"the first lady of courage." Helen Keller

One of the most inspiring deaf or deafblind women is Helen Keller. Even today, her story fascinates people. Imagine that she couldn't see these words or hear them spoken. But see could still talk, write, read, and make friends. In fact, you went to college, wrote nearly a dozen books, traveled all over the world, met 12 U.S. presidents, and lived to be 87. Well, there was such a person, her name is Helen Keller and she was born over a hundred years ago! Helen Keller was an American lecturer, author, and activist. Deaf and blind since early childhood, and living in an era where most individuals similarly afflicted were consigned to an asylum. She overcame the adversity of being blind and deaf to become one of the 20th century's leading humanitarians.

Helen Adams Keller was born on 27 June 1880 in Tuscumbia, a small rural town in Northwest Alabama, USA. The daughter of Captain Arthur Henley Keller and Kate Adams Keller she was born with full sight and hearing. Helen Keller at the age of 19 months,(not quite 2 years old) was a happy, healthy child. She was already saying a few words. But Helen's life was to change dramatically. In February 1882. she fell ill. The doctors of the time called it "brain fever", whilst modern day doctors think it may have been scarlet fever or meningitis.

An unidentified illness took her hearing and sight when she was only 19 months old. After losing both, she became wild and uncontrollable due to her inability to communicate and learn. She became very frustrated trying to speak and be understood. Helen never brushed her hair, threw objects, walked around eating off people's plates, and even locked her mother in the pantry. Helen's family was desperate for help and hired Anne Sullivan as a private tutor. Almost as well known as Helen Keller is the work of Anne Sullivan, who became her teacher in 1887, working in a role that today is known as an intervenor. Helen finally learned that things have names when Sullivan had the famous "water" breakthrough, fingerspelling "water" into Helen's hand and pumping water for Helen to feel.

I cannot remember how I felt when the light went out of my eyes. I suppose I felt it was always night and perhaps I wondered why the day did not come. --Helen Keller

How Miss Sullivan turned the uncontrolled child into a responsible human being and succeeded in awakening and stimulating her marvelous mind is familiar to millions. Miss Sullivan began her task with a doll that the children at Perkins had made for her to take to Helen. By spelling "d-o-l-l" into the child's hand, she hoped to teach her to connect objects with letters. Miss Sullivan started to draw water and put Helen's hand under the spout. As the cool water gushed over one hand, she spelled into the other hand the word "w-a-t-e-r" first slowly, then rapidly. Suddenly, the signals had meaning in Helen's mind. She knew that "water" meant the wonderful cool substance flowing over her hand. Quickly, she stopped and touched the earth and demanded its letter name and by nightfall she had learned 30 words.

I saw clearly that it was useless to try to teach her language or anything else until she learned to obey me. I have thought about it a great deal, and the more I think, the more certain I am that obedience is the gateway through which knowledge, yes, and love, too, enter the mind of a child. --Anne Sullivan

Helen attended Perkins School for the Blind with Anne, where she learned quickly and had an exceptional memory for details. It was there where she was known as "Miracle Child." Keller became an excellent student and eventually attended Radcliffe College, where she graduated with honors in 1904. Helen Keller progressed with language quickly under Anne Sullivan's tutorage. She learned Braille at the Perkins Institution and learned to speak at the Horace Mann School for the Deaf. She spent the rest of her life traveling the world and lecturing and raising money for the handicapped. She wrote a book about her life, and the play "The Miracle Worker" by William Gibson, won the Pulitzer Prize and was later a movie.

Helen Keller wrote her autobiography, publishing The Story of My Life (1903) and Midstream: My Later Life (1929) as well as publishing several other books, including The Practice of Optimism (1903, 1915), My Religion (1927), and Teacher, Anne Sullivan Macy: A Tribute by the Foster Child of her Mind (1955).

Helen Keller was, for a time, the most famous handicapped person in the world. During her lifetime Keller was regarded as one of America's most inspirational figures.
For the rest of her life, Helen Keller worked for improving education for the blind, deaf, and mute. She traveled and lectured extensively. Despite her retirement from public life, Helen Keller was not forgotten. Helen Keller was an inspiration to everyone, with or without disabilities. She will always be remembered as a hero to many people throughout the world bringing light and hope to everyone. She wound up visiting 39 countries on five different continents! Helen also inspired many works of art, including two Oscar-winning movies, and received dozens of awards, such as the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest honor that an American civilian can receive. Helen Keller, the little girl, became one of history's remarkable women. She dedicated her life to improving the conditions of blind and the deaf-blind around the world

Helen died on June 1, 1968 in Westport, Connecticut. A service was held in her honor at the National Cathedral in Washington, D.C., and her ashes were placed there next to her constant companions, Anne Sullivan and Polly Thompson.

All my life I have tried to avoid ruts, such as doing things my ancestors did before me, or leaning on the crutches of other people's opinion, or losing my childhood sense of wonderment. I am glad to say I still have a vivid curiosity about the world I live in....t is as natural for me to believe that the richest harvest of happiness comes with age as to believe that true sight and hearing are within, not without.... --Helen Keller