This day in History: March 3:1887 : Helen Keller meets her miracle worker

On this day in 1887, Anne Sullivan begins teaching six-year-old Helen
Keller, who lost her sight and hearing after a severe illness at the
age of 19 months. Under Sullivan's tutelage, including her pioneering
"touch teaching" techniques, the previously uncontrollable Keller
flourished, eventually graduating from college and becoming an
international lecturer and activist. Sullivan, later dubbed "the
miracle worker," remained Keller's interpreter and constant companion
until the older woman's death in 1936.

Sullivan, born in Massachusetts in 1866, had firsthand experience with
being handicapped: As a child, an infection impaired her vision. She
then attended the Perkins Institution for the Blind where she learned
the manual alphabet in order to communicate with a classmate who was
deaf and blind. Eventually, Sullivan had several operations that
improved her weakened eyesight.

Helen Adams Keller was born on June 27, 1880, to Arthur Keller, a
former Confederate army officer and newspaper publisher, and his wife
Kate, of Tuscumbia, Alabama. As a baby, a brief illness, possibly
scarlet fever, left Helen unable to see, hear or speak. She was
considered a bright but spoiled and strong-willed child. Her parents
eventually sought the advice of Alexander Graham Bell, the inventor of
the telephone and an authority on the deaf. He suggested the Kellers
contact the Perkins Institution, which in turn recommended Anne
Sullivan as a teacher.

Sullivan, age 20, arrived at Ivy Green, the Keller family estate, in
1887 and began working to socialize her wild, stubborn student and
teach her by spelling out words in Keller's hand. Initially, the
finger spelling meant nothing to Keller. However, a breakthrough
occurred one day when Sullivan held one of Keller's hands under water
from a pump and spelled out "w-a-t-e-r" in Keller's palm. Keller went
on to learn how to read, write and speak. With Sullivan's assistance,
Keller attended Radcliffe College and graduated with honors in 1904.

Helen Keller became a public speaker and author; her first book, "The
Story of My Life" was published in 1902. She was also a fundraiser for
the American Foundation for the Blind and an advocate for racial and
sexual equality, as well as socialism. From 1920 to 1924, Sullivan and
Keller even formed a vaudeville act to educate the public and earn
money. Helen Keller died on June 1, 1968, at her home in Westport,
Connecticut, at age 87, leaving her mark on the world by helping to
alter perceptions about the disabled.

From JoJo's Purple Crayon...