Helen Keller

Blind and deaf writer and activist, and guiding force of The American Foundation for the Blind, who devtoed her life to expanding possibilities for people who are deaf-blind, blind, or have low vision.

"A person who is severely impaired never knows his hidden sources of strength until he is treated like a normal human being and encouraged to shape his own life."

— Helen Keller

Born: July 27, 1880 Tuscumbia, Alabama
Died: June 1, 1968 Arcan Ridge, Connecticut

An accomplished, respected and world-renowned deaf-blind American, Helen Keller overcame those serious afflictions and dedicated her adult life to championing opportunities for other handicapped citizens of the world. As an American and a citizen of the world, she used her influence - through lectures and writing - to promote schools for the handicapped, foster new concepts of human dignity and change archaic practices which, at one time, sentenced the blind and deaf to insane asylums.

American author and educator, Keller was born in 1880. Her father was a newspaper editor in Alabama. While normal at birth, when she was 19 months old she was struck by a severe illness, reportedly scarlet fever, which robbed her of her sight and hearing. She soon became mute.

Her early frustrations with her limitations often sent her into violent rages. However, because she showed an aptitude to learn and was clearly extremely intelligent, her parents took her to Alexander Graham Bell when she was around six for education counseling. He led her to Anne Mansfield Sullivan who taught her the manual alphabet and how to "hear" vibrations in a person's throat. Through Sullivan's teaching she learned to speak in only one month. With Sullivan's continuing aid, further instruction at the Horace Mann School for the Deaf in Boston and at the Wright-Humason Oral School in New York, Keller learned to read in Braille, write and type.

Learning to read opened worlds to Keller and she recognized that it could do the same for others who shared her physical afflictions. Reading enabled her to ultimately become a prolific writer, producing essays, journals and books. In Braille, the Magic Wand of the Blind, she writes of the joy of books: "Truly, books are lamps in my own life and in the lives of countless other blind people. They are a haven of peace set to rest in after we have been tossed on the waves of discouragement. They deliver us from the dreary monotony of blindness! With words of light they transport us from our little corner in the dark to the colorful, throbbing, creative life of mankind. They roll up the curtain of night, as it were, and reveal to us the glory of dawn the starry skies, the sea and mighty forests."

She learned to speak English and eventually, she would also learn French and German. She studied history, astronomy, literature, physics, and philosophy. Her efforts won her admission to a prestigious college.

Keller graduated cum laude from Radcliffe College at the age of 24. The autobiography she wrote while still in college became an astounding success. She became both a socialist and suffragette seeking better pay for the poor and equal rights for women.

Keller never lost touch with the needs of people who were blind or deaf-blind. From her youth, she was always willing to help by appearing before legislatures, giving lectures, writing articles, and above all, by her own example of what a disabled person could accomplish. Keller is credited with being instrumental in promoting the formation of many state commissions for the blind. When the American Foundation for the Blind (AFB), the national clearinghouse for information on blindness, was established in 1921, she at last had an effective national outlet for her efforts. Keller is considered the founding spirit and shaper of AFB having joined the organization in its second year of full operation and remained with it as a paid employee until her death 1968.

Keller traveled across America, lecturing widely. Because she had overcome her own very serious physical limitations, she became known worldwide and was often invited overseas to discuss how others could do the same.

Helen Keller was as interested in the welfare of blind people in other countries as she was for those in her own country; conditions in the underdeveloped and war-ravaged nations were of particular concern. Her active participation in this area of work for blind people began in 1915 when the Permanent Blind War Relief Fund, later called the American Braille Press, was founded. She was a member of its first board of directors.

When the American Braille Press became the American Foundation for Overseas Blind (now Helen Keller International) in 1946, Keller was appointed counselor on international relations. It was then that she began the globe-circling tours on behalf of blind people for which she was so well known during her later years. Between 1946 and 1957 she visited 35 countries on five continents, raising money and bringing courage to millions of blind people. Many efforts to improve conditions among blind people abroad can be traced directly to her visits.

It is clear that Keller triumphed over adversity in her life, and, in doing so, served as an example to men and women everywhere. One of her favorite quotes reflected her positive outlook: "Keep your face to the sunshine and you cannot see the shadows."

Late in her life, Keller was asked to comment on growing older: "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...it 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."

Former President Nixon saluted her by noting, in 1969, that she was, "an American ambassador-at-large to the world because she was unexcelled in interpreting the nation's philosophy of respect for the unique inherent qualities of each individual."

When she was 77, Keller traveled to Iceland, Sweden, Norway, Finland and Denmark to survey facilities for the blind. The Helen Keller World Crusade for the Blind, founded in 1959, which she led and inspired, continues her effort internationally today. Her last public appearance was in 1961. She died seven years later while taking a nap.

Her death did not end her influence, however. Keller's inspiration lives on through movies and plays depicting her remarkable life as well as her books, such as The World I Live In, Out of the Dark, Let Us Have Faith, The Open Door, and her autobiography The Story of My Life, which has been translated into more than 50 languages. She frequently contributed to magazines and newspapers, writing most frequently on blindness, deafness, socialism, social issues, and women's rights.

One of many U.S. Senate resolutions introduced in honor of Keller stated that as Counselor for the AFB, "she has guided programs to advance the economic, cultural and social opportunities of blind and deaf-blind persons throughout the United States."

When President Lyndon Johnson awarded her the 1964 Medal of Freedom, America's highest civilian award, he said Keller is, "an example of courage to all mankind." Her Presidential Medal of Freedom was joined by many others including the Public Service Award from the American Academy of Otolaryncology, the French Legion of Honor, the Brazilian Order of the Southern Cross, the Japanese Sacred Treasure, the Philippines Golden Heart, and the Lebanese Gold Medal of Merit.

With boundless energy, she spent her life helping others, noting, "The more we try to help each other and make life brighter, the happier we shall be." Keller never lost sight of her mission to help the disabled by improving the lives and living conditions of the blind, deaf-blind, handicapped and poor in the United States and the world.


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