Helen Keller (1880 - 1968) was an American educator and writer famous for having been a deafblind social and political activist, as well as being the first person with that condition to obtain a university degree.
She stood out as one of the most prominent fighters for humanitarian causes during the 19th and 20th centuries in the United States. Keller advocated demanding the fundamental rights of women, such as the right to vote.
Due to her socialist tendencies, Helen Keller also leaned toward seeking job improvements and promoting antimilitarism. She was an outstanding author and in her texts she addressed the reality that people with sensory limitations live.
Keller lost the ability to see and hear from the age of two, leading to a tough childhood. The fact that she was able to achieve the educational level she reached was extraordinary and allowed to raise awareness about the need to provide education to people with disabilities.
Through his lectures, he raised funds for various charities, especially the American Association for the Blind. The story of his life generated great public interest and was represented not only in his autobiography, but also in various films.
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Helen Keller was born on June 27, 1880, in Tuscumbia, Alabama, United States. His father was Arthur Henley Keller, editor of a newspaper called North Alabamian, farmer and former member of the Confederate Army.
Helen's mother was Katherine Adams, Arthur's second wife. The couple had two other children, a named Mildred and a boy named Phillip. In addition, Keller had two sons from his first marriage named James and William.
When Helen was born she was a normal girl, but before she was two years old she contracted a disease that was not accurately diagnosed; however, it is believed that it could be scarlet fever or meningitis.
From 1882 Keller lost the ability to hear as well as his vision. Little by little, the girl developed a homemade sign language with which she could communicate with those close to her..
However, the girl's behavior was practically savage, since her parents could not find an appropriate way to discipline or educate her. She used to treat everyone around her badly, since she did not achieve a balance when showing her emotions.
Helen Keller's mother read about the educational success of a young deafblind woman. That prompted her to decide that it was time to seek professional help for her daughter, so she asked Arthur to take her to Baltimore with a specialist..
From there she was referred to Alexander Graham Bell, who at the time used to deal with deaf people, who in turn sent them to the Perkins Institute for the Blind in Boston. At that institution they recommended a girl named Anne Sullivan, who was hired by the Kellers in 1887.
Since Sullivan came into the life of Helen Keller, he began to teach the little girl sign language in her hand. The bond that united them since then lasted for the rest of their lives and they only parted ways when Sullivan passed away..
Keller always treasured the memory of the first time he was aware that things had a name. Thanks to that he was able to understand what language was and what it was for.
During the winter of 1888 Sullivan took Keller to the Perkins Institute, where the girl studied braille. During 1890 Hellen learned to speak thanks to the lessons of Sarah Fuller and at that time they also taught her to read lips with the hand.
Between 1894 and 1896 Keller was living in New York with Sullivan and there he attended the Wright-Humason School for the Deaf. At that time the girl decided that she wanted to obtain a university education and began to train to achieve it.
Helen Keller entered the Cambridge School for Young Ladies in Masachussetts in 1898. The institution in which the young woman enrolled was a high school for girls wishing to pursue higher education..
Two years later he was admitted to Radcliffe College at Harvard University. There she showed an excellent performance and four years later she graduated with honors as a Bachelor of Letters. Keller was the first deafblind person to earn a college degree.
Before graduating, Helen had published two works of great importance to her future career: The story of my life (The Story of my Life) and an essay which he titled Optimism (Optimism), both in 1903.
Both texts opened the doors for Keller to work as a columnist and lecturer. In her work she addressed the reality of people with disabilities and, especially, put an end to the prejudice that linked blindness with venereal diseases in the popular imagination.
Helen Keller's speaking career began around 1913 and her main purpose was to collaborate with people with disabilities. She was a member of the Socialist Party since her student years and was in favor of causes such as women's suffrage and birth control..
Keller traveled the world with his talks, which sought to raise awareness about the lifestyle to which people with sensory impairments were subjected at the time. During his years spreading the reality of the deaf and blind Keller visited more than 35 countries.
She was also an opponent of the United States' participation in the First World War. In 1915 she co-founded a foundation that years later became known as Helen Keller International (HKI).
Originally HKI was dedicated to collaborating with veterans of the Great War who had been blind in combat in different parts of the world.
Later, the foundation expanded its mission, since then they began to attack the causes and consequences of blindness, as well as other evils associated with precarious living conditions..
During 1820 Keller was also one of the founding members of the American Civil Liberties Union. This organization promotes equal rights for US citizens, and they are also responsible for ensuring respect for them..
The author and activist was also associated with the American Foundation for the Blind since its inception in 1921, but formally joined in 1924. That was one of the organizations for which Keller raised the most funds with her awareness-raising work through conferences..
When Anne Sullivan passed away in 1936, Polly Thomson took her place as Helen Keller's sidekick. Thomson had started working with both women in 1914 and was working as an assistant.
Between 1946 and 1957 Helen undertook several international tours in which she met with important personalities, gave talks and lectures in approximately 35 countries. For all her accomplishments, Keller became one of the most famous women of her time..
She was received by different presidents of the United States throughout her life and in 1964 she was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by Lyndon Johnson..
Helen Keller passed away on June 1, 1968 at her home, located in Connecticut. Her death occurred while she was sleeping, at that time she was 88 years old. In 1961 he had suffered from a cerebrovascular accident and has since retired from public life.
His remains were taken to the capital of the United States of North America to be honored. Keller's ashes were deposited in the Washington National Cathedral.
Helen Keller had many personal merits and honors, but she also did much for the community of people with sensory disabilities. He especially contributed to the dissemination of the living conditions of deafblind people throughout the world.
One of his great contributions to his community was that the disabled due to vision problems or hearing loss were not admitted to nursing homes. She herself was about to be taken to an institution for her bad behavior as a child..
Although other deafblind people had been educated before her, Keller was the first with her condition to earn a college degree, along with honors. This opened the doors for others with the same disability to aspire to professional success..
She participated in the creation of multiple associations that fought for different purposes, including the American Foundation for Overseas Blind, which later became Helen Keller International.
Likewise, Keller was very involved with the American Foundation for the Blind, for which she raised more than two million dollars..
He toured the United States during the 1930s and 1940s and demanded that State Commissions for the Blind be created. In addition, it promoted the construction of schools for people with vision loss.
Keller also got the government to distribute Braille books so that visually impaired adults could have reading material..
Helen Keller was also awarded multiple times for everything she had accomplished in her life:
In 1936 she was awarded the Theodore Roosevelt Medal for Outstanding Service, in 1964 she was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, and the following year she was elected to the Women's Hall of Fame..
In addition, he was awarded honorary doctorates by different Universities as was the case with his Alma mater, Harvard University, as well as Temple University, Glasgow, Berlin and others.
His story was mediated since childhood, in fact he was in the public eye from about 9 years of age. His autobiography was a success and multiple adaptations were made in different formats of The story of my life.
One of the most famous representations was the play The Miracle Worker (1960) by William Gibson, who won a Pulitzer Prize. The film adaptation of the same name, made by Arthur Penn in 1962 and won two Oscars, was also well received..
- The story of my life, 1903 - (The Story of My Life).
- Optimism, 1903 - (Optimism).
- The world i live in, 1908 - (The World I Live In).
- Song of the stone wall, 1910 - (The song of the stone wall).
- Out of the dark, 1913 - (Out of the dark).
- My religion, 1927 - (My religion).
- The middle of a stream, 1929 - (Midstream: My Later Life).
- Peace in the sunset, 1932 - (Peace at Eventide).
- Helen Keller in Scotland, 1933 - (Helen Keller in Scotland).
- Helen Keller's Diary, 1938 - (Helen Keller's Journal).
- Let us have faith, 1940 - (Let us have faith).
- Teacher, 1955 - (Teacher, Anne Sullivan Macy).
- "No matter how boring, evil or wise a man is, he feels that happiness is his indisputable right".
- "To know the history of philosophy is to know that the great thinkers of all times, the seers of the tribes and nations, have been optimistic".
- "A happy life does not consist in absence, but in mastering difficulties".
- “Tolerance is the mind's greatest gift; it requires the same brain effort that it takes to balance on a bike ”.
- "Do not think about the failures of today, but about the success that can come tomorrow".
- “I have never wanted to believe that human nature cannot be changed; but even if it can't, I'm sure it can be slowed down and led to useful channels ".
- "More than at any other time, when I have a beloved book in hand, my limitations fall away, my spirit is free".
- "Great poetry, whether written in Greek or English, needs no more interpreter than a sensitive heart".
- "When one door of happiness closes, another opens but we often look at the closed door for so long that we do not see the one that has been opened to us".
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