Helen Keller
Author, activist, and the first deafblind college graduate in the United States.
She lost her sight and hearing at 19 months old due to an illness.[1] The writer and activist Helen Adams Keller, who championed disability rights and political causes, was born on June 27, 1880, and died on June 1, 1968.[1] Keller was the first person in the United States who was both deaf and blind to receive a college degree.[1]
Quick Facts
- Birth name
- Helen Adams Keller
- Born
- 27 June 1880
- Birthplace
- Tuscumbia, Alabama, U.S.
- Died
- 1 June 1968
- Place of death
- Easton, Connecticut, U.S.
- Resting place
- Washington National Cathedral
- Relatives
- Charles W. Adams (maternal grandfather), Arthur H. Keller (father)
- Occupation
- Author
- political activist
- lecturer
Facts from the source article.
Life and work
She traveled to over 40 countries with Sullivan and met every U.S. president from Grover Cleveland to Lyndon B. Johnson.[2] Keller was born in Tuscumbia, Alabama, to Arthur Henley Keller and Catherine Everett Keller.[3] For many years, Keller's father was the editor of the Tuscumbia North Alabamian, and he had previously been a captain in the Confederate Army.[4] When Keller was seven years old, she encountered Anne Sullivan, who became her first instructor and taught her how to read and write.[1]
March 5, 1887, was the date Sullivan first came to Keller's residence; Keller later described that day as "my soul's birthday".[5] In 1909, Keller became a member of the Socialist Party of America, and she also helped establish the American Civil Liberties Union.[6] On June 1, 1968, Keller passed away while asleep at her Easton, Connecticut home.[7]
What the cited sources add
The Helen Keller Birthplace Foundation describes Ivy Green as the home where Keller's life developed and notes the Lions Club works to honor her challenge to be "knights of the blind in the crusade against darkness"[8] In a 1916 interview, Keller stated "the true task is to unite and organize all workers on an economic basis" and declared "I don't give a damn about semi-radicals"[9] The same interview records Keller saying she felt "like Joan of Arc at times"[9] The Akita Club of America account states that when Keller visited Akita Prefecture in July 1937, she inquired about Hachikō, the famed Akita dog.[10]
Keller wrote in the Akita Journal that "if ever there was an angel in fur, it was Kamikaze".[10] Keller is credited with bringing the Akita breed to the United States by way of two dogs, Kamikaze-Go and Kenzan-Go.[10][11][12]
References
- Wikipedia, "Helen Keller" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Deaf, Blind Woman to Get College Degree", The New York Times, June 6, 1983 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Helen Keller" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Loewen, "Lies My Teacher Told Me: Everything Your American History Textbook Got Wrong", Touchstone Books, 1996, p. 20–22 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Helen Keller" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Arthur H. Keller"; "Kate Adams Keller", American Foundation for the Blind; "Helen Keller FAQ", Perkins School for the Blind; "Helen Keller Birthplace", Helen Keller Birthplace Foundation, Inc.; Nielsen, "The Southern Ties of Helen Keller", The Journal of Southern History, 2007, p. 783–806; "Ask Keller", American Foundation for the Blind, October 2006; "Ask Keller", American Foundation for the Blind, November 2005 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Helen Keller" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Helen Keller FAQ", Perkins School for the Blind; Nielsen, "The Southern Ties of Helen Keller", The Journal of Southern History, 2007, p. 783–806; Nielsen, "The Southern Ties of Helen Keller", The Journal of Southern History, 2007, p. 783–806; Eicher, "Civil War High Commands", Stanford University Press, 2002; Herrmann, "The Story of my Life: The Restored Classic", W. W. Norton & Co., 2003, p. 12–14; "Ask Keller", American Foundation for the Blind, November 2005 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Helen Keller" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Helen Keller's Moment", The Attic, November 29, 2018 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Helen Keller" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Aneja, "The Helen Keller You Didn't Learn About in School", December 15, 2020 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Helen Keller" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Wilson, Scott. Resting Places: The Burial Sites of More Than 14,000 Famous Persons, 3rd ed.: 2 (Kindle Locations 24973-24974). McFarland & Company, Inc., Publis; "The life of Helen Keller" (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- "Helen Keller Birthplace", Helen Keller Birthplace Foundation, Inc.. facts only, no text reused. helenkellerbirthplace.org
- Bindley, "Why I Became an IWW", New York Tribune, January 16, 1916. facts only, no text reused. marxists.org
- "Helen Keller", Akita Club of America, January 17, 2017. facts only, no text reused. akitaclub.org
- Wikipedia, "Helen Keller" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Helen Keller", Akita Club of America, January 17, 2017 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Helen Keller" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Deep and Beautiful Bond between Helen Keller and Akita Dogs", Akita-Inu News, October 17, 2020; Blazeski, "Helen Keller had a Japanese Akita dog named Kamikaze-go; She was the first to bring an Akita dog to the United States", The Vintage News, February 13, 2017; Ogasawara, "Helen Keller and Akitas", Akita Learning Center (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
Each numbered sentence above was checked against the source it cites before publication. Sentences citing Wikipedia adapt text from the English Wikipedia article Helen Keller (contributors), used under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is available under the same licence. Other sources were used for facts only; no text or images are copied from them.
More in Notable Figures
Elsewhere in Historical Figures
Spotted an error? Know more?
Reader corrections go straight into our review queue. Suggest an edit · How this site is sourced