1880 - 1968
HELEN ADAMS KELLER
"The two most interesting characters of the 19th century are Napoleon and Helen Keller." - Mark Twain
Helen Adams Keller was born in Tuscumbia, Alabama on June 27, 1880 in a white cottage called "Ivy Green." When Helen was 18 months old, she was diagnosed with "brain fever," that perhaps now would be called scarlet fever. At the time, it was thought that the fever "left its victim an idiot." What it did, was to leave the victim BLIND and DEAF. Without this knowledge, those around Helen didn't know how to help her. By the time she was 7 years old, having very little understanding of the world around her, Helen's anger manifested itself into antagonistic, obstinate, and just plain wild behavior (seemingly confirming the old belief).
In March of 1887, Anne Mansfield Sullivan walked into Helen's life. Sullivan, having regained useful site through operations, was a 20 year old graduate of the Perkins School for the Blind. From that March day forward, Helen Keller and Miss Sullivan were inseparable.
Miss Sullivan believed that with Helen holding or touching an object with one hand, and she simultaneously spelling the name of the object into Helen's other hand, that she would eventually be able to connect the objects with the words. Early on, Helen quickly learned to immitate the words being spelled, however, she was not comprehending that the letters were words, or that the words existed in the form of the objects.
Sometime later, while pumping water, Miss Sullivan, constantly teaching, put one of Helen's hands under the water, and then spelled the word "w-a-t-e-r" in the other hand. She spelled the word slowly. Again, Helen was not comprehending. Frustrated, Miss Sullivan spelled it again, faster. And Again. Suddently, Helen froze. In the moments that followed, you could see the understanding wash over her. Bright with anticipation, Helen spelled water. She knew! She understood that the cool liquid running over her hand was water...and that the symbols Miss Sullivan had motioned "meant" water. Excited and hungry for more, she began touching object after object, demanding its name. By that evening, Helen had learned 30 words.
Thus began Helen Keller's education. She quickly learned the alphabet, learned to read and write, and learned to speak. In 1900, Helen entered Radcliffe College and received her BA degree in 1904, with the distinction of cum laude. In 1905, Miss Sullivan married John Macy, and Helen went to live with them.
Throughout Helen's life, she continued to study and remain knowledgable about all matters of importance to modern man. In recognition of her wide number of scholary achievements, Helen received honorary doctoral degrees from Temple and Harvard Universities of USA, and from the Universities of Glasgow, Scotland; Berlin, Germany; Delhi, India; and Witwaters and Johannesburg, South Africa. She was also an Honorary Fellow of the Educational Institute of Scotland.
Throughout her life, due to her education, courage, strength, and generosity, Helen Keller has received hundreds of awards of distinction, writtin many popular books, and been portrayed in several best-selling novels and oscar winning movies. Several institutions have dedicated grounds to her, her birthplace was made a permanent shrine, and was one of the 20 women elected to the Women's Hall of Fame at the New York World's Fair.
Helen Keller died on June 1, 1968 at Arcan Ridge, a few weeks short of her 88th birthday.
