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Helen Keller

By kenmcconkie

  • Birth

    Helen Adams Keller Was born on June 27, 1880, Tuscumbia, AL.

  • Fever

    In 1882, at 19 months old, Helen was struck by an unknown illness, possibly Scarlet Fever, which rendered her blind, deaf, and mute.

  • Anne Sullivan

    As result of a visit with Alexander Graham Bell, Helen was united with her teacher, Anne Sullivan, on March 3, 1887.

  • Perkins

    In May 1888, Anne Sullivan took Helen to the Perkins School in Boston, where a whole new world of friendship and communication started.

  • Horace Mann School for the Deaf

    Helen wanted to learn to speak as well, so in 1890, she began taking speech classes at Horace Mann School for the Deaf. After 25 years, she was able to speak so she could be understood by others.

  • Leaving Perkins

    In the fall of 1891, Helen wrote a story she called “The Frost King” as a birthday gift for Anagnos. He published it in the Perkins alumni magazine. He was later informed that is was very similar to a previously published story. Keller had read the original many months earlier and recreated the story from her memory, believing it was her own creation. The accusation of plagiarism was extremely wounding to the 11-year-old girl and mentor, and in 1892 they left Perkins, never to return.

  • College Education

    In 1898, Helen entered the Cambridge School for Young Ladies to prepare for Radcliffe College. She entered Radcliffe in the fall of 1900 and received a Bachelor of Arts degree cum laude in 1904, the first deaf-blind person to do so.

  • The Death of a Teacher

    In 1936, Helen's beloved teacher and companion, Anne Sullivan, died. Their secretary, a young woman named Polly Thompson, had begun work with Helen and her teacher in 1914. Upon Anne's death, Polly became Helen's constant companion

  • Counselor on International Relations

    In 1946, when the American Braille Press became the American Foundation for Overseas Blind (now Helen Keller International), Helen was appointed counselor on international relations. It was then that she began her globe-circling tours on behalf of those with vision loss.

  • Death

    On June 1, 1968, Helen died in her sleep, just a few weeks before her 88th birthday.