Biography of theophilus d estrellas

Granville Redmond with Charlie Chaplin. Douglas Tilden, The Football Players

In the late 19th century, three fascinating deaf artists arrived at the School by way of Berkeley’s California School for the Deaf:

Theophilus Hope d’Estrella was the University of California’s first deaf student, and later became the first deaf student at the California School of Design (now SFAI).

D’Estrella, a painter, was also noted for his photography, having been inspired by watching Eadweard Muybridge at work in the 1870s.

Deaf artist Douglas Tilden, a life-long friend of d’Estrella, took classes at the School as well, and later returned as its first sculpture teacher in 1894.

Tilden became a celebrated sculptor, with many of his commissions still on display throughout the Bay Area, including at UC Berkeley, where over the years his statue The Football Players has become a symbol for the cam