7 Things You Didn’t Know About Helen Keller
People around the world know the story of a deaf-blind young girl who overcame so many obstacles with the help of her famous teacher. When that girl grew up, she led a fascinating life advocating for the rights of the most vulnerable people around the world. In honor of her 134thbirthday on June 27th, here are a few little-known facts about the remarkable Helen Keller.
1. She traveled the world.
Over the course of her life, Helen Keller took nine different global tours that spanned 39 countries on five continents. On many of these visits, she gave lectures and met with world leaders – including every single United States President from Grover Cleveland to Lyndon B. Johnson – to advocate for the education and rights of the blind, deaf, and others living with disabilities.
2. She met celebrities.
Helen Keller didn’t only meet kings, queens, presidents, and prime ministers from all around the world. She also met a variety of people who were renowned here in the United States. Among her first celebrity friends was Alexander Graham Bell, the inventor of the telephone. She was also very close to Mark Twain, met First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt, and famously had her photo taken with the silent movie star Charlie Chaplin.
3. She was a scholar.
At the age of 20, Helen Keller entered Radcliffe College. In just four years, she graduated magna cum laude, or with high honors. Helen’s teacher Anne Sullivan accompanied her to college, where it is said she spelled Helen’s text books – letter by letter – into her hand.
4. She wrote extensively.
“Can you imagine mountains of rhododendrons rising and massive into the bluest sky you’ve ever been under – white, crimson, scarlet, pink, buff, yellow and every shade God has painted on leaf and flower? As if this was not beauty enough, you come out of a mountain pass and gaze, breathless and trembling upon ‘purple peaks that out of ancient woods arise,’ and there in the gorge below, are silver lakes, reflecting as in a row of mirrors all the glory that surrounds them!” It may surprise you to learn that Helen Keller wrote these beautiful words on a trip to Ireland.
Throughout her life, Helen Keller wrote 12 books and several articles for prominent publications, many of which were about her life and what it was like living without vision or hearing. Her autobiography,The Story of My Life, was used as the basis for “The Miracle Worker,” which premiered on television in 1957 and has since been adapted into a movie and a Broadway play. Most recently, the play was performed on Broadway in 2010 starring Oscar-nominated actress Abigail Breslin as a young Helen Keller.
5. She had a radical side.
Beyond advocating for the rights of the most vulnerable people, Helen Keller was also a passionate activist who supported many causes that were controversial during her lifetime. In addition to being a socialist and a founding member of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), Helen Keller was a champion for women’s rights, birth control, and ending child labor. In fact, her political views were so controversial that her books were burned by the Nazis during World War II and it is rumored that she was monitored by the FBI for much of her life.
6. She helped make Braille the standard.
When Helen Keller was learning to read, there were more than five different raised print systems that were being used in books for the blind. Thanks to Helen Keller’s work on the first ever World Council for the Blind, Braille became the universal standard in 1918.
7. She founded a global nonprofit organization.
Along with Lusitania survivor George Kessler, Helen Keller co-founded the American Foundation for the Overseas Blind in 1915. In 1977, the organization changed its name to Helen Keller International (HKI) to commemorate Helen Keller, who died in 1968. Helen Keller International still exists today and prevents blindness and malnutrition for millions of people living in some of the most vulnerable parts of the world each year. The organization will celebrate 100 years of saving sight and lives in 2015.
As we celebrate Helen Keller’s 134th birthday this year, let’s remember her as a courageous, tenacious woman who made incredible contributions to society around the world. Help keep Helen Keller’s legacy alive by supporting Helen Keller International and its global programs.
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