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Helen Keller

Helen Adams Keller was an American author, political activist, and lecturer. She was the first deaf-blind person to earn a bachelor of arts degree. The story of how Keller's teacher, Anne Sullivan, broke through the isolation imposed by a near complete lack of language, allowing the girl to blossom as she learned to communicate, has become widely known through the dramatic depictions of the play and film The Miracle Worker. Her birthplace in West Tuscumbia, Alabama, is now a museum and sponsors an annual "Helen Keller Day".

Helen Keller was born with the ability to see and hear. At 19 months old, she contracted an unknown illness, which might have been scarlet fever or meningitis. The illness left her both deaf and blind. In 1886, the family sought out physician J. Julian Chisolm, a specialist, for advice. They were advised them to contact the Perkins Institute for the Blind. Michael Anagnos, the school's director, asked 20-year-old former student Anne Sullivan to become Helen's helper. It was the beginning of a 49-year-long relationship during which Sullivan evolved into Keller's governess and eventually her companion. Sullivan arrived at Keller's house in March 1887, and immediately began to teach Helen to communicate. Helen Keller was viewed as isolated, but was very in touch with the outside world. She was able to enjoy music by feeling the beat and she was able to have a strong connection with animals through touch. She was delayed at picking up language, but that did not stop her from having a voice.

A prolific author, Keller was well-traveled and outspoken in her convictions. A member of the Socialist Party of America and the Industrial Workers of the World, she campaigned for women's suffrage, labour rights, socialism, antimilitarism, and other similar causes. She was inducted into the Alabama Women's Hall of Fame in 1971 and was one of twelve inaugural inductees to the Alabama Writers Hall of Fame on June 8, 2015. Keller proved to the world that deaf people could all learn to communicate and that they could survive in the hearing world. She also taught that deaf people are capable of doing things that hearing people can do. One of the most famous deaf people in history, she is an idol to many deaf people in the world.

Born 27th June 1880 in Tuscumbia, Alabama, U.S.
Died 1st June 1968 in Arcan Ridge, Easton, Connecticut, U.S.

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