Helen Adams Keller (1880-1968) was a deafblind American author, activist and lecturer. At nineteen months of age she came down with an illness, which, though it did not last for a particularly long time, left her deaf and blind. By age seven, she had invented over sixty different signs that she could use to communicate with her family. Graham Bell advised her parents to contact the Perkins Institute for the Blind, and the school delegated teacher and former student, Anne Sullivan (1866-1936), herself visually impaired and then only 20 years old, to become Helenas teacher. It was the beginning of a 49-year-long relationship. Helen Keller went on to become a world famous speaker and author. In total, she wrote twelve books and authored numerous articles. She is also remembered as an advocate for people with disabilities, as well as numerous causes. Keller wrote an autobiography called The Story of My Life, which was published in 1903, with the help of Anne Sullivan and Anneas husband John Macy. It includes letters that Helen wrote and the story of her life up to age 21.
Helen Adams Keller was an American author, political activist and lecturer. She was the first deafblind person to earn a Bachelor of Arts degree. The story of how Keller's teacher, Annie Sullivan, broke through the isolation imposed by a near complete lack of language, allowing the girl to blossom as she learned to communicate, has become known worldwide through the dramatic depictions of the play and film The Miracle Worker.
A prolific author, Keller was well traveled and was outspoken in her opposition to war. She campaigned for women's suffrage, workers' rights, and socialism, as well as many other progressive causes.
Keller devoted much of her later life to raising funds for the American Foundation for the Blind. On September 14, 1964, President Lyndon B. Johnson awarded Helen Keller the Presidential Medal of Freedom, one of the United States' highest two civilian honors.
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