Women in History

Helen Keller

Helen Keller was born on June 27, 1880, in Tuscumbia, Alabama. She was the first of two daughters born to Arthur H. Keller and Katherine Adams Keller. Arthur had served as an officer in the Confederate Army during the Civil War. Helen also had two stepbrothers. The family was modestly well-off, their income coming from their cotton plantation. Helen was born with both sight and hearing and started speaking when she was just 6 months old and walking at 1. Unfortunately, she lost her hearing and sight at 2 years old. In 1882, Helen contracted what was called "brain fever", that increased her bodily temperature exponentially. Though what the illness actually was is still unknown to this day, it has been theorized Helen contracted either meningitis or scarlet fever. A few days after her fever finally broke, Helen's mother noticed she didn't react when the dinner bell was rung or when a hand was waved in front of her face.

As Helen got older she developed a limited form of communication with her friend, Martha Washington, the young daughter of the family cook, the two of them had invented a sort of sign language. By the time Helen was 7, they had invented more than 60 signs to communicate with each other. During this time, Helen became very wild and temperamental. She would kick and scream when angry and giggle nonstop when happy. She bullied Martha and threw massive tantrums in front of her parents. Many of her relatives thought she should be institutionalized.

In a desperate search for relief and aid for her ailing child, Katherine came across an article by Charles Dickens, American Notes, in 1886. She read about the education of another deaf-blind girl, Laura Bridgman. She subsequently sent Helen along with her father, Arthur, to Baltimore, Maryland, to see specialist, Dr. J. Julian Chisholm. After examining Helen, Chisholm recommended that she see Alexander Graham Bell, the inventor of the telephone, who was working with deaf children at the time. Bell met with Helen's parents and suggested they go to the Perkins Institute for the Blind in Boston, Massachusetts. When the got there the spoke with the director, Michael Anaganos, he recommended them to one of the institute's most recent graduates, Anne Sullivan.

On March 3, 1887, Anne went to the Keller's home in Alabama and immediately went to work. She began by teaching 6 year old, Helen finger-spelling, starting with the word "doll", to help Helen understand the gift she had brought along. At first, Helen was curious, than she became rebellious, refusing to listen to Anne's teachings. When Helen cooperated, Anne could tell she wasn't making the connection with objects and the words spelled out out on her hand. Anne kept working at it, forcing Helen to follow along with the lessons. As Helen's frustration built, the tantrums increased. So eventually, Anne said her and Helen needed to be isolated from the rest of the family for awhile, so Helen could solely focus of Anne's instruction. They moved into a cottage on the plantation.

In a dramatic struggle, Anne taught Helen the word "water" by bringing her out to the water pump and placing her hand under the spout, so the water would splash over her hand, as Anne spelled the word "w-a-t-e-r" into Helen's other hand. Helen quickly made the connection and repeated the word on Anne's hand. Helen moved to learn the names of other objects with Anne close behind, by nightfall she had learnt 30 words.

In 1905, Anne married, John Macy, a instructor at Harvard University, social critic & prominent socialist. After the marriage, Anne continued as Helen's mentor and instructor. When Helen initially moved in with the Macy's, they both gave her their undivided attention. However over time, Anne and John grew distant, as Anne's devotion to her pupil continued unabated. After several years, the couple separated, though they never filed for divorce. 

In 1890, Helen began to attend speech classes at the Horace Mann School for the Deaf, in Boston. She toiled for 25 years, to learn how to speak, so others would understand her. Around this time Helen became adamant about going to college. In 1896, she enrolled at the Cambridge School for Young Ladies, a college preparatory for women. As her story became more well-known, Helen met more famous people, including the writer, Mark Twain. Twain introduced her to his friend, Henry H. Rogers, a Standard Oil executive. Rogers was so impressed by her talent, ambition & determination, he agreed to pay for her to go Radcliffe College. Anne accompanied her there, she sat next to Helen to interpret lectures and texts. By this time, Helen had mastered several forms of communication including, touch-lip reading, Braille, speech, typing & finger-spelling. Helen graduated with distinction from Radcliffe College, in 1904, aged 24.

Throughout the first half of the 20th century, Helen tackled social and political issues like; women's suffrage, peacekeeping, birth control & socialism. In 1915, along with George Kessler, she co-founded Helen Keller International, to raise awareness about blindness and malnutrition. When the American Federation for the Blind, was established in 1921, Helen gained an effective national outlet for her efforts. She became a member in 1924 and participated in many campaigns to raise awareness, money and support for the blind. She also joined other organizations, dedicated to helping the less fortunate including the, American Braille Press (was called the Permanent Blind War Relief Fund). In 1946, Helen became counselor of international relations for the American Foundation of Overseas Blind, between 1946-1957, she traveled to 35 countries on 5 continents.

During her lifetime, Helen Keller, received many honors in recognition of her accomplishments including the Theodore Roosevelt Distinguished Service Medal (1936), Presidential Medal of Freedom (1964) & an election into the Women's Hall of Fame (1965). Helen also received honorary doctorates from Temple & Harvard University; as well as universities in Glasgow, Berlin, Delhi & Johannesburg.

Helen Keller died in her sleep on June 1, 1968, just a few weeks before her 88th birthday. Helen suffered a series of strokes in 1961, and she spent her final years at her home, in Connecticut.

https://www.biography.com/activist/helen-keller