Updated on April 21, 2024
Born 27th June 1880 in Tuscumbia Alabama, Helen Keller is arguably Perkins’ most famous student, with her teacher Anne Sullivan, a close second.
The story of a little girl who was deaf and blind from 18 months of birth and how she learned to communicate after her teacher spelled “water” into her hands was made famous by the movie “The Miracle Worker.”
Helen Keller grew up to be a household name as an author, political author, and an advocate for people with limited abilities. Here are some remarkable facts about her.
1. Helen Keller is the first deaf and blind person to earn a college degree. From Radcliffe, she graduated cum laude in 1904 with a bachelor’s degree.
2. Her famous life story was based on the autobiography that she wrote.
3. Helen always thought of herself as a writer first. She published fourteen books, wrote many articles and essays, and was a great contributor to magazines and newspapers.
4. Keller was a great friend of Mark Twain. The two met when she was 14 years old, after which he died 16 years later. He admired Helen for her sense of humor and sharp intelligence.
5. She was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize in 1953. This was shortly after she visited the Mideast in 1952, where she met with local leaders, to advocate for the rights of those that were deaf and blind.
6. Helen Keller was extremely political and was a member of the socialist party. She was a founder of the American Civil Liberties Union, (ACLU). She was a strong advocate for women’s rights and a strong supporter of birth control.
7. Keller worked the vaudeville circuit in 1920. She and her teacher Sullivan began a five-year stint in vaudeville to supplement their dwindling finances. Known as the “8th wonder of the world”, Keller performed a 20-minute show, where she told her life story in her own words, which was translated by Sullivan.
8. Helen Keller fell in love with Sullivan’s secretary Peter Fagan whom she employed when Sullivan fell ill. She intended to elope with him, but her family strongly objected because they believed women with disabilities should never marry.
9. Keller was an Oscar winner in 1956 and accepted the Academy award at the age of 76, also her life inspired two Oscar award-winning movies.
10. Helen was awarded a lot of medals in her life, some of which included the Presidential Medal of Freedom, in 1964, the highest honor an American civilian could receive. She also received the Theodore Roosevelt Distinguished Service Medal in 1936, amongst others.
11. Helen Keller was a world traveler in her life and visited a total of 39 countries across 5 continents. She was an activist for both the American Federation for the Blind and Helen Keller International (which she helped found).
12. She was a dog lover and was the first to bring the Japanese Akita breed to America. She received a dog as a gift from a police officer Ichiro Ogasawara during one of her trips to Japan.
13. Helen Keller became a dignitary amongst her celebrity friends, such as author Mark Twain and inventor Alexander Graham Bell and the like.
14. Helen Keller’s birthday is commemorated yearly on her birthday, “June 27th.” Her birthplace, called Ivy Green in Tuscumbia, Alabama, is now a museum and the City of Tuscumbia hosts an annual Helen Keller Festival the last week of June.
15. Because of her political views and enthusiasm, she had a lot of controversial views and radical ideas on politics, and as a result was on the FBI’s radar.
16. Helen’s teacher died while holding her hand. She was right there by her side all through her coma, and up until she died.
17. Helen believed her life started at the age of 7, when she met Anne Sullivan her teacher, who was also visually impaired. She traced “water” on Helen’s palm and by nightfall, Helen had learned 30 words.
18. Helen was referred to as an “unruly child” when she was little. This was because she would throw tantrums, and was having a daily outburst of emotions. But all these were because she had no other way to express herself.
19. Helen wasn’t born with a disability but got infected at only 18 months with a disease the doctors called “acute congestion of the brain and stomach (in modern terms – Scarlet Fever or Meningitis) which in turn took her sight and hearing.
20. Helen Keller passed peacefully in her sleep on June 1st, 1968, in Eastern Connecticut at the age of 87.
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