The Life Of Helen Keller
By: Katie Bridges
 ETE 100-Online
Section
 September 29,
2005

About Helen
 Named
Helen Adams Keller
 Born June 27, 1880 in Tuscumbia,
Alabama
 Daughter of Captain Arthur Henley
Keller and Kate Adams Keller
 Was born with full sight and hearing
A Change For The Worse

February 1882, when Helen was 19 months
old, she fell ill
 Doctors called it “brain fever” otherwise
known today as scarlet fever or meningitis
 For many days, she was expected to die
 When the fever went away, her family thought
she was in the clear
A Change For The Worse
(Cont)
 Her
mother noticed that Helen was
not responding to the dinner bell
when rung
 Also, she was responding to her
mother’s hand passing in front of
her eyes
 Helen’s illness left her blind and
deaf
Help For Helen
Helen’s mother took her to a specialist doctor
in Baltimore who suggested that they meet
with Alexander Graham Bell
 Alexander Graham Bell was the local expert
on the problems of children who are deaf
 Bell told the Keller family to write Michael
Anagnos-director of the Perkins Institution
and Massachusetts Asylum for the Blind

Helen & Alexander Graham
Bell
Help For Helen (Cont)
 The
Keller’s asked Anagnos to help
find a teacher for Helen
 He immediately recommended
Anne Sullivan who was a former
student of the institution
Helen Meets Anne
Met for the first time on March 3, 1887
 Starting teaching Helen immediately
 She spelled out the word “doll” on
Helen’s hand to help her recognize what
Anne had brought for Helen
 Helen could repeat the movements on
her hand, but didn’t know what they
meant

A Picture of Anne Sullivan
Starting To Make Sense
Anne took Helen down a path to a wellhouse
 Someone was pumping water and Anne
put Helen’s hand under the water
 Anne immediately spelled out “water”
over and over on Helen’s hand
 Helen make the connection between the
word “water” and the flowing liquid

The Learning Never Stops
Helen learned the spelling of 30 words
within the next few hours after the water
 Learned to understand what others
were saying by touching their lips and
throat
 Helen could not speak due to her vocal
chords not being trained prior to being
taught how to speak

Helen Reading Lips
Helen
reading Mrs.
Calvin
Coolidge’s
lips with her
hand
Helen Goes To College

Helen was the first person who was blind and
deaf to ever enter an institution of higher
learning
 She enrolled in the fall of 1900
 She was the first person was was blind and
deaf to earn a bachelor of Arts degree
 Helen graduated cum laude from Radcliffe
College on June 28, 1904
Helen’s Graduation Picture
Helen’s Publications
 1903-Helen’s
first book The Story
of My Life
 1913-Out of the Dark-series of
essays on socialism
 1955-Teacher-book about Anne
Sullivan
Helen’s Contribution to
Society
Had fundraising tours for the American
Foundation for the Blind
 After World War II, Helen traveled the
world fundraising for the American
Foundation for the Overseas Blind
 Campaigned to help with the living and
working conditions for people who were
blind

Awards For Helen
 Was
awarded the Presidential
Medal of Freedom in 1964 by
President Lyndon Johnson
 1965-At the New York World’s
Fair, she was elected to
Women’s Hall of Fame
The End of Helen’s Life
Helen died on June 1, 1968 in Arcan
Ridge at the age of 87
 She died peacefully in her sleep
 Her lifelong dream was to be able to
talk, something she never got to master
in life

Helen’s Obituary Picture
Bibliography
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http://memory.loc.gov/service/pnp/cph/3c1000
0/3c11000/3c11700/3c11738v.jpg
http://www.afb.org/braillebug/helen_keller_bio
.asp
http://lcweb2.loc.gov/cocoon/legacies/AL/200
002670.html
http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onth
isday/bday/6027.html
http://www.rnib.org.uk/xpedio/groups/public/d
oucuments/publicwebsite/public_keller.hcsp