Helen Keller meets her miracle worker 1887
On this day in 1887, Anne Sullivan begins teaching six-year-old
Helen Keller, who lost her sight and hearing after a severe illness at
the age of 19 months. Under Sullivan’s tutelage, including her
pioneering “touch teaching” techniques, the previously uncontrollable
Keller flourished, eventually graduating from college and becoming an
international lecturer and activist. Sullivan, later dubbed “the miracle
worker,” remained Keller’s interpreter and constant companion until the
older woman’s death in 1936.
Sullivan, born in Massachusetts in 1866, had firsthand experience
with being handicapped: As a child, an infection impaired her vision.
She then attended the Perkins Institution for the Blind where she
learned the manual alphabet in order to communicate with a classmate who
was deaf and blind. Eventually, Sullivan had several operations that
improved her weakened eyesight.
Helen Adams Keller was born on June 27, 1880, to Arthur Keller, a
former Confederate army officer and newspaper publisher, and his wife
Kate, of Tuscumbia, Alabama. As a baby, a brief illness, possibly
scarlet fever, left Helen unable to see, hear or speak. She was
considered a bright but spoiled and strong-willed child. Her parents
eventually sought the advice of Alexander Graham Bell, the inventor of
the telephone and an authority on the deaf. He suggested the Kellers
contact the Perkins Institution, which in turn recommended Anne Sullivan
as a teacher.
Sullivan, age 20, arrived at Ivy Green, the Keller family estate, in
1887 and began working to socialize her wild, stubborn student and teach
her by spelling out words in Keller’s hand. Initially, the finger
spelling meant nothing to Keller. However, a breakthrough occurred one
day when Sullivan held one of Keller’s hands under water from a pump and
spelled out “w-a-t-e-r” in Keller’s palm. Keller went on to learn how
to read, write and speak. With Sullivan’s assistance, Keller attended
Radcliffe College and graduated with honors in 1904.
Helen Keller became a public speaker and author; her first book, “The
Story of My Life” was published in 1902. She was also a fundraiser for
the American Foundation for the Blind and an advocate for racial and
sexual equality, as well as socialism. From 1920 to 1924, Sullivan and
Keller even formed a vaudeville act to educate the public and earn
money. Helen Keller died on June 1, 1968, at her home in Westport,
Connecticut, at age 87, leaving her mark on the world by helping to
alter perceptions about the disabled.
(More Events on This Day in History)
-
American Revolution
- 1776 Silas Deane embarks on secret mission to France
-
Automotive
- 2009 Super-luxurious Maybach Zeppelin goes on sale
-
Civil War
- 1865 Freedman’s Bureau created
-
Cold War
- 1952 Supreme Court rules on communist teachers
-
Crime
- 1873 Congress bans sending obscene materials through the mail
-
Disaster
- 1974 Faulty door dooms plane
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General Interest
- 1820 Congress passes the Missouri Compromise
- 1863 Congress passes Civil War conscription act
- 1918 Russia makes a separate peace
- 1931 “The Star-Spangled Banner” becomes official
- 1991 Police brutality caught on video
-
Hollywood
- 1915 Birth of a Nation opens in New York
-
Literary
- 1926 James Merrill is born
-
Music
- 1875 George Bizet’s Carmen premieres in Paris
-
Old West
- 1879 United States Geological Survey created
-
Presidential
- 1845 Congress overrides presidential veto for first time
- 1877 Rutherford B. Hayes is inaugurated in a private ceremony
-
Sports
- 1875 First indoor game of ice hockey
-
Vietnam War
- 1965 U.S. jets bomb Ho Chi Minh Trail
- 1971 U.S. 5th Special Forces Group withdraws
-
World War I
- 1918 Treaty of Brest-Litovsk concluded
-
World War II
- 1945 Finland declares war on Germany
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