Helen Keller: “The most beautiful and best things in the universe cannot be touched or seen – but they can be felt by the heart.” Helen Keller didn’t let her blindness or deafness stop her. She was also the first blind deaf woman to receive a bachelor’s degree. She helped others achieve similar goals. She inspired people in her own generation, and still amazes people today. Keller’s popularity grew from her early childhood until she died in 1968. She is remembered as a brilliant American author and political activist.
Helen Adams Keller, born June 27, 1880 at Uscumbia in Alabama. Helen Keller is the daughter of Kate Adams Keller and Col. Arthur Keller. Mildred Keller had a half brother and a half sister. Phillips Keller and William Keller were her siblings. She was healthy up until she turned 19 months. Then, she caught an illness. This illness left her deaf and blind. Due to this, she found it difficult to learn until a woman named Anne Sullivan walked into her world. She taught the girl how to speak and learn words. The first one she learned was water. Anne taught her by placing her hand underneath a faucet. She began taking speech classes in 1980 at the Horace Mann School for the Deaf, Boston. She studied at the Wright-Humason School, a deaf school in New York City. She studied at Cambridge School for Young Ladies from 1896. She wrote a number of books that told her story. Helen Keller wrote many books. Helen Keller didn’t have a happy childhood. She was unable to have a voice in her life. However, as she aged and gained knowledge, she began speaking out.
Helen Keller became more political after she joined groups and began speaking out more. She first joined the Socialist Party. In 1909 she joined and accomplished many things with the group. She was with the party until 1921. Her speeches often dealt with women’s vote rights and the war impact. Helen was also a supporter of eugenics. Especially for those who had mental disabilities. Eugenics dates back to late 19th-century when Sir Francis Galton’s cousin Charles Darwin coined this term. The theory holds that certain traits and illnesses of humans can be eliminated from the human species. Alexander Graham Bell, Helen Keller’s best friend, supported eugenics along with her. Helen Keller was a victim of eugenics. Helen was an Industrial Workers of the World member. IWW is also called the Wobblies. They claimed that parliamentary socialism is’sinking into the political bog. She joined the group in 1912. In the years 1916-1918, she wrote for them. In her book Why I became an IWW she explains that her activism was partly motivated by her concern over blindness and disabilities. She was a strong advocate for women, loved all who helped her and spoke well.
Helen was a very important lecturer. Many people didn’t understand how Helen would accomplish this feat, even when Anne was present. Anne Sullivan interpreted what Helen said. Helen was able to speak but it wasn’t very clear. Anne spoke for Helen. Anne found this way of speaking very exhausting. Helen’s Mabel Tainter Memorial Building lecture was one of her first. Anne Sullivan accompanied Helen on a trip to Menomonie in Wisconsin. In this speech, she spoke about optimism and the joy of happiness. Dunn County News published her entire lecture on January 22, 1917. She spoke about her gratitude and happiness for her life in many of her lectures. She was very happy when she helped others. Anne began every lecture by telling her story about meeting Helen. She spoke of their successes and failures together.
Helen Keller is remembered as an amazing author, a political activist who inspires, and an excellent lecturer. Helen Keller did incredible and shocking things in her lifetime that no-one else has ever been able to do. She was blind and deaf, but she never let that stop her. Helen Keller teaches girls and boy that anything is possible and you should go beyond your limitations. She is still a role model for many people, including myself. Helen Keller is a person I admire.
