Helen Keller: The Inspirational
Helen Keller’s life story is an inspiration for many reasons, but especially because it demonstrates the power of the human spirit to overcome immense challenges and stand for social change. She is an extraordinary figure who didn’t allow the limitations of her blindness and deafness to stop her from becoming a world-renowned author, activist, and lecturer.
Helen Adams Keller was born on June 27th, 1880, in Tuscumbia, Alabama. It was there that her world-shaping journey started. Her father was a former Confederate Army captain and newspaper editor named Arthur H. Keller. Her mother, Katherine Adams Keller, was an educated woman from Memphis.
At around 19 months old, Keller contracted an illness, which could have been scarlet fever or meningitis, that left her entirely blind and deaf. At the age of seven, Keller’s whole life was transformed when her teacher, Anne Sullivan, taught her to communicate using the manual alphabet–finger spelling words into Keller’s hand. For example, Anne taught Helen the word “water” by running her under the sink while tracing the word into her palm.
Helen significantly improved communication for deafblind people by mastering and spreading existing ways of communicating, showing how effective they were and making them more widely known. She learned all available methods of “speaking” and taught them to other people in need. By learning to communicate, read, write, and even speak, Keller showed the world that deafblind people were also capable of learning and achieving great things, despite their limitations.
Keller became a very passionate advocate for Braille literacy, showing its importance for reading and writing with the visually impaired and deafblind. She graduated from Radcliffe College in 1904, becoming the first deafblind person to earn a Bachelor of Arts degree! She wrote a total of 14 books, including her bestselling autobiography, The Story of My Life, which was published in 1903. Most of her books explores themes of education, perseverance, and the importance of protecting human and civil rights.
Helen spent a lot of her life fighting for social justice, including women’s suffrage, labor rights, and the rights of people with disabilities. She worked for the American Foundation for the Blind (AFB) for almost 44 years, raising funds and improving the lives of people with disabilities. At the same time she also traveled to 39 countries, persuading governments to build schools and programs that helped people like her. Her tours inspired millions with her message of hope and determination, growing more support for the deaf and blind.
Her work laid the groundwork for organizations like the Helen Keller National Center for Deaf-Blind Youths & Adults, which still provides deaf-blind training and support today. In addition, in 1920, Keller co-founded the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), which showed her commitment to civil rights and liberties for all.
Helen Keller changed how many people in society viewed disability, making overcoming her own a personal obstacles part of a larger societal movement that produced a whole new philosophical perspective on how some people view the world. She famously said, “The chief handicap of the blind is not blindness, but the attitude of seeing people towards them. The chief handicap of the deaf is not deafness, but the words of hearing people towards them.”
Keller received many accolades in her life including the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1964. She was also elected to the Women’s Hall of Fame in 1965.
Helen Keller sadly passed away on June 1, 1968, when she was 87, in her home in Westport, Connecticut. She “drifted off in her sleep,” according to her companion, Mrs. Winifred Corbally, who was with her at the time. She was widely quoted saying, “Death is no more than passing from one room into another. But there’s a difference for me, you know. Because in that other room I shall be able to see and hear!”
In her final moments, Helen Keller’s work, actions, and words conveyed her deep satisfaction with the contributions she made to the world, and her hope that these efforts would continue. She continuously said that using one’s abilities to the fullest and serving others was her greatest happiness. Her quotes and books today often reflected gratitude for her experiences, including the challenging ones, viewing them as opportunities for personal growth and helping others. She famously said, “I thank God for my handicaps. For through them, I have found myself, my work, and my people”.
When the world was almost without her, she still stated “The world is still to be moved along, not only by the mighty shoves of its heroes (like her), but also by the aggregate of tiny pushes of each honest worker”. Whereas her life of tirelessly supporting the deaf-blind slowly came to an end, her legacy still lives on to be a source of inspiration and a reminder that every person can have a profound impact on the world, regardless of the challenges they face.
