What words comes into mind when you hear this name? Blind? Deaf?

Chances are the words “activist”, “speech giver”, “champion to the deaf and blind” don’t come to mind. But wait, there’s more you need to know about the child who was living in a void with only her thoughts.

Keller wasn’t just a blind and deaf woman. She was an activist, a member of The Socialist Party and she campaigned for women's’ rights. Keller also gave many speeches on topics that ranged from workers’ rights to why someone should sponsor deaf and blind organizations.

Helen Keller is one of the reasons there are many schools for the deaf and blind all over the world today. Helen wasn’t just a woman with two disabilities. She was an accomplished politician and an inspiration to the blind and deaf everywhere in the world.

When Helen was born, she was a rosy cheek, healthy baby. Her father, Arthur H. Keller, was a veteran of the Confederate Army, and he was the editor of the local newspaper, The North Alabama.  Her mother, Katherine A. Keller, was a housewife, who took care of Helen while her husband was at work.

For the first 19 months, Helen’s life was normal. But in 1882, when she was about two years old, she became ill with a sickness later described as scarlet fever. For a few weeks, Helen had a high temperature, her forehead was hot, and she had many fits of wailing. One morning, Katherine came into Helen’s room, leaned over her crib, and felt her forehead. To her relief, Helen’s forehead wasn’t hot. Helen had come out of her fever healthy and symptom free. Or so Katherine thought. When she drew the curtains, Helen did not cringe at the bright light. Katherine waved a hand in front of little Helen’s face, but Helen did not blink. On a hunch, Katherine took a bell from the crib side table, and rung it next to Helen’s ear. Helen did not flinch. She did not turn to identify the sound. Helen Keller was blind and deaf.

As she grew older, Helen threw many temper tantrums, because she could not join in conversations, and she could not get her feelings or words across. She was trapped in darkness, with her thoughts and feeling trapped inside of her. Helen had many fits, and people started to call her the “wild child”. Despite what people were calling her, Helen was a brilliant child. She was intelligent and thoughtful. But when she couldn’t share these talents, a tantrum would ensue, sometimes with a lot of kicking and screaming. Her parents, mainly her mother, tried to help Helen, but neither parent could communicate with her. Finally, Helen’s mother hired a teacher for her named Anne Sullivan. She specialized in helping deaf and blind children.

Anne Sullivan, also known as Annie, was Helen’s first teacher. She was also the first one to communicate with her. She was the first one to teach her how to read and write. Anne communicated with Helen by signing her words into Helen’s palm. Because Helen was deaf and blind, Anne couldn’t communicate with her with her words; she used sign language. The only senses that Helen had were touch, taste, and smell. Even though Helen couldn’t hear Anne’s words, Anne    could feel Helen’s throat. Helen learned to talk by analysing Anne’s vocal vibrations and imitating them. 
After much practice, Helen finally learned her first two words: ‘water’ and ‘doll’. Anne also taught Helen sign language, by signing the language into her hand. She mastered the signs, and used them while she talked. Anne also taught Helen how to read using Braille. Braille is a series of slashes and bumps that stand for words. Before the invention of Braille, Helen couldn’t read books, or any other form of writing. Instead, Anne read the books, and signed the words into Helen’s hand. This is also how other people finally learned how to speak with her. However, sometimes she got upset because she could not join in on the conversation.

Anne Sullivan helped Keller, and she accompanied Helen almost everywhere she went. She was with Helen as she went to her first school for the blind. You could see her in a picture taken at Radcliffe University with Helen, which is where she went for college at the age of ten. Sullivan could be spotted with Helen as she traveled around the world, giving her speeches. Anne wasn’t just her teacher. She was Helen’s friend, in which, without her help, Helen probably would be known as the “wild child” no one could ever control, instead of the activist, courageous women she is known for. Anne helped Helen go through life, and helped her voice be heard.

After Keller graduated from college, Helen and Anne started to travel all around the world with Helen’s friend Polly Thomson, whom she met in college. Helen gave many speeches all over the world. One of them was to the Lion’s Clubs International at the International Convention in Cedar Point, Ohio. Her speech was about why the country should sponsor the American Foundation for the Blind. Because of this speech, the AFB was sponsored by the LCI, and to this day gives many blind people better resources and equipment to cope with their disability. She also gave speeches about workers’ rights, birth control, and even about socialism. One of her most famous speeches was one she gave at Carnegie Hall, entitled, Strike Against War, which was about womens’ rights. She also gave a speech about workers’ rights titled Onward, Comrades. She gave this speech at the Rand School New Year's Eve Ball, New York.

Helen participated in many political affairs, and she was a member of several political groups. Helen was a member of the Socialist Party of America from 1909 to 1912, and the Industrial Workers of the World. She campaigned for socialism, women's rights, worker’s rights, and birth control. She also helped create the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU). Keller was also an activist. She even stood up against President Wilson’s war machine, and in  1913 she united many socialist parties. Some of her speeches were not only for the blind and deaf, but it also spoke against the war machine’s destruction.

  Even after her death, Helen was still remembered everywhere. Her legacy was great, and she was especially remembered as the woman who championed the blind and deaf, and of her accomplishments as a politician. Over her life, she gave 97 speeches in over 35 countries around the world. Her speeches were about many things, mostly relating to blind and deaf people. She urged people to sponsor or donate to organizations that helped the blind and deaf.  One of them was to the Lion’s Clubs International at the International Convention in Cedar Point, Ohio. Her speech was about why they should sponsor the American Foundation for the Blind. Because of this speech, the AFB was sponsored by the LCI, and gave many blind people better resources and equipment to help the blind live without sight. Not many schools in the early 1900’s took students with blindness, deafness, and other disabilities, but Helen opened a school created especially for the hearing and seeing-impaired called the Helen Keller National Center for Deaf-Blind Youths and Adults (HKNC). But it didn’t stop there. In 1893, Helen also started Helen Keller Services for the Blind (HKSB). HKSB helps the blind of all ages, along with other people with disabilities. They help these people harness their independence, and help them through life.

Helen was one of the reasons why the deaf and blind people of America had a better future.

Without Helen Keller’s dedication and determination, the blind and deaf would might be uneducated because no school would take them in. Helen Keller paved a path for the blind and deaf.

Sources:
Bibliography:
http://changingthepresent.org/blindness_and_vision/quotes
http://www.hknc.org/
aen.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helen_Keller
http://www.softschools.com/timelines/helen_keller_timeline/29/
http://www.visionaustralia.org/living-with-low-vision/learning-to-live-independently/about-braille/deafblind-services/helen-keller
http://www.cwhf.org/inductees/reformers/helen-keller#.UzoYYPldUdV
http://www.greatwomen.org/women-of-the-hall/search-the-hall/details/2/90-Keller
http://www.nwhm.org/education-resources/biography/biographies/helen-keller/
http://www.perkins.org/culture/helenkeller/
http://www.helenkellerfoundation.org/helen-keller/
http://www.afb.org/braillebug/hkmuseum.asp
http://www.hki.org/about-helen-keller/helen-kellers-life/
http://www.findingdulcinea.com/news/on-this-day/March-April-08/On-this-Day--Helen-Keller-Comprehends-the-Word--Water-.html