Helen Keller Deaf-blind writer and public figure Date of Birth: 27.06.1880 Country: USA

1. Helen Keller: The Inspiring Life of a Deafblind Writer and Activist
2. Early Life and Education
3. Breakthrough and Education
4. Activism and Legacy

Helen Keller: The Inspiring Life of a Deafblind Writer and Activist

Helen Adams Keller (June 27, 1880 – June 1, 1968) was an American writer, political activist, and lecturer. She became the first deafblind person in the world to obtain a bachelor's degree. Her story of how Annie Sullivan, her teacher, broke through the barrier created by her almost complete lack of language and how she blossomed as she learned to communicate with the world has been the foundation of many well-known dramatic works, including the play and film "The Miracle Worker."

Early Life and Education

Keller was born on the Ivy Green plantation in Tuscumbia, Alabama. Her father, Captain Arthur Keller, was a former Confederate Army officer, and her mother, Kate Adams Keller, was the cousin of General Robert E. Lee and the daughter of another general, Charles Adams. The Keller family roots can be traced back to Switzerland.

Keller did not become deaf and blind from birth; it was not until she was around nineteen months old that she developed a rare illness that doctors diagnosed as "acute congestion of the stomach and brain," possibly scarlet fever or meningitis. The illness plagued her for a short time but managed to rob her of her sight and hearing. By this time, she was able to communicate with Martha Washington, the six-year-old daughter of the family cook, who understood her sign language. By the age of seven, Keller used sixty different signs to communicate with her family. According to the opinion of the prominent Soviet psychologist specializing in blind and deaf individuals, A. Meshcheryakov, it was her friendship with Martha that gave Keller a chance for further healing.

In 1886, inspired by the successful education of another similar child, Laura Bridgman, Keller's mother sent her and her father in search of Dr. Julian Chisolm, an ophthalmologist and otolaryngologist from Baltimore. Chisolm directed them to Alexander Graham Bell, who was working with deaf children at the time. Bell advised the Kellers to contact the Perkins School for the Blind, the same school where Laura Bridgman had been educated. Michael Anagnos, the school's director, reached out to Annie Sullivan, one of his former students. Despite serious visual impairments of her own and being only twenty years old, Sullivan became Keller's instructor, and their fruitful collaboration lasted for nearly forty-nine years.

Breakthrough and Education

Sullivan arrived at the Keller home in March 1887 and quickly began teaching Keller to communicate by spelling words into her hand. Their first lesson was the word "doll," in honor of the doll Sullivan brought as a gift for Keller. A breakthrough in Keller's education occurred the following month when she realized that the signs Sullivan made with one hand while her other hand was under cold water meant the word "water." She immediately demanded to know the names of most of the household objects, almost causing Sullivan to faint. As Keller grew older, her blind eyes were replaced with glass replicas for medical and cosmetic purposes.

Starting in May 1888, Keller attended classes at the Perkins School for the Blind. In 1894, Keller and Sullivan moved to New York City, where they began attending the Wright-Humason School for the Deaf and the Horace Mann School for the Deaf. In 1896, they returned to Massachusetts, and Keller began her education at the Cambridge School for Young Ladies. In 1900, she met her benefactor and admirer, Mark Twain, who was introduced to her by oil magnate Henry Huttleston Rogers. Rogers and his wife financed Keller's education. In 1904, at the age of twenty-four, Keller graduated from Radcliffe College, becoming the first deafblind person to receive a bachelor's degree.

Activism and Legacy

Quickly, Keller became a world-renowned speaker and writer. She is remembered for her advocacy for disabled individuals worldwide. She was an active suffragist, pacifist, and a staunch opponent of Woodrow Wilson. She was a radical socialist and a supporter of birth control. In 1915, Keller co-founded the international organization bearing her name, "Helen Keller International," which focused on vision, health, and nutrition. In 1920, she helped establish the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU).

Keller and Sullivan traveled extensively, visiting over thirty-nine countries. They even visited Japan, where they gained many admirers. Keller personally met every U.S. president from Grover Cleveland to Lyndon B. Johnson and befriended many celebrities, including Alexander Graham Bell, Charlie Chaplin, and Mark Twain.