Helen
Keller: The Legendary 'First Lady of Courage'
A
smaller version of this article was published in Teen Stuff Magazine. Issue:
March 2003.
 |
| The Article in March 2003 Issue |
A shining
beam of hope, an extraordinary human being and a significant historical asset.
Blind and Deaf Since Infancy, Helen Keller became symbol of courage and of the
indomitable human spirit. She went from an undisciplined child with severe
challenges to one of the true heroes of the world. Her life as a girl and as a
woman became a triumph over crushing adversity and shattering affliction. The
first deaf-blind ever to graduate from college and become a successful writer.
In darkness, she could discover a new world through the eyes, ears and hands of
others. Yes, Helen Keller really made a difference.
She
was born June 27, 1880 in Tuscumbia, Alabama, at a time when deaf-blind people
were likely to be consigned to the poor house or asylum and at the time of
Helen's birth the family were far from wealthy. Her father was Captain Arthur
H. Keller and her mother was Kate Adams Keller.
At
the age of 19 months Helen had a fever that left her blind and deaf. The type
and cause of the fever and the nature of her ailment to this day remain a
mystery. The doctors then called it "brain fever", whilst modern day
doctors think it may have been scarlet fever or meningitis.
Helen
had begun to make sounds before the fever and had remembered the word
"wah-wah" for water. This was a foreshadowing, for water was to be
the key to her world of language.
"I
cannot remember how I felt when the light went out of my eyes. I suppose I felt
it was always night and perhaps I wondered why the day did not come." Said Helen
Keller
The Story behind Helen Keller: Anne Sullivan
A
daughter of Irish immigrants, half-blind herself as a child, educated at
Perkins School for the Blind, Watertown, Massachusetts, A recent graduate of
the school. Johanna (Anne) Mansfield Sullivan, also known as Annie and Teacher,
was offered the position of tutoress. In March 1887, Annie arrived in Tuscumbia
to live with the Kellers.
Many
people who mention the name Helen Keller think that she made her glory by her
own. But in fact, that lady was inspired by the great companion Anne Sullivan.
Anne was one of the main reasons behind all what Helen Keller was and all what
she achieved.
"The
most important day I remember in all my life is the one on which my teacher
came to me," Miss Keller wrote later. "It was the third of March,
1887, three months before I was 7 years old. "
Helen
had learned to communicate many of her wishes with various signs--But she was
otherwise frustrated in her attempts to communicate, and her frustration led to
behaviour problems. She would kick and fuss and demand her own way.
"I saw
clearly that it was useless to try to teach her language or anything else until
she learned to obey me. I have thought about it a great deal, and the more I
think, the more certain I am that obedience is the gateway through which
knowledge, yes, and love, too, enter the mind of a child." Anne Sullivan
Anne
became a live-in teacher. She immediately began to use finger spelling in
Helen's hand to name objects. Helen quickly learned the fingerspell patterns
but considered them a game and did not yet relate them to names for objects.
Eventually, the behavior problems were brought under control, but Helen still
did not understand words.
F-I-N-G-E-R
S-P-E-L-L April 5, 1887
The
communication breakthrough came with a trip to the well. Helen had been
learning the fingerspell patterns for W-A-T-E-R and M-U-G, but she still did
not relate them to a liquid and its container.
Later,
when they were walking by the well house, Anne placed Helen's hand under the
water coming from the pump and spelled W-A-T-E-R. And that was the beginning
"Helen
got up this morning like a radiant fairy. She has flitted from object to
object, asking the name of everything and kissing me for very gladness. Last
night when I got into bed, she stole into my arms of her own accord and kissed
me for the first time, and I thought my heart would burst, so full was it of
joy" Anne Sullivan's words, "I knew then that w-a-t-e-r meant the wonderful
cool something that was flowing over my hand. That living word awakened my
soul, gave it light, hope, joy, set it free. There were barriers still, it is
true, but barriers that in time could be swept away."
Helen's
quick progress from then on was astonishing. Her ability to learn was far in
advance of anything that anybody had seen before in someone without sight or
hearing.
By
the summer of 1887, some four months after Anne's arrival, and as Helen
approached her seventh birthday; she had a vocabulary numbering hundreds of
words, and at the same time the child learned to lip-read by placing her
fingers on the lips and throat of those who talked with her. Her crude speech
and her lip-reading facility further opened her mind and enlarged her
experience.
She
could also print using block letters. And she began to mail letters to her
relatives. That same summer Helen also learned the Braille alphabet.
The Miracle Child at Perkins School
In
the spring of 1888, as Helen approached 8 years old she left Alabama with Anne
to go to the Perkins School in Boston. She learned quickly and had an
exceptional memory for details. Her capacity for quick learning and retention
gave her the name of "miracle" child. And it was also during this
summer that Helen learned about other languages such as Latin, French and
German.
And
in her ninth year, Helen Keller began to learn to speak. Her first speech
teacher, Sarah Fuller, had her feel the shape of her mouth as she spoke,
feeling inside the mouth to feel the position of the tongue. Helen spent many
years trying to perfect her speaking ability, even into adulthood.
When
Helen became old enough, she entered Cambridge School for Young Ladies to
prepare for Radcliffe College.
Helen
Keller chose the one college in America who did not want her, Radcliffe. They
thought she could not compete with "sighted" students, and this was a
challenge to Helen. She first passed her entry exams, and then with Anne
Sullivan as a translator, attended regular classes. She graduated in 1904 when
she was twenty-four years old being the first deaf-blind individual to receive
a Bachelor of Arts degree and disproving those who said that she couldn't hope
to compete with sighted and hearing students. In fact, her determination and
uncanny memory made her an excellent scholar
"I
slip back many times," she wrote of her college years. "I fall, I
stand still, I run against the edge of hidden obstacles, I lose my temper and
find it again, and keep it better. I trudge on, I gain a little. I feel
encouraged. I get more eager and climb higher and begin to see widening
horizons. Every struggle is a victory."
During
her college years, Helen wrote the autobiography, The Story of my Life first
published in serial form in the Ladies Home Journal and in 1902, The Story of
my Life appeared in book form. This was always to be the most popular of her
works and today is available in more than 50 languages. Most reviewers found
the book well written, but some critics, including that of The Nation, scoffed.
"All of her knowledge is hearsay knowledge," The Nation said,
"her very sensations are for the most part vicarious and she writes of
things beyond her power of perception and with the assurance of one who had
verified every word."
Keller's
defenders replied that she had ways of knowing things not reckoned by others.
When she wrote of the New York subway that it "opened its jaws like a
great beast," it was pointed out that she had stroked a lion's mouth and
knew whereof she spoke. At a circus zoo she had also shaken hands with a bear,
patted a leopard and let a snake curl itself around her.
"I
have always felt I was using the five senses within me, that is why my life has
been so full and complete," Keller said at the time. She added that it was
quite natural for her to use the words "look," "see" and
"hear" as if she were seeing and hearing in the full physical sense.
John
Albert Macy, a Harvard English instructor, was hired to help with the editing
of the book. He worked closely with Helen and Anne, and in the years following
this effort, he and Anne fell in love. Anne resisted because of her commitment
to Helen, but with Helen's encouragement they were married on May 2, 1905.
After
college Miss Keller continued to write, publishing "The World I Live
In" in 1908, "The Song of the Stone Wall" in 1910 and "Out
of the Dark" in 1913.
In
1914, Anne Sullivan's health was failing, so a new companion was needed for
Helen. This was how Polly Thompson entered Helen's life. Polly was a young
woman who had recently arrived from Scotland, and although she had no
experience with the blind or deaf, she was hired to keep house. She was to
become a lifelong companion to Helen.
A
moment of love did come in Helen's life. In 1916, a young man named Peter
Fagan, a 29-year-old newspaperman who was her temporary secretary had been
hired to help while Anne Sullivan was ill and Polly was away. The couple took
out a marriage license, intending a secret wedding. But a Boston reporter found
out about the license, and his witless article on the romance horrified the
stern Mrs. Keller, who ordered Mr. Fagan out of the house and broke up the
relationship. Although there were a few follow-up letters between Helen and
Peter (written in Braille), the romance died.
"The
love which had come, unseen and unexpected, departed with tempest on his
wings," Miss Keller wrote in sadness, adding that the love remained with
her as "a little island of joy surrounded by dark waters."
For
years her spinsterhood was a chief disappointment. "If I could see,"
she said bitterly, "I would marry first of all."
In
1919, Helen starred in a silent movie on her life. This was well received but
was a failure financially. However, the movie led to a vaudeville tour for four
years in the early 1920s, which was a financial success.
Helen Keller and Organizations
Helen
Keller was as interested in the welfare of blind people in other countries as
she was for those in her own country; conditions in the underdeveloped and
war-ravaged nations were of particular concern. She never lost sight of the
needs of her fellow blind and deaf-blind, she was deeply concerned for this group of
people and was always searching for ways to help those who are "less
fortunate than myself." -As she called them-.
Her
active participation in this area of work for the blind began as early as 1915
when she assisted in the establishment of a service organization then called
the American Braille Press, later named the American Foundation for Overseas
Blind (AFOB) now (Helen Keller International).
In 1921, the American Foundation for the Blind
(AFB) was organized in New York City. Helen Keller was invited to be a
spokesperson and ambassador for the Foundation. She traveled extensively with
Anne and Polly, giving speeches and raising funds for the blind and for related
causes. Along with her books that reached to eleven ones and numerous articles
on blindness, deafness, social issues and women's rights, this was to become
her life's work. She not only collected money, but also sought to alleviate the
living and working conditions of the blind.
"The
public must learn that the blind man is neither genius nor a freak nor an
idiot. He has a mind that can be educated, a hand which can be trained,
ambitions which it is right for him to strive to realize, and it is the duty of
the public to help him make the best of himself so that he can win light
through work." From Helen Keller's words.
A
tireless traveler, Miss Keller toured the world with Miss Sullivan and Miss
Thomson in the years before World War II. Everywhere she went she lectured in
behalf of the blind and the deaf. She met and visited the Queen at Buckingham
Palace. There were visits to France, Yugoslavia, and Japan. She travelled to
the farthest reaches of the world; became a leading figure who publicly campaigned
on behalf of civil rights, human dignity, womens suffrage, and world peace.
However,
throughout these years, Anne's health was failing. She lost her sight and there
was an "internal disorder." On the 20th of October 1936, at the age
of 70, Anne died in Forest Hills. Her ashes were placed in the National
Cathedral in Washington, DC, after a funeral in New York City. Anne was the
first female to be offered this distinction. She is now remembered as "the
Miracle Worker" for her lifetime dedication, patience and love to a wild
child trapped in a world of darkness.
She
was one of the most remarkable characters of modern times. The noble courage of
her mind and the generous charity of her heart won for her the respect and the
affection of all who knew her story. To see her was to find new reason for
being proud of being human. Miss Keller was but a single proof of her genius.
Her personal choice was to be simply the shadow of her famous pupil.
"I
wanted to be loved. I was lonesome, then Helen came into my life. I wanted her
to love me and I loved her. Then later Polly came and I loved Polly and we were
always so happy together--my Polly, my Helen...Thank God I gave up my life so
that Helen might live. God help her to live without me when I go." Anne Sullivan,
from her deathbed
After
Anne, Helen's work for the AFB and other worthy causes continued for many
years. During World War II, she also visited disabled soldiers and in 1946 she
began the globe-circling tours on behalf of the blind for which she was so well
known during her later years. During seven trips between 1946 and 1957 she
visited 35 countries on five continents. In 1955, when she was 75 years old,
she embarked on one of her longest and most grueling journeys, a 40,000-mile,
five-month-long tour through Asia. Wherever she traveled, she brought new
courage to millions of blind people, and many of the efforts to improve
conditions among the blind abroad can be traced directly to her visits.
And
she also wrote: "My Religion" in 1927; "Midstream--My Later
Life" in 1930; "Peace at Eventide" in 1932; "Helen Keller's
Journal," in 1938; and "Teacher" in 1955. In addition, she was a
frequent contributor to magazines and newspapers.
Polly
Thompson continued as her companion until Polly's death in 1960.
"All
my life I have tried to avoid ruts, such as doing things my ancestors did
before me, or leaning on the crutches of other people's opinion, or losing my
childhood sense of wonderment. I am glad to say I still have a vivid curiosity
about the world I live in...It is as natural for me to believe that the richest
harvest of happiness comes with age as to believe that true sight and hearing
are within, not without" Helen Keller, on being asked about growing older.
Despite
the celebrity that accrued to her and the awesomeness that surrounded her in
her later years, Miss Keller retained an unaffected personality and a certainty
that her optimistic attitude toward life was justified.
"I believe that all through these dark
and silent years God has been using my life for a purpose I do not know,"
she said, adding "But one day I shall understand and then I will be
satisfied."
Her
Last public appearance was in 1961 (Lions International meeting in Washington,
D.C.), At that meeting she received the Lions Humanitarian Award for her
lifetime of service to humanity and for providing the inspiration for the
adoption by Lions International of their sight conservation and aid to blind
programs.
And
in her later years, Helen Keller lived on into retirement. Helen Keller lived
quietly at Arcan Ridge. She saw her family, close friends, and associates from
the American Foundation for the Blind and spent much time reading. She could be
seen talking to herself with her fingers. Her fingers, her windows to the world,
would flutter with unspoken remembrances of her long and wonderful life.
She
died peacefully in her sleep in the afternoon of June 1st, 1968, and just
before her 88th birthday. Her ashes were placed next to her beloved companions,
Anne Sullivan Macy and Polly Thomson, in the National Cathedral in Washington,
DC.
Her Honours, Rewards and Awards
Despite
her retirement from public life, Helen Keller was not forgotten. She was
honored by universities and institutions throughout the world. She held
honorary memberships in scientific societies and philanthropic organizations
throughout the world and she was received in the White House by every President
from Grover Cleveland to John F. Kennedy, and received awards of great
distinction too numerous to recount fully here. She also got an Oscar in 1955
for the documentary film "The Unconquered," later renamed "Helen
Keller in Her Story;" under that title, it won an Oscar, the Academy of
Motion Picture Arts and Sciences award as the best feature-length documentary film
of the year. She was also awarded different awards from Brazil, Japan,
Philippines, Lebanon and a lot of countries. An entire room, called the Helen
Keller Room, is devoted to their display at the American Foundation for the
Blind in New York City.
More
rewarding to her than the many honours she received, that during her lifetime,
she met and often formed lasting friendships with the great national and
international personalities of her day. Two friends from her early youth, Mark
Twain and William James, expressed beautifully what most of her friends felt
about her.
Mark
Twain said, "The two most interesting characters of the 19th century are
Napoleon and Helen Keller."
William
James wrote about Helen Keller, "But whatever you were or are, you're a
blessing!"
Helen Keller Annual Festival
Thousands
of visitors gather in Tuscumbia each June for the annual Helen Keller Festival,
a weeklong event first held in 1979 to commemorate the lifetime accomplishments
of the town's most renowned native, Helen Keller.
After
establishing a successful intramural research program, the AFB is now
concentrating on expanding its extramural vision research program and extending
its efforts to include speech and hearing research and education.
Many
who observed Keller - and to some she was a curiosity and publicity-seeker -
found it difficult to believe that a person so handicapped could acquire the
profound knowledge and the sensitive perception and writing talent that she
exhibited when she was mature. Helen Keller always insisted that there was
nothing mysterious or miraculous about her achievements. All that she was and
did, she said, could be explained directly and without reference to a
"sixth sense." Her dark and silent world was held in her hand and
shaped with her mind.
When
she was asked about what gave her the courage to go onShe answered, "The
Bible and poetry and philosophy." She also said that she had never had the
feeling that God seemed to desert her.
It
isnt only that Helen was able to overcome the barriers of being blind and deaf
in a time when they were much greater disadvantages than they are now; her
intelligence and perception speak to many people, blind or sighted, deaf or
hearing. Here are some of the many insightful quotes that prove how great and
determined she was.
- The
highest result of education is tolerance.
-
When one door of happiness closes, another opens; but often we look so long at
the closed door that we do not see the one which has been opened for us.
-
Security is mostly a superstition. It does not exist in nature... Life is
either a daring adventure or nothing.
- I
am only one, but still I am one. I cannot do everything, but still I can do
something; and because I cannot do everything I will not refuse to do the
something that I can do.
- We
can do anything we want to do if we stick to it long enough.
-
Alone we can do so little; together we can do so much.
- It
is not possible for civilization to flow backwards while there is youth in the
world. Youth may be headstrong, but it will advance it allotted length.
- I
believe that life is given to us so we may grow in love, and I believe that God
is in me as the sun is in the colour and fragrance of a flower. The Light is my
darkness, The Voice is my silence.
Helen
Keller spent a life in helping others. She had boundless energy. Many people
noticed her kindness, generosity and enthusiasm. She thought the best of people
and typically brought out the best. She never lost a sense of true empathy for
the disabled.
She
had a sparkling humor and a warm handclasp that won everyone easily. She exuded
vitality and optimism, "My life has been happy because I have had
wonderful friends and plenty of interesting work to do," she once
remarked, adding: "I seldom think about my limitations, and they never
make me sad. Perhaps there is just a touch of yearning at times, but it is
vague, like a breeze among flowers. The wind passes, and the flowers are
content."
She
was a giant inspiration for millions who are deaf, blind, both, or neither.
Helen's success would have been impossible without the cooperation of others
like Anne Sullivan, who stands as a reminder that only through cooperation and
dogged determination combined can any human being live a life which is worthy
of the name.
Helen
Keller today remains a woman whose astounding personality and accomplishments
attract widespread admiration and awe. Her valiant life continues to raise
complex Thinking about her; one's own brain goes only so far. Those of us with
five senses are missing a sense of how Helen Keller thought with three. Helen
Keller became known as the "Eighth Wonder of the World" and one of
the foremost women of our time.
But
the reason behind writing this article is that I've seen in Helen Keller a lot
to learn, she wasn't a symbol of courage for the blind and the disabled only,
but for all of us, especially teens, because nowadays when we sometimes feel
down and helpless, we give up and then we don't want to face anything because we
claim we are not strong enough, but in this lady's life, we find that whenever she
felt down or helpless, she never gave up, thus, she was never defeated. Illness,
disability, weakness, nothing could prevent her from being the great person she
had becomeI really hope that each and everyone will learn something from the
life of such a great lady and a great teacher that was another symbol of
patience and courage. And as Aristotle said "The sign of a great teacher is
that the accomplishments of her students exceed her own." Both of these
women were remarkable human beings who rose above seemingly insurmountable
odds. They both taught us that the only true disability is a disability of the
heart. We will always remember them with total admiration and respectand. I'd like
to wind up with some of the words said by Senator Lister Hill of Alabama in his
eulogy in Helen Kellers funeral, expressing the feelings of the whole world
when he said of Helen Keller, "She will live on, one of the few, the
immortal names not born to die. Her spirit will endure as long as man can read
and stories can be told of the woman who showed the world there are no
boundaries to courage and faith."
