Anne Sullivan Research Paper

Anne Sullivan was born on April 14, 1866, in Feeding Hills, Massachusetts. Her parents immigrated from Ireland because of the Great Famine in 1840. She had 4 siblings, but two had died in their infancy. While growing up, her family struggled with health issues. When Anne was five years old, she contracted an eye disease called trachoma. Her mother suffered with tuberculosis and she died when Anne was only eight. Anne’s father, Thomas, was abusive and eventually left them after their mother’s death. She went to a home for the poor, and her brother died there, several months later. Anne left the home for the poor to attend the Perkins School for the Blind in 1880. While there, she underwent surgery to improve her vision. She did struggle in school a bit with the whole environment, but did graduate in 1886 as the class valedictorian. Her favorite teacher, Michael Anagnos gave the job of helping a young girl named Helen Keller.
At the age of 20, she showed great maturity in teaching Helen about the world around her. Thanks to Anne Sullivan’s help, Helen Keller learned nearly 600 words, most of her multiplication tables, and learned how to read Braille. She took Helen to the Perkins School and to Wight-Humason School in New York City. Sullivan helped Helen study at Radcliffe College in 1900. She spelled the contents of lectures into her hand and spent hours conveying information from textbooks to her. Because of this tremendous amount of help, Helen Keller became the first blind and deaf person to graduate. John A. Macy was the man who married Anne Sullivan. Although, it did take several proposals. They were wed in 1905. Around 1814-1815, Anne began to suffer from some severe health problems. She played herself in the movie Deliverance to make some money, but it proved to be a fail. She ended up touring with Helen to make some money in the