Multimedia Publications

Helen Keller made many long lasting impacts on society. During her lifetime, she wrote over fourteen different books including several autobiographies and short stories. Helen Keller also wrote many essays on the topics that she was passionate about. These works included Out of the Dark, My Religion, Let Us Have Faith, Teacher, Optimism and The World I Live In along with many more. (“Helen Keller Biography”) Some might think that due to her disabilities Helen would have needed someone to write down the words she dictated/signed, but in fact, Helen was able to use a Braille writer. This was a kind of typewriter developed for the blind to use. Each key has a Braille letter on it and can be felt with the fingertips in order to type. With this tool, Helen was able to compose many of her books. Always conquering new challenges, Helen also learned how to use a standard typewriter. One book in particular caught the interest of the Nazi’s during World War II. Helen’s socialist views were they reason that Out of the Dark was burned in Germany in 1933. Helen’s legacy is not only preserved through the many books that she wrote or were written about her, but also through films. In 1919, Helen, Polly Thomson, and Anne Sullivan, two of her best friends, played themselves in a silent movie called Deliverance as a biography of Helen’s life. (“Deliverance”) This gang of three women became known as the “Three Musketeers” and remained fast friends throughout their lives. There were several other movies made about Helen including Helen Keller in Her Story, which won an Academy Award in 1955, and The Miracle Worker. This was originally done as a 1959 Broadway play starring Anne Bancroft and Patty Duke, but three years later it was made into another academy award winning movie. The movie focuses on Helen Keller’s childhood and relationship with her teacher Anne Sullivan. Due to the importance of Helen’s accomplishments, people are still impressed with her overwhelming success that she managed despite the difficulties she faced. The public is still interested in the life that Helen led and we are lucky to have these lasting resources. (“Helen Keller Kids Museum”)