Why Is Helen Keller Blind
The life of Helen Keller began on June 27, 1880, in Tuscumbia, Alabama. However, nineteen month later Keller's life was changed forever. Her mother noticed that she had not been reacting when the dinner bell had rung or even flinched when a hand was waved in front of her face. After consoling the family doctor, the diagnosis was made that Keller was now deaf and blind. The doctor did not know exactly what had caused such a horrific even to occur, but today doctors believe that it could have been a result of scarlet fever or meningitis (biography.com). As a young girl, Keller would play with her friend Martha Washington. In order to communicate, they came up with their own form of sign language, containing over 60 different signs. Over the course of time however, Keller began to lose control of her emotions and often threw tantrums. As a result, many believed Keller needed to be sent to an
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institution for further help. Keller's mother worked frantically to find help for her daughter, when one day she found her answer in a travelogue by Charles Dickens. Through this pamphlet, Keller's parents met Alexander Graham Bell, who was working with deaf children at the time. In addition, they found their "miracle worker" Anne Sullivan in Boston, Massachusetts, at Perkins Institute for the Blind (biography.com). When Sullivan first arrived at the Keller household on March 3, 1887, not everything went as smooth as anticipated. After struggling for some time, Sullivan suggested that Helen be isolated from the rest of her family for some time. Through this one-on-one time together, Sullivan was able to teach Keller her first word "water". After countless attempts, Sullivan was able to get across to Keller with the use of the family's water pump. By the end of the night, Sullivan had taught Keller over thirty new words. (biography.com). A statue of Helen Keller was given to the National Sanctuary Hall Collection by Alabama in 2009. This statue depicts once again the moment she learned her first word and how the course of her life was then changed forever (Architect of the Capitol--Statue).
Learning Tools and A Formal Education Helen Keller started her formal education in May of 1888, when Anne Sullivan brought her to Perkins School for the Blind in Boston, Massachusetts. Sullivan's goal of brining Keller to this school was to introduce her to other people like herself. She attended Perkins School for the Blind every winter for three years, studying French, arithmetic, geometry, and several other courses. In the fall of 1891, however, Keller was falsely accused of plagiarism and she decided to leave the school (Perkins School for the Blind--Helen Keller). Keller then attended classes for speech at Horace Mann School for the Deaf and Blind. In addition, she studied regular subjects as well as ways to become a better communicator at Wright-Humason School for the Deaf in New York. Afterwards, Keller decided that she wanted to attend college at Radcliffe College and graduated at age 24 with her degree, cum laude. Although Keller attended an extensive amount of schooling for speech and becoming a better communicator, it took her about 25 years to speak in way that non-signers could understand (The Heroine Collective). As a deaf and blind person, life was very different for Helen Keller. During her lifetime she used a watch created by John Hitz in 1892. It was designed for people to use when it was too dark to see the time, making it perfect for Keller. Known as the "touch watch", it had an outer edge with pins that corresponded to the hours on the watch dial, enabling a person to touch their watch and being able to tell the time. There was also a revolving hand that stopped between the puns to indicate the hour and the minute (Helen Keller's Watch). In addition to the watch, the Braille system was a major part of Keller's life. At the age of thirteen years old she acquired a love for writing, and wrote one of her first poems entitled "Autumn" given to Alexander Graham Bell. It contained beautiful words and symbolism. She described her life and all of the struggles she had to overcome with such a life-altering disability ("Autumn"). While attending Radcliffe College, Helen Keller was able to write her own autobiography, The Story of My Life, and it was published in 1903. The Story of My Life, is a detailed description of Keller's life and her journey to make a difference in the world (Story of My Life).
Taking a Stand: Activist for Equal Rights After college, Keller's attention was drawn towards equal rights for all people. She advocated for the disabled, became part of the women's suffrage movement, and continued to share her story with the world. During World War II, Keller became a pacifist and donated her German royalties to help fund German war veterans that were blind. Her passion and drive never ceased, even when the Germans threatened to burn all of her anti-war writings. She believed that although the physical writing might be burned, you could never eradicate the values and ideas they contain (USHMM). As well as being a pacifist during the war, Keller felt it was her duty to advocate the people often overlooked and seen as just a nuisance in society.
In a speech to the House Committee on Labor, Keller explained how everyone deserves to be treated with dignity and respect, to be treated like any other person. The colored blind faced both discrimination because of their color and disability. They were forced to learn in run down school buildings, with little to none formal education. In addition, they lacked the proper medical attention and adequate handicap allowance to just enjoy the simplest things in life. The deaf-blind faced similar circumstances. There were no agencies fully equipped to properly educate and provide for all of these people. Both groups felt isolated because they did not have the ability to make a living for themselves. Keller wanted to change that. She was able to make the Committee revise the Social Security Act, allowing both the colored blind and deaf-blind an adequate allowance to live a basic life (comments on the house committee on
labor). In a letter delivered to President Herbert Hoover on February 4, 1955, Keller thanked Hoover for his continual support and efforts to give disabled people more rights. She cannot express how much it means to her for giving a speech for the American Foundation for the Blind and spreading awareness to the country (letter to president Hoover). Helen Keller also grew very close to a man named Alexander Graham Bell when her family was looking for a teacher for Keller. In a letter addressed to Bell and his wife, Keller thanks them for helping her with her speech in New York. She goes on to say that the two of them will accomplish great things in their lifetimes. Helen Keller believed that anyone could make difference in the world, that everyone had the potential to do something great. After Keller wrote to Alexander Graham Bell, he went on to inventing the telephone and it has for verse changed the world (letter to bell). Not only did Helen Keller stand up for the disabled, but as a woman she believed that men and women were both created equally. In an article called "I Must Speak", Keller explains that the diseases and disabilities do not define who you are, they do not matter. She believed that everyone deserved to be treated equally, the blind beggar, the epileptic child, and even a woman. Keller said that every child has the right to be "well born", to have the same opportunities and live and life of happiness and joy. She proclaimed the importance of letting your daughters know that they are special and can do anything their heart desires. At the end of her article, Keller states that the world does not need a cure for diseases, but for evil. Everyone needs love and optimism (Ladies' Home Journal). Louis Braille was a brilliant man, who enabled Helen Keller to reach the stars. In a speech at Sorbonne, Keller gave a speech honoring Louis Braille and his accomplishments. She talked about how being deaf and blind does not define you or make you less of a person. Having a disability should not be considered a limitation, but an ability to teach others. Keller gave Braille gratitude for all that he had done for not only herself, but everyone around the world. Without the Braille system, she would never have been able to share her story with the world. In her concluding statements, she explains that the blind and deaf have truly been able to come out of the darkness and entered into the light. Their voices can finally be heard, which means the world to Keller (Kellers speech at Sorbonne).
Death and Legacy Helen Keller was truly a remarkable woman who made an extraordinary difference in the world. Her ability to emphasize with individual citizens, allowed her to become an incredibly influential world leader. Over the course of her lifetime, Keller was able to visit 39 different countries and explain her life story as well as her mission to make everyone feel that they have worth and are important. With the help of leaders from all over the world, she was able to start several organizations, such as Permanent Blind War Relief Fund, that made a major impact on the lives of so many (author, political activists, and advocate, fundraiser). On September 14, 1964, Helen Keller received the highest honor a citizen of the United States could ever receive, The Presidential Medal of Freedom. Lyndon Baines Johnson presented the medal to Helen Keller for her extraordinary work towards equal rights for the disabled and women, as well as her in relentless drive to help veterans permanently blinded due to war (medal of freedom). In the last few years of Keller's life she suffered a stroke in 1960 and from 1961 onwards she resided at Arcan Ridge located in Westport, Connecticut. In 1961, she made her last public appearance in Washington, D.C. at the Lions Club International Foundation meeting. There she received the Lions Humanitarian Award for dedicating her life to serving humanity and giving inspiration to the Foundation to create new blind programs. On June 1, 1968, Helen Keller passed away, leaving behind a legacy that will last forever. Her ashes were spread at St. Joseph's Chapel of Washington Cathedral next to her teacher Anne Sullivan as well as Macy and Polly Thompson (AFB Hellen Keller biography). In an article by the New York Times, Keller is described as a worldwide figure that represents courage and bravery. She was a woman full of life and spirit, who made the world a better place (NY Times). On December 11, 1981, the Helen Keller National Center Act was introduced into the House and created a center for deaf-blind youths and adults. This center included specialized services, trained personal, as well as various devices for teaching and communication. Then, on April 26, 1985, the Senate declared the week of June 23 through June 29 as Helen Keller Deaf-Blind Awareness Week. In an article by the Los Angeles Times, Mark Twain explains how Helen Keller w one of the most influential people not in,y in his life but in the nineteenth century. She taught him the importance of life and the beauty of wonder (LA Times).
institution for further help. Keller's mother worked frantically to find help for her daughter, when one day she found her answer in a travelogue by Charles Dickens. Through this pamphlet, Keller's parents met Alexander Graham Bell, who was working with deaf children at the time. In addition, they found their "miracle worker" Anne Sullivan in Boston, Massachusetts, at Perkins Institute for the Blind (biography.com). When Sullivan first arrived at the Keller household on March 3, 1887, not everything went as smooth as anticipated. After struggling for some time, Sullivan suggested that Helen be isolated from the rest of her family for some time. Through this one-on-one time together, Sullivan was able to teach Keller her first word "water". After countless attempts, Sullivan was able to get across to Keller with the use of the family's water pump. By the end of the night, Sullivan had taught Keller over thirty new words. (biography.com). A statue of Helen Keller was given to the National Sanctuary Hall Collection by Alabama in 2009. This statue depicts once again the moment she learned her first word and how the course of her life was then changed forever (Architect of the Capitol--Statue).
Learning Tools and A Formal Education Helen Keller started her formal education in May of 1888, when Anne Sullivan brought her to Perkins School for the Blind in Boston, Massachusetts. Sullivan's goal of brining Keller to this school was to introduce her to other people like herself. She attended Perkins School for the Blind every winter for three years, studying French, arithmetic, geometry, and several other courses. In the fall of 1891, however, Keller was falsely accused of plagiarism and she decided to leave the school (Perkins School for the Blind--Helen Keller). Keller then attended classes for speech at Horace Mann School for the Deaf and Blind. In addition, she studied regular subjects as well as ways to become a better communicator at Wright-Humason School for the Deaf in New York. Afterwards, Keller decided that she wanted to attend college at Radcliffe College and graduated at age 24 with her degree, cum laude. Although Keller attended an extensive amount of schooling for speech and becoming a better communicator, it took her about 25 years to speak in way that non-signers could understand (The Heroine Collective). As a deaf and blind person, life was very different for Helen Keller. During her lifetime she used a watch created by John Hitz in 1892. It was designed for people to use when it was too dark to see the time, making it perfect for Keller. Known as the "touch watch", it had an outer edge with pins that corresponded to the hours on the watch dial, enabling a person to touch their watch and being able to tell the time. There was also a revolving hand that stopped between the puns to indicate the hour and the minute (Helen Keller's Watch). In addition to the watch, the Braille system was a major part of Keller's life. At the age of thirteen years old she acquired a love for writing, and wrote one of her first poems entitled "Autumn" given to Alexander Graham Bell. It contained beautiful words and symbolism. She described her life and all of the struggles she had to overcome with such a life-altering disability ("Autumn"). While attending Radcliffe College, Helen Keller was able to write her own autobiography, The Story of My Life, and it was published in 1903. The Story of My Life, is a detailed description of Keller's life and her journey to make a difference in the world (Story of My Life).
Taking a Stand: Activist for Equal Rights After college, Keller's attention was drawn towards equal rights for all people. She advocated for the disabled, became part of the women's suffrage movement, and continued to share her story with the world. During World War II, Keller became a pacifist and donated her German royalties to help fund German war veterans that were blind. Her passion and drive never ceased, even when the Germans threatened to burn all of her anti-war writings. She believed that although the physical writing might be burned, you could never eradicate the values and ideas they contain (USHMM). As well as being a pacifist during the war, Keller felt it was her duty to advocate the people often overlooked and seen as just a nuisance in society.
In a speech to the House Committee on Labor, Keller explained how everyone deserves to be treated with dignity and respect, to be treated like any other person. The colored blind faced both discrimination because of their color and disability. They were forced to learn in run down school buildings, with little to none formal education. In addition, they lacked the proper medical attention and adequate handicap allowance to just enjoy the simplest things in life. The deaf-blind faced similar circumstances. There were no agencies fully equipped to properly educate and provide for all of these people. Both groups felt isolated because they did not have the ability to make a living for themselves. Keller wanted to change that. She was able to make the Committee revise the Social Security Act, allowing both the colored blind and deaf-blind an adequate allowance to live a basic life (comments on the house committee on
labor). In a letter delivered to President Herbert Hoover on February 4, 1955, Keller thanked Hoover for his continual support and efforts to give disabled people more rights. She cannot express how much it means to her for giving a speech for the American Foundation for the Blind and spreading awareness to the country (letter to president Hoover). Helen Keller also grew very close to a man named Alexander Graham Bell when her family was looking for a teacher for Keller. In a letter addressed to Bell and his wife, Keller thanks them for helping her with her speech in New York. She goes on to say that the two of them will accomplish great things in their lifetimes. Helen Keller believed that anyone could make difference in the world, that everyone had the potential to do something great. After Keller wrote to Alexander Graham Bell, he went on to inventing the telephone and it has for verse changed the world (letter to bell). Not only did Helen Keller stand up for the disabled, but as a woman she believed that men and women were both created equally. In an article called "I Must Speak", Keller explains that the diseases and disabilities do not define who you are, they do not matter. She believed that everyone deserved to be treated equally, the blind beggar, the epileptic child, and even a woman. Keller said that every child has the right to be "well born", to have the same opportunities and live and life of happiness and joy. She proclaimed the importance of letting your daughters know that they are special and can do anything their heart desires. At the end of her article, Keller states that the world does not need a cure for diseases, but for evil. Everyone needs love and optimism (Ladies' Home Journal). Louis Braille was a brilliant man, who enabled Helen Keller to reach the stars. In a speech at Sorbonne, Keller gave a speech honoring Louis Braille and his accomplishments. She talked about how being deaf and blind does not define you or make you less of a person. Having a disability should not be considered a limitation, but an ability to teach others. Keller gave Braille gratitude for all that he had done for not only herself, but everyone around the world. Without the Braille system, she would never have been able to share her story with the world. In her concluding statements, she explains that the blind and deaf have truly been able to come out of the darkness and entered into the light. Their voices can finally be heard, which means the world to Keller (Kellers speech at Sorbonne).
Death and Legacy Helen Keller was truly a remarkable woman who made an extraordinary difference in the world. Her ability to emphasize with individual citizens, allowed her to become an incredibly influential world leader. Over the course of her lifetime, Keller was able to visit 39 different countries and explain her life story as well as her mission to make everyone feel that they have worth and are important. With the help of leaders from all over the world, she was able to start several organizations, such as Permanent Blind War Relief Fund, that made a major impact on the lives of so many (author, political activists, and advocate, fundraiser). On September 14, 1964, Helen Keller received the highest honor a citizen of the United States could ever receive, The Presidential Medal of Freedom. Lyndon Baines Johnson presented the medal to Helen Keller for her extraordinary work towards equal rights for the disabled and women, as well as her in relentless drive to help veterans permanently blinded due to war (medal of freedom). In the last few years of Keller's life she suffered a stroke in 1960 and from 1961 onwards she resided at Arcan Ridge located in Westport, Connecticut. In 1961, she made her last public appearance in Washington, D.C. at the Lions Club International Foundation meeting. There she received the Lions Humanitarian Award for dedicating her life to serving humanity and giving inspiration to the Foundation to create new blind programs. On June 1, 1968, Helen Keller passed away, leaving behind a legacy that will last forever. Her ashes were spread at St. Joseph's Chapel of Washington Cathedral next to her teacher Anne Sullivan as well as Macy and Polly Thompson (AFB Hellen Keller biography). In an article by the New York Times, Keller is described as a worldwide figure that represents courage and bravery. She was a woman full of life and spirit, who made the world a better place (NY Times). On December 11, 1981, the Helen Keller National Center Act was introduced into the House and created a center for deaf-blind youths and adults. This center included specialized services, trained personal, as well as various devices for teaching and communication. Then, on April 26, 1985, the Senate declared the week of June 23 through June 29 as Helen Keller Deaf-Blind Awareness Week. In an article by the Los Angeles Times, Mark Twain explains how Helen Keller w one of the most influential people not in,y in his life but in the nineteenth century. She taught him the importance of life and the beauty of wonder (LA Times).