Helen Keller

Background and Childhood

Helen Keller was born in Tuscumbia, Alabama on June 27, 1880. She was born to Kate Adams Keller and Colonel Arthur Keller on there southern estate called Ivy green. Helens household was full of words and speech, her father was the editor for the Newspaper, The North Alabamia and her mom enjoyed reading writing in her free time. This all changed in February 1882, when 19-month-old Helen became extremely ill and lost the ability to hear and see, which Doctors now a day tribute to scarlet fever or meningitis. After recovering from her illness, her parents realized that Helen was deaf and blind, they feared they would have no way to communicate with her. Out of this fear, her mother contacted Alexander Graham bell, who was an avid supporter of the deaf and blind. He recommended that they contact the Perkins School for the Blind in Boston, Massachusetts for help. (“Helen Keller Kids Museum”)

Schooling and Teachers

The Perkins School for the blind sent Anne Sullivan on March 3, 1887 to help the beleaguered Keller family deal and help teach Helen. Anne Sullivan was born on April 14, 1866, in Agawam, Massachusetts. She was not deaf but had extremely poor eye sight though she wasn’t completely blind. Anne herself was a graduate of the Perkins school where she had also obtained teacher training. When she met Helen, Anne struggled to find a way to communicate with the child. She was, however, able to sign words into Helens palms. Even with signing, Anne was still at a loss, because it just wasn’t clicking for Helen. Then one day while signing the word water to Helen, Anne put Helens other hand under a running water pump and everything just clicked. That day Anne was able to teach Helen 30 more words. But Helen was satisfied with just learning words, she also wanted to learn how to read and write. So Anne taught Helen Braille and using a ruler and having Helen feel the letters then signing them into her hands taught her the English alphabet. Then Anne Taught Helen to write the letters by using a ruler and drawing block letters. Thus Helen learned to not only communicate but also read and write. (“Helen Keller Biography”)
The next part in Helen’s learning process came when she was invited by the Head Master of the Perkins Institute for the blind, Michael Anagnos, to be a guest at the school. Helen became a celebrity at the school, but after people saw what she could do some scrutinized her and called her a phony. People couldn’t believe that she could read and write as well as she could and some thought she wasn’t as deaf or as blind as everyone believed. Her critics were rewarded, when a story written by Helen called “The Frost King”, was published by Michael Anagnos in a Newspaper Magazine; the story had the exact same plot line as a story written by Margaret Canby “The Frost Fairies”. Helen couldn’t explain how this had happened and Anne attributed it to her confusion earlier on in her childhood when she might have been read the story. Anagnos wasn’t as sympathetic and asked the two to leave the institute thus ending Helen and Anagnos’s short lived friendship. Thus they decided to make the trip back south until Helen was old enough to go into a proper school. (“Helen Keller Biography”)
When Helen was 13 she moved with Anne to New York to attend the Wrights Humason School for the deaf. She was the only person in attendance that was both deaf and blind. John D Wright and Dr Thomas Humason, who were professors at the school, started instructing Helen on how to speak with the help of Anne. This pleased Helen a lot, because she yearned to be able to communicate with people on her own, without the help of Anne. In the meantime, Anne attended classes with Helen and signed to her everything the professors wrote and gave to the class for reading. Helen progressed extremely quickly and excelled at any subject that was taught to her. (“Helen Keller Biography”)
In 1896, in preparation for college, Helen went to the Cambridge School for young ladies. The director Arthur Gilman promised that the school would help Helen with her College entry exams. He was correct, Helen was admitted to She was admitted to Radcliff College in 1899 a sister college to Harvard University, which was all males at the time. Helen, like always, excelled in her studies which included learning different languages such as French, German, and Latin. Helen also enjoyed the extracurricular activities that the school offered such as horse back riding and chess, which she learned by feeling both the board and pieces and having Anne sign the rules to her. Helen also enjoyed reading, but at the time there weren’t many books available in Braille, so Anne would read the book and sign to Helen what she read. Although Helen could handle the large work load, Anne could not; the work load did permanent damage to her eyesight. But among the small dark spots of college, Helen and Anne had many accomplishments. They met and befriended many famous people such as Mark Twain, author of Tom Sawyer and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. After meeting Mark Twain, Helen was inspired to write a book which was The Story of My Life, published in 1903, and edited by future husband of Anne Sullivan, John Albert Macy. The book sold extremely poorly at first, but later on become a best seller, and was translated into over 50 languages. Helen dedicated the book to her good friend Alexander Graham Bell, who she owed her entire education to. Alexander Graham Bell didn’t only effect Helens life he also helped the entire deaf community when he set up the Alexander Graham Bell Association for the Deaf awhile back in 1888. His dedication and care was so great that he actually married a deaf woman named Mabel. Soon after writing the book, Helen graduated on, 28, June 1904 from Radcliffe College. In doing so she became the first deaf blind person to earn a Bachelor of Arts degree. (“Helen Keller Kids Museum”)

Helen, Anne, and Mark Twain

Helen's Life

Helen was extremely active after college joining the suffragist movement for women and also joining the socialist party. She also at the same time wrote a book titled The World I Live In, which revealed for the first time her thoughts on her world. (“Helen Keller Biography”) Helen was also avid support of the Handicapped, especially the blind and deaf like herself, which is what she founded and promoted the American Foundation for the blind. She and Anne toured the world making speeches and lectures not only in America, but also abroad, in the hopes of turning The American Foundation for the blind into a global organization. Helen was able to convince wealthy people like Henry Ford and John D. Rockefeller to donate to her cause. Also to raise money for her cause Helen starred in a couple silent films about her life. All the touring, however, took a toll on Anne who fell ill from bronchitis. Helen’s mentor and life long friend, Anne Sullivan, died on 20, October 1936. Helen, however, continued touring after Anne’s death in tribute to her, using long time secretary and friend Polly Thompson as her voice. They took a break during WWII but picked up soon after it and toured mostly over seas until Polly had a stroke in 1957. Polly never fully recovered from her stroke and died soon afterwards. After Polly’s death, Helen lost the will to continue touring and decided to retire to her house in Arcan Ridge. She, however, made one more public appearance in 1964 when she traveled to Washington D.C. to receive the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the Nations highest civilian award, from President Lyndon Johnson. Helen Keller died on June 1, 1968 at Arcan Ridge in her sleep. Helen life was spent in the service of those who can’t speak or hear for themselves. In her own Words “the public must learn that the blind man is neither genius nor a freak nor an idiot. He has a mind that can be educated, a hand which can be trained, and ambitions which it is right for him to strive to realize, and it is the duty of the public to help him make the best of himself so that he can win light through work”. (“Helen Keller Kids Museum”)

The three Musketeers

1919 - “The Three Musketeers” Helen, Polly Thomson, and Anne Sullivan along with Helen’s friend Charlie Chaplin.

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”)

Helen's World Tour

After the tragic death of Helen’s mother, and the illness of Anne Sullivan, Helen’s teacher, friend and companion, Helen became even closer with friend Polly Thomson. The two of them temporarily continued the vaudeville show that Helen and Anne had made successful but soon moved on to bigger goals. Helen and Polly began touring the world to raise money for the blind. After the death of Anne Sullivan and World War II, their traveling increased. The pair traveled to countries such as Australia, Japan, and England doing fundraising for The American Foundation for the Overseas Blind. (“Life of Helen Keller”) Helen had been counselor of international relations for this Association, previously the American Braille Press. Because of her position, she had the privilege of touring all of these countries; 39 countries overall on five continents. On these trips Helen was able to meet with all different kids of people; from veterans of the war to disabled children and international royalty/leaders. Her longest tour went through Asia in 1948. Helen and Polly were able to visit Nagasaki and Hiroshima to see the affects that the Atomic Bomb had had on the country and their people. (“Helen Keller Kids Museum”) In honor of Helen, many countries like India, the Soviet Union, and Egypt opened centers named after Helen to help the blind and disabled. Also due to her work with the organization, the American Foundation for the Overseas Blind was eventually renamed Helen Keller International. Polly Thomson grew increasingly frailer during these tours after a mild stroke and eventually passed away in 1960. Polly’s death led to an end in large public appearances for Helen, who spoke publicly for the last time in 1961 at the Lions Club Meeting in Washington, DC. After this, Helen retired to her home of Arcan Ridge in Easton Connecticut. (“Helen Keller Biography”)