HELEN KELER

In 1923 Irwin contacted Helen Keller
and asked her to become a fundraiser for
the organization. At first, Keller did not
like the idea. It sounded too much like
the old stereotype of blind people
begging for money. But Irwin
convinced her that it was a very
respectable thing to do.

Now done with vaudeville, Keller and
Sullivan began addressing five meetings
a week. They went to private homes
asking for support for the foundation.
Keller was told that her Socialist ideas
might harm chances of getting
donations for the blind. So, she agreed
to abandon politics, at least for a while.

The team of Anne and Helen proved
to be very popular. Keller’s personality
delighted people. In 1926 Keller met
with President Calvin Coolidge. The
president was generally regarded as an

50

unfriendly person. He warmed to
Keller, telling her she had a wonderful
personality.

In 1929 Helen Keller’s had a new
book called Midstream: My Later Life. It
was very successful. Keller began to
testify before state legislatures and the
United States Congress. She asked for
more federal help in buying Braille
books for the blind.

Helen Keller reading a book written in Braille

51

The three women, Helen, Anne, and
Polly spent six months traveling
through Britain, Scotland, and Ireland.
Then, in the spring of 1931, the First
International Conference for Workers
for the Blind was held in New York.
There were 31 nations represented.
Helen Keller’s fundraising efforts were
praised.

Helen Keller was traveling more and
more. She was seen as a symbol of an
active, successful blind and deaf woman.
Also, she was seen as a symbol of
America. She always seemed cheerful
and optimistic. Her clothing was
attractive and eye catching. She wore a
cute little hat with a fluffy, dotted veil.
There were sparkling buckles on her
shoes.

Helen Keller and her friends rented a
villa in Brittany. From there, they

52

traveled to other countries. While in
Europe, Keller was saddened by the
clouds of war that were gathering. She
sensed the hostility. Once again, she
spoke out for cooperation among
nations.

When Helen Keller returned to the
United States, she found out that an old
friend was running for president. Much
earlier, Keller had corresponded with
New York Governor Franklin Roosevelt.
The bond between them was deep.

Keller was encouraged that in 1932
Roosevelt would be running for the
presidency. When he was elected
president of the United States, Keller’s
friendship with him continued. He
welcomed her input on assistance for
the disabled.

Anne Sullivan’s health had been
declining for some time. She was the

53

person who handled Keller’s personal
finances. Arrangements were made in
case Sullivan died before Keller. If this
happened, Helen Keller’s finances
would be handled by the Foundation
for the Blind.

On October 20, 1936, Anne Sullivan
suffered a heart attack and died. The
funeral was held at the Presbyterian
Collegiate Church in New York City.
Helen Keller and Polly Thomson
followed the casket down the aisle.
Anne’s body was interred in the
National Cathedral in Washington. She
was remembered as one of the greatest
of all teachers.

54

9C H A P T E R

Helen Keller helped pass the bill
providing for more Braille books. She
helped President Roosevelt include
assistance for the disabled in the new
Social Security Act. Roosevelt said he
was for whatever Keller was for.

Keller was becoming a national
heroine. She was admired by Americans
and people all over the world. She
moved with Polly Thomson to
Westport, Connecticut. They lived in a
colonial house. There, they entertained
many famous and non-famous people.

55

Helen Keller was sad that America was
involved in another world war, World
War II. But she understood the terrible
evil of Hitler’s Germany. She knew it
had to be stopped.

She wanted to do her part in helping
the war effort. So, she started visiting
injured soldiers in hospitals. Keller’s
own disability was a great help in
reaching out to severely disabled men,
especially those blinded in the war.

In spite of her handicaps, she had
become a beloved and successful
woman. Her strength offered real
encouragement to young men facing
lifetime challenges. With Polly at her
side, she was able to talk to the men.

Keller was now past sixty, but her
active life continued. She campaigned
for Franklin Roosevelt’s reelection in
1944. She visited hospitals in London,

56

Paris, Athens, and Rome. She made
these visits on behalf of the American
Foundation for the Overseas Blind.

In 1947, after World War II, Keller
visited Australia. She also returned to
Japan where she had been so warmly
received before. She visited institutions
for the blind and spent time in
Hiroshima. Hiroshima was one of the
two Japanese cities that was bombed
with atomic weapons.

Helen Keller pledged to work for
peace. She wanted to help prevent
atomic weapons from ever being used
again. She spent 61 days in Japan and
once again was received as a hero.

In 1950 Helen Keller visited South
Africa. In 1952 she went to Israel,
Egypt, Lebanon, Syria, and Jordan.

On the one hundredth anniversary of
Louis Braille’s death, Keller visited Paris.

57

Louis Braille was the man who
developed the Braille system. Keller
spoke about Braille’s wonderful
contribution in perfect French. She
went on to India and Pakistan later. She
never tired of her work as the unofficial
ambassador of good will.

Helen Keller wrote a book titled
Teacher. The book was about her much
loved friend, Anne Sullivan.

On the week before her 75th birthday,
Keller was awarded an honorary degree
from Harvard University. It was the first
ever given to a woman. Telegrams, gifts,
and good wishes came to Keller from all
over the world.

Polly Thomson had a stroke in 1957.
She never was able to be Helen Keller’s
companion again. A nurse, Winnie
Corbally, took over to help Keller at
home.

58

10C H A P T E R

In 1957 a play was developed. It was
based on the life of Helen Keller and the
help Anne Sullivan had given her. The
play was a great success as a live
television play and then on the stage.
Eventually the play, called The Miracle
Worker, was made into a motion picture.
Both Patty Duke, who played Helen,
and Anne Bancroft, who played Anne
Sullivan, won Academy Awards.

In 1960 Polly Thomson died. Her
remains were placed in the National

59

Cathedral in Washington, D.C., beside
Anne Sullivan’s.

In October 1961 Helen Keller’s health
began to fail. She suffered a stroke and
spent her time mostly at home.
However, in 1964, she was awarded the
Presidential Medal of Freedom. This
medal is America’s highest civilian
award. A year later, she was chosen for
the Women’s Hall of Fame at the New
York World’s Fair.

Helen Keller was aware that her life
was coming to an end. She faced it with
the same cheerful courage with which
she had confronted everything else.
Keller called death just a matter of
going from one room to another. And,
as she told friends, in the room she was
going to, she would see again.

On June 1, 1968, Helen Keller died in
her sleep. The doctor who attended her

60

reported a smile on her lips. After a
funeral service at the National
Cathedral, her remains were placed near
Anne Sullivan’s and Polly Thomson’s.

Helen Keller used her life to prove to
the world that to be disabled does not
mean being useless. She used speeches,
writings, and her own wonderful
personality to communicate with the
world. She showed that a blind and deaf
person could inspire the world and
become a true hero.

Helen grasped life with enthusiasm,
delighting in the world around her.
Lack of sight and hearing could not
take her happiness away. With her
boundless spirit, she lit the way for
others.

61

BIBLIOGRAPHY
Keller, Helen. The Story of My Life: A
Restored Classic. New York: W.W.
Norton & Company, 1995.
Herrmann, Dorothy. Helen Keller, A
Life. Chicago: University of Chicago
Press, 1999.

62

GLOSSARY

absorb: to soak up mischievous: behaving in a
slightly troublesome or
appeal: to be especially naughty way
attractive
oculist: a doctor who treats
capitalism: an economic system eye diseases

casket: a box in which a body optimistic: having a positive
is placed attitude

conclude: to come to a poorhouse: a place where poor
conclusion or determination people live

Confederacy: the name of the profile: a view from the side
Southern states of the United
States that wanted to become promote: to encourage the
a separate country during the advancement of something
Civil War
sanitarium: an institution for
console: to calm someone down the recovery of health
or make someone feel better
segregation: separation based
contract: to get or acquire on race, religion, or ethnicity
a system of social and
contribution: something that is economic organization
donated or given
steadfast: firm in purpose;
controversial: debatable; unwavering
problematic
stifle: to end or put out
correspond: to belong to
supplement: something added
deliberately: on purpose to complete something else

detect: to notice tandem bicycle: a bicycle for
two people
discipline: to teach manners
and rules tantrum: a fit of bad temper

draw: to attract trailblazer: a pioneer; someone
who blazes a trail for others
dumb: unable to speak to follow

embossed: having a vaudeville: stage entertainment
raised pattern involving a series of
short acts
fascinated: to be very interested
veteran: someone who has
garments: clothing experience in an occupation,
particularly the military
gradually: slowly
vibrant: bright; glowing
grieve: to mourn
waning: becoming smaller
hesitate: to pause or weaker

hostility: unfriendliness; willful: headstrong; stubborn
aggression

inter: to bury

jut: to stick out

militant: engaging in
aggression or war

63

INDEX

Alexander, William, 31, 32 Radcliffe College for
American Foundation for the Women, 29, 31, 33

Blind, 49, 50, 54 Roosevelt, Franklin, 53, 55,
Anagnos, Michael, 4, 15, 56

23, 24 scarlet fever, 6
Baltimore, Maryland, 13 Socialism, 41
Bell, Alexander Graham, 14, Socialist, 36, 37, 42, 50
Sullivan, Anne, 14, 15, 16,
24
Braille, 23, 28, 30, 43, 49, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22,
23, 24, 27, 28, 29, 30,
51, 55, 58 34, 35, 36, 38, 39,
Braille, Louis, 57, 58 40, 42, 44, 45, 46, 47,
Carnegie, Andrew, 37 48, 50, 53, 54, 58,
Cleveland, Grover, 24 59, 60, 61
Coolidge, Calvin, 50 Sullivan, Jimmie, 15
Fagan, Peter, 42, 43 the Alabamian, 5
Feeding Hills, Massachusetts, Thomson, Polly, 40, 42, 44,
45, 52, 54, 55, 56, 58,
15 59, 61
Ford, Henry, 40 tuberculosis, 15
Forest Hills, New York, 44 Tuscumbia, Alabama, 5, 12
Harvard University, 29, 32 Washington, Martha, 9, 44, 45
Hiroshima, 57 Westport, Connecticut, 55
Humason, Thomas, 27 World War I, 40, 41, 44
International Conference of World War II, 56, 57
Wrentham, Massachusetts
Workers for the Blind, 52 34, 35
Irwin, Robert, 49, 50 Wright, John, 27
Keller, Arthur Henley, 5 Wright-Humason School, 27
Keller, Kate Adams, 5, 13,

43, 48, 49
Keller, Mildred, 11
Macy, John, 32, 34, 35,

36, 38, 39
meningitis, 6
National Woman’s Party, 41
Perkins Institute, 14, 15, 23,

24, 26,

64