Helen Keller By: Byanca

Birth Helen Keller was born on June 27, 1880, in Tuscumbia, Alabama.

Family Helen grew up with her mom and dad named Kate Adams Keller and Arthur Henley Keller. Helen also grew up with two half brothers one is named Simpson and the other is James. Helen also grew up with a sister and a brother named Mildred and Phillip Keller.

Deaf and Blind When Helen was one year and seven months old she hit a fever so high she fainted. Back in 1882 doctors didn’t know the cause or know how to cure the disease. Doctors called it “Brain Fever”. This caused her to become deaf and blind.

Frustration and Anger When Helen was a toddler from 2-5 years old. She sometimes lost control of herself and she kicked and screamed when she got frustrated.

Dr. Alexander Graham Bell When Helen was six, her father took her to go see Dr. Alexander Graham Bell. Dr. Bell got a system that helped deaf people speak. He told Helen’s father to find a private teacher for his daughter, and he did. Her name was Anne Sullivan.

Meeting Anne Sullivan When Helen was seven years old she had a birthday party and an unexpected guest showed up and that person’s name was Anne Sullivan!!! When Anne came she brought a doll for Helen and Helen had the doll in one hand and in the other hand Anne spelled out doll in her palm.

Help From Anne Sullivan Helen was used to her family doing everything for her. So Anne had to separate her from the rest of her family so Anne can teach her to help herself. Anne was patient with her curious student and tried to answer many of her questions. Helen had trouble understanding what she was teaching her.

Visits Helen and Anne went to visit a school so Helen can attend a school. The name of the school was called Perkins Institution for the blind in 1888.

Early Childhood When Helen was 10 years old, Anne took her to the Horace Mann School for the deaf. There she learned sign language. Anne Sullivan also helped her by spelling out words in her hand. So that was how she could communicate with Helen. Helen once said that she would go to college.

College In 1900 Helen went to Radcliffe College with Anne Sullivan. There she learned History, math, and Literature. In 1904, when she was 24, she was the first deaf and blind person that graduated with honors degree.

Creations When Helen was 23 years old she wrote the beginning of her autobiography called “The Story of My Life”. Later when she was still 23 she did more of her autobiography and that was called “Midstream”.

Her Special Gifts and talents Helen was talented on Braille. She was also talented by reading peoples lips with her forefingers by feeling the vibration of the person talking, and she also put her middle finger on the person’s nose. This is how Helen was able to communicate with people.

Assistants And Associates In 1914 Helen and Anne met Polly Thomson and they hired her as an assistant and an associate.

Important Events Helen Keller was DETERMINED to lecture in public and write a book about her life. Her greatest event was when she wrote her first book called “The Story Of My Life”, she wrote it in 1903.

Challenges When Helen was almost 35 she wanted to become a lecturer to audiences but Helen did NOT like her voice because it sounded like a robot. On stage she knew her voice was NOT clear so she left the stage crying. So Helen did NOT give up until she inspired the audience.

Traveled When Helen was in her 20’s she and Anne both traveled a lot together. They visited 39 countries from

Going To Hollywood In 1918 Helen went to Hollywood with Anne so Helen could be in a movie about her life, “Deliverance”.

Marriage Plans Anne’s husband had a associate named Peter Fagan. Helen and Peter both Made marriage plans. But it never happened.

Friend Ship Helen and Anne known each other for 49 years both were very close together.

Death In 1936 Anne Sullivan died But Helen lived 31 more years. When Anne died, Polly Thomson took care of Helen. Then Polly was in her life for 30 years and then she died in So then after she died Helen took care of her self but sadly Helen died when she was 88 in 1968, in her sleep.

Why I Chose This Person I chose this person because I wanted to know how she struggled in her life and how she accomplished things in her life by being deaf and blind.

Work Cited Sullivan, George. Helen Keller: Her Life in Pictures. New York: Scholastic Nonfiction, Print. Image quest. for pictures Gale infobits