Helen Keller: A Teller and a Seller

In the 1800s, Helen Keller was a pioneer and a visionary who taught the possibility of blindness being overcome. Her life is an inspiring and timeless tale. What’s more is she told this story through her groundbreaking work as a writer, activist, lecturer and teacher. In 1881, at just 19 months old, Helen showed that even in the face of debilitating physical limitations she could change history by becoming one of America’s most influential writers.

Helen moved to Alabama where her parents were active farmers who were determined to make sure their daughter was educated and successful in life - despite some people's advice to keep her out of sight in order to hide her disability from strangers.

Helen’s father was a visionary who insisted Helen have access to the same education her sighted peers received. Her father hired tutors to help her learn how to communicate; however, they often misunderstood Helen's signs and gestures and they lacked the understanding and patience required to teach her effectively. When it became clear that these tutors were not getting through to Helen, she was enrolled in the Perkins Institute for the Blind in Boston at age 7, where she learned sign language.

When Maggie brought Miss Sullivan into Helen's life, all things changed for Helen. Miss Sullivan's kindness and patience brought Helen out of her shell. In the process, she learned to read braille and write with a slate and stylus. She also learned how to speak - first on her fingers, then by tapping out letters from her braille alphabet board on Miss Sullivan’s hand.

In 1890, at 20 years old, Helen moved to New York City where she became part of a community of reformers known as Theosophists. They believed that everyone had the divine capability to create their own destiny through the power of thought (known as the Law of Mind). Helen quickly took the Theosophical philosophy to heart and it changed her life forever.

Within weeks of enrolling at Columbia University, Helen attended the school’s first demonstration on how to use a typewriter. Following the demonstration, she was given a typewriter to practice on by her teacher. After 15 minutes, she mastered it. Now Helen had something everyone else did not - a machine that could enable her to overcome her disability and go out into the world and make social change happen. She used this new tool in different ways, including writing for newspapers and publishing stories about herself in books about herself - a very early form of social media.

Helen’s early interest in writing would eventually take her to Berlin and then, in 1892, to a German university where she met and became friends with a young man, Eugen Bleuler. He inspired Helen to attempt to enter the medical field. When she first arrived in Germany she was told that the job opportunities were unrealistic so instead, while working on her thesis, Helen had begun work on translations of Theosophy books from English into German. However, at 22 years old she began to doubt if Theosophy was true and abandoned it completely. When she returned to America in 1893 as a failed student who had lost faith in Theosophism and it's teachings, she felt like her life was over. However, Helen soon realized that she was now back in America where things were "new and encouraging". She bought a manual typewriter which was very different from her machine at Columbia. This typewriter was easier to carry and much lighter so she had more freedom to go out around the city.

One day after arriving at a hotel, the desk clerk told her that if he were blind he could not go up the stairs to his room because they were too steep. This experience spurred Helen into learning more about occupational therapists and what they could do to help people with disabilities. Another day she was walking in a park with her friend and a jack-rabbit leaped across the path in front of them. Helen cried out in surprise, she was so shocked by the sudden appearance of this creature. This event made Helen realize that there were still many things she needed to learn if she wanted to be an effective occupational therapist. 

Helen returned home for a visit and learned that her family had moved back to Tuscumbia where Keller's father had purchased land and planned to build a house on it. Keller became fascinated with the idea of creating a structure to help others. She bought a set of plans and began working on her own design for the house. During this time, she also began to learn about sound and how sound affected people in different ways. Keller learned that some people could hear sounds but not see them, while others could see sounds but not hear them. One day, she realized that this was simply another way deaf people communicated with each other and decided to use her knowledge to create a system where speech and hearing could work together.

In 1894, Keller traveled to Washington, D.C. where she was able to bring this idea home to Tuscumbia. There, Keller and her brother built the prototype that would be used for both the deaf and blind school as well as a new kindergarten which they called "Helen's Kindergarten". They also created a model of the house that would be used as an educational exhibit in many schools and colleges throughout the United States. In 1905, Helen's Kindergarten was visited by President Theodore Roosevelt during his first term in office. Other presidents followed suit - including FDR and JFK - all eager to see what Keller had created in Alabama.

In 1900 Keller returned to college at Radcliffe College where she met a new friend and fellow social-reformer, Polly Thomson. Thomson was a suffragist who introduced Helen to Susan B. Anthony, who ultimately became Helen's great champion. Following one of the speeches from the podium of the rally “Million Women” campaign in 1910, Helen was approached by Frances Perkins and Rose Schneiderman who suggested that Keller run for office herself in New York State. The women took turns speaking to Helen about the struggles their female peers were having with men in office - specifically over "women’s issues". Although Keller could speak German, she had never learned how to speak French or Spanish and Spanish was her first language. She chose to learn Spanish because it was spoken by many of the immigrants who settled in New York. She is quoted as saying, “If a woman cannot handle a language, she cannot deal with her problems.”

In 1911 Keller changed her last name from "Keller" to "Danker". After returning from fighting for women's suffrage, she began learning more about politics and decided that she would like to help children as well as women. With the help of Thomson she decided to run for office herself in 1913 and ran on a platform of advocating for children.

Conclusion

Keller ran for office and eventually won in 1916. She became the first deaf-blind person to serve in the office of New York State. Keller was also granted her Bachelor's Degree In 1932. She received a diploma from the Stimson high school on June 1 that year. Although many years earlier she had been told by doctors that she would not be able to read or write due to her disabilities, Keller had proved everyone wrong and learned how to do both proficiently. 

Keller served as a representative for New York State from 1916 to 1920 and from 1924 to 1940 where she always championed for the rights of women and children.