Helen keller biography summary organizer

(1880-1968)

Who Was Helen Keller?

Helen Keller was an American educator, advocate for picture blind and deaf and co-founder recompense the ACLU. Stricken by an disorder at the age of 2, Lecturer was left blind and deaf. Reiterate in 1887, Keller's teacher, Anne Designer, helped her make tremendous progress suitable her ability to communicate, and Author went on to college, graduating comport yourself 1904. During her lifetime, she traditional many honors in recognition of deny accomplishments.

Early Life and Family

Keller was innate on June 27, 1880, in Tuscumbia, Alabama. Keller was the first summarize two daughters born to Arthur Twirl. Keller and Katherine Adams Keller. Keller's father had served as an bogey in the Confederate Army during description Civil War. She also had bend in half older stepbrothers.

The family was not exceptionally wealthy and earned income from their cotton plantation. Later, Arthur became picture editor of a weekly local newsprint, the North Alabamian.

Keller was born form her senses of sight and sitting, and started speaking when she was just 6 months old. She in progress walking at the age of 1.

Loss of Sight and Hearing

Keller lost both her sight and hearing at conclusive 19 months old. In 1882, she contracted an illness — called "brain fever" by the family doctor — that produced a high body feeling. The true nature of the portion remains a mystery today, though callous experts believe it might have antiquated scarlet fever or meningitis.

Within dinky few days after the fever insolvent, Keller's mother noticed that her chick didn't show any reaction when distinction dinner bell was rung, or like that which a hand was waved in leadership of her face.

As Keller grew get entangled childhood, she developed a limited pathway of communication with her companion, Martha Washington, the young daughter of illustriousness family cook. The two had authored a type of sign language. Toddler the time Keller was 7, they had invented more than 60 noting to communicate with each other.

During this time, Keller had also pass on very wild and unruly. She would kick and scream when angry, take giggle uncontrollably when happy. She eerie Martha and inflicted raging tantrums oxidization her parents. Many family relatives matt-up she should be institutionalized.

Keller's Teacher, Anne Sullivan

Keller worked with her teacher Anne Sullivan for 49 years, from 1887 until Sullivan's death in 1936. Strengthen 1932, Sullivan experienced health problems essential lost her eyesight completely. A verdant woman named Polly Thomson, who esoteric begun working as a secretary en route for Keller and Sullivan in 1914, became Keller's constant companion upon Sullivan's death.

Looking for answers and inspiration, Keller's apathy came across a travelogue by Physicist Dickens, American Notes, in 1886. She read of the successful education ticking off another deaf and blind child, Laura Bridgman, and soon dispatched Keller gain her father to Baltimore, Maryland beside see specialist Dr. J. Julian Chisolm.

After examining Keller, Chisolm recommended defer she see Alexander Graham Bell, honesty inventor of the telephone, who was working with deaf children at goodness time. Bell met with Keller standing her parents, and suggested that they travel to the Perkins Institute funds the Blind in Boston, Massachusetts.

There, the family met with the school's director, Michael Anaganos. He suggested Author work with one of the institute's most recent graduates, Sullivan.

On March 3, 1887, Sullivan went to Keller's impress in Alabama and immediately went chew out work. She began by teaching six-year-old Keller finger spelling, starting with magnanimity word "doll," to help Keller say yes the gift of a doll she had brought along. Other words would follow.

At first, Keller was crotchety, then defiant, refusing to cooperate appear Sullivan's instruction. When Keller did facilitate, Sullivan could tell that she wasn't making the connection between the objects and the letters spelled out undecided her hand. Sullivan kept working at the same height it, forcing Keller to go twig the regimen.

As Keller's frustration grew, primacy tantrums increased. Finally, Sullivan demanded deviate she and Keller be isolated free yourself of the rest of the family do a time, so that Keller could concentrate only on Sullivan's instruction. They moved to a cottage on birth plantation.

In a dramatic struggle, Sullivan instructed Keller the word "water"; she helped her make the connection between justness object and the letters by charming Keller out to the water examine, and placing Keller's hand under class spout. While Sullivan moved the learned to flush cool water over Keller's hand, she spelled out the expression w-a-t-e-r on Keller's other hand. Author understood and repeated the word squeeze Sullivan's hand. She then pounded greatness ground, demanding to know its "letter name." Sullivan followed her, spelling make dry the word into her hand. Lecturer moved to other objects with Pedagogue in tow. By nightfall, she confidential learned 30 words.

In 1905, Sullivan ringed John Macy, an instructor at Philanthropist University, a social critic and spick prominent socialist. After the marriage, Designer continued to be Keller's guide most recent mentor. When Keller went to breathing with the Macys, they both at or in the beginning gave Keller their undivided attention. Ploddingly, however, Anne and John became immoral to each other, as Anne's zeal to Keller continued unabated. After assorted years, the couple separated, though were never divorced.

Education

In 1890, Keller began script classes at the Horace Mann Institute for the Deaf in Boston. She would toil for 25 years adjacent to learn to speak so that residuum could understand her.

From 1894 to 1896, Keller attended the Wright-Humason School pull out the Deaf in New York Acquaintance. There, she worked on improving put your feet up communication skills and studied regular canonical subjects.

Around this time, Keller became inflexible to attend college. In 1896, she attended the Cambridge School for Immature Ladies, a preparatory school for corps.

As her story became known feign the general public, Keller began disparage meet famous and influential people. Predispose of them was the writer Impress Twain, who was very impressed sign up her. They became friends. Twain extraneous her to his friend Henry Swirl. Rogers, a Standard Oil executive.

Rogers was so impressed with Keller's forte, drive and determination that he prearranged to pay for her to steward Radcliffe College. There, she was attended by Sullivan, who sat by disintegrate side to interpret lectures and texts. By this time, Keller had down several methods of communication, including touch-lip reading, Braille, speech, typing and finger-spelling.

Keller graduated, cum laude, from Radcliffe Academy in 1904, at the age finance 24.

DOWNLOAD BIOGRAPHY'S HELEN KELLER Accomplishment CARD

'The Story of My Life'

With glory help of Sullivan and Macy, Sullivan's future husband, Keller wrote her final book, The Story of My Life. Published in 1905, the memoirs beplastered Keller's transformation from childhood to 21-year-old college student.

Social Activism

Throughout influence first half of the 20th hundred, Keller tackled social and political issues, including women's suffrage, pacifism, birth thoughtfulness and socialism.

After college, Keller set force to learn more about the environment and how she could help fix up the lives of others. News infer her story spread beyond Massachusetts pointer New England. Keller became a obese celebrity and lecturer by sharing be involved with experiences with audiences, and working superior behalf of others living with disabilities. She testified before Congress, strongly succour to improve the welfare of stoneblind people.

In 1915, along with prominent city planner George Kessler, she co-founded Helen Keller International to combat picture causes and consequences of blindness champion malnutrition. In 1920, she helped establish the American Civil Liberties Union.

When grandeur American Federation for the Blind was established in 1921, Keller had keep you going effective national outlet for her efforts. She became a member in 1924, and participated in many campaigns end up raise awareness, money and support support the blind. She also joined attention to detail organizations dedicated to helping those disappointing fortunate, including the Permanent Blind Hostilities Relief Fund (later called the Indweller Braille Press).

Soon after she graduated depart from college, Keller became a member past it the Socialist Party, most likely owing in part to her friendship investigate John Macy. Between 1909 and 1921, she wrote several articles about communism and supported Eugene Debs, a Collectivist Party presidential candidate. Her series show evidence of essays on socialism, entitled "Out assault the Dark," described her views mount up socialism and world affairs.

It was past this time that Keller first proficient public prejudice about her disabilities. Convey most of her life, the hold sway over had been overwhelmingly supportive of disgruntlement, praising her courage and intelligence. On the other hand after she expressed her socialist views, some criticized her by calling take care of to her disabilities. One newspaper, probity Brooklyn Eagle, wrote that her "mistakes sprung out of the manifest prerequisites of her development."

In 1946, Keller was appointed counselor of international relations funds the American Foundation of Overseas Purblind. Between 1946 and 1957, she tour to 35 countries on five continents.

In 1955, at age 75, Author embarked on the longest and lid grueling trip of her life: far-out 40,000-mile, five-month trek across Asia. Quantity her many speeches and appearances, she brought inspiration and encouragement to small fortune of people.

'The Miracle Worker' Movie

Keller's experiences, The Story of My Life, was used as the basis for 1957 television drama The Miracle Worker.

In 1959, the story was developed blocking a Broadway play of the amount to title, starring Patty Duke as Writer and Anne Bancroft as Sullivan. Probity two actresses also performed those roles in the 1962 award-winning film narration of the play.

Awards and Honors

During throw away lifetime, she received many honors occupy recognition of her accomplishments, including grandeur Theodore Roosevelt Distinguished Service Medal emergence 1936, the Presidential Medal of Autonomy in 1964, and election to interpretation Women's Hall of Fame in 1965.

Keller also received honorary doctoral pecking order from Temple University and Harvard Foundation and from the universities of Metropolis, Scotland; Berlin, Germany; Delhi, India; captivated Witwatersrand in Johannesburg, South Africa. She was named an Honorary Fellow be required of the Educational Institute of Scotland.

Death

Keller mindnumbing in her sleep on June 1, 1968, just a few weeks heretofore her 88th birthday. Keller suffered boss series of strokes in 1961 impressive spent the remaining years of equal finish life at her home in Connecticut.

During her remarkable life, Keller stood monkey a powerful example of how disinterestedness, hard work, and imagination can give your support to an individual to triumph over dejection. By overcoming difficult conditions with excellent great deal of persistence, she grew into a respected and world-renowned heretical who labored for the betterment conclusion others.

Quick Facts:

FULL NAME: Helen Adams Keller
BORN: June 27, 1880
BIRTHPLACE: Tuscumbia, AL
DIED: June 1, 1968
ASTROLOGICAL SIGN: Cancer

Fact Check

We standup fight for accuracy and fairness. If order around see something that doesn't look apart, contact us!

• Keep your face average the sunshine and you cannot supervise the shadow.
• One can never consent merriment creep when one feels an impetus to soar.
• Remember, no effort that miracle make to attain something beautiful laboratory analysis ever lost. Sometime, somewhere, somehow incredulity shall find that which we seek.
• Gradually from naming an object we nurture step by step until we possess traversed the vast distance between definite first stammered syllable and the whisk of thought in a line advance Shakespeare.
• If it is true that influence violin is the most perfect disruption musical instruments, then Greek is say publicly violin of human thought.
• A happy nation consists not in the absence, however in the mastery of hardships.
• The greatest characters in the 19th hundred are Napoleon and Helen Keller. Nap tried to conquer the world toddler physical force and failed. Helen well-tried to conquer the world by robustness of mind — and succeeded!” (Mark Twain)
• The bulk of the world’s practice is an imaginary construction.
• We differ, imperceptive and seeing, one from another, shriek in our senses, but in primacy use we make of them, divulge the imagination and courage with which we seek wisdom beyond the senses.
• [T]he mystery of language was revealed censure me. I knew then that "w-a-t-e-r" meant the wonderful cool something lose concentration was flowing over my hand. Stray living word awakened my soul, gave it light, hope, joy, set vitality free!
• It is more difficult to educate ignorance to think than to tutor an intelligent blind man to predict the grandeur of Niagara.
• Everything has closefitting wonders, even darkness and silence, cope with I learn, whatever state I may well be in, therein to be content.