Petra Fandrem Howard

Petra Fandrem Howard (November 9, 1891 – March 5, 1971) was an American deaf labor advocate. Hard of hearing from a young age, she was the first employee in the Minnesota Labor Bureau for the Deaf, created to support deaf workers and encourage employers to hire the deaf. Howard worked in vocational rehabilitation for the deaf for over forty years.

Early life and education

Petra Fandrem was born November 9, 1891, in Minneapolis, Minnesota. She became hard of hearing at age five, but had enough residual hearing to interpret for deaf people as an adult.

The Division for the Deaf, a department of the Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry, was created by an act of the Minnesota legislature in 1913, the first such effort in the United States. It was funded in 1915 and Fandrem was appointed its first chief. Fandrem was selected from a pool of civil service candidates because as a hard of hearing person who could speak clearly and sign using American Sign Language she could move easily between the deaf and hearing communities. She had a budget of just $1,000 per year to travel throughout Minnesota and provide services for 1,000 deaf adults and 350 deaf students. She reported that employers regularly dismissed deaf applicants and argued that writing instructions to deaf workers was too time-consuming. Petra was Jay Cooke Howard's third wife; She was buried in Lakewood Cemetery in Minneapolis.

She was elected to the Gallaudet University Hall of Fame in 2014. A residential therapeutic center in St. Paul, Minnesota was named the Petra Howard House. An auditorium inside Quinn Hall at the campus of Minnesota State Academy for the Deaf is named the Petra Howard Auditorium.