitaker was a lifelong educator whose work helped shape the North Carolina School for the Deaf. Growing up in Raleigh’s Fourth Ward, she became a strong advocate for deaf students at a time when specialized education was still developing in the state.<br />\r\n<br />\r\nWhitaker championed the use of American Sign Language in the classroom and helped create hands-on vocational programs which gave students practical skills and greater independence. She also played an important role in moving the school from Raleigh to its long-term home in Morganton, a change that expanded access to education for deaf children across North Carolina.<br />\r\n<br />\r\nHer commitment to inclusion, communication, and opportunity continues to influence the school’s mission today.","sponsor":null,"accessinfo":"","lede":"","website":"","related_resources":[],"factoids":[],"files":{"https://mail.raleighhistoric.org/files/fullsize/802d6e1bd0a5ce6a669deec1d13e3986.jpg":{"id":1146,"mime-type":"image/jpeg","title":"Effie Whitaker from Culture Town: Life in Raleigh’s African American Communities, by Linda Simmons-Henry and Linda Harris Edmisten, 1993.","description":"","thumbnail":"https://mail.raleighhistoric.org/files/square_thumbnails/802d6e1bd0a5ce6a669deec1d13e3986.jpg"}}}