Helen Keller; Not Your Ordinary Miracle Worker
Though most of us know of Helen Keller from our studies in school as being a magnificently bright woman who happened to be blind and deaf, and a very prolific writer, mainly about those two issues in her life. Though they are indeed true, that is not what she considered her "finest writings".
Keller was born on June 27, 1880, in a small Alabama town called Tuscumbia. She was daughter of Confederate Army soldier Captain Arthur H. Keller and her mother was Kate Adams Keller, whose cousin was Confederate General Robert E. Lee.
Doctors said she was not going to live past the age of two due to her illnesses that were thought to be scarlet fever and meningitis. She was not born blind nor deaf but the sickness eventually caused it at about 19 months old.
What she considered her biggest claim to fame, were not her writings about her disabilities, which she obviously did not let get in her way of achievement, but her relentless campaigning for woman's suffrage, equal rights, anti-war, socialism, and other progressive causes. Many documentaries and books were written about her but the most famous film of all was "The Miracle Worker".
Keller's parents were proud and inspired by their child as, there was still much stigma attached to any type of disability, and blindness and deafness were no exception. Helen went with her father who sought out the best eye, ear, nose and throat specialist in the country, located in Baltimore for advice on Helen's future. Chisolm put them in touch with Alexander Graham Bell who happened to be working with deaf children. Bell suggested Perkins School For the Blind where Helen met an instructor (and former student there) named Anne Sullivan. Their friendship lasted 49 years. Sullivan eventually became governess and later companion of Helen Keller.
Anne Sullivan arrived at the Keller home in 1887 and taught Helen to communicate by spelling words with her hand. Her first word was doll, as she had brought it as a present for Helen. Later Helen was nearby when Sullivan was washing her hands, felt the motions of the palm of her hand and felt the cool water running her own hand and said "water". After that, she nearly drove Sullivan to exhaustion wanting to know the word for every single thing that existed in her environment.
Her admirer, Mark Twain, had introduced her to Standard Oil magnate Henry H. Rogers who, with his wife, paid for her education. In 1904, at the age of 24, Keller graduated from Radcliffe, becoming the first deaf blind person to earn a B.A. degree.
Keller wrote a total of 12 published books and several articles, and is credited for bringing the Akita dog to the U.S from Japan, a dog she loved and admired for its loyalty and gentleness.
In 1965 she was elected to the National Women's Hall Of Fame at the New York World's Fair.
Keller devoted much of her later life to raising funds for the American Foundation for the Blind (AFB). She died in her sleep on June 1, 1968 at her home, Arcan Ridge, which was in Westport, Connecticut. . A service was held in her honor at Washington D.C.'s National Cathedral and and her ashes were placed there next to her constant companions, Anne Sullivan and Polly Thompson.
Today Helen Keller's photo and a famous love quote is avaialble on one of designer Rick London's Shoes That Amuse, the world's only famous love quote shoes which have been featured in USA Today and around the world on AP Wire Service.
Rick London is a freelance author, cartoonist and clothing designer.He founded Google's #1 ranked offbeat Cartoon, Londons Times Cartoons, the world's only famous love quote shoes, Shoes That Amuse, and numerous cartoon collectible stores such as RickLondonCollection.com and LTSuperstore.com. He is brand designer for actress/author Mariel Hemingway.
Article Source: ArticlesBase.com
