Quotes and sayings from Helen Keller

Helen Adams Keller was an American author, disability rights advocate, political activist, and lecturer. She was born on June 27, 1880, in Tuscumbia, Alabama, and lost her sight and hearing after a bout of illness when she was 19 months old. She then communicated primarily using home signs until the age of seven, when she met her first teacher and lifelong companion Anne Sullivan. Sullivan taught Keller language, including reading and writing. After an education at both specialist and mainstream schools, Keller attended Radcliffe College of Harvard University and became the first deafblind person in the United States to earn a Bachelor of Arts degree. Keller was also a prolific author, writing 14 books and hundreds of speeches and essays on topics ranging from animals to Mahatma Gandhi. She campaigned for those with disabilities, for women’s suffrage, labor rights, and world peace. Keller was a founding member of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU). Her autobiography, “The Story of My Life” (1903), publicized her education and life with Sullivan. It was adapted as a play by William Gibson, and this was also adapted as a film under the same title, “The Miracle Worker”. Keller’s birthplace has been designated and preserved as a National Historic Landmark. She died on June 1, 1968, in Easton, Connecticut, at the age of 87.