List the two major disabilities that Helen Keller faced: Childhood 1880-1894 2. Where and when was Helen Keller born? 3. How old was Helen Keller when she lost her ability to see and hea

The Helen Keller Kids Museum Using text, photographs, quotations, and film footage, The Helen Keller Kids Museum provides a wealth of online information about the life and legacy of Helen Keller, a deafblind woman who changed the perception of what it means to be blind. It traces Helen Keller's life from her childhood and education under Anne Sullivan, to Helen's subsequent education in New York City and Massachusetts. The museum continues with Helen's early political activism and career as a leading advocate for those with vision loss in the United States and her eventual fame as a leading advocate worldwide. Childhood 1880-1894 This is the main house on the Keller family's Ivy Green estate. This picture shows a one-story house surrounded by big, round shrubs and tall, leafy trees. It is a sunny day, but the house is in the shade of all the plants. The house has white wood shingles and lots of windows with dark shutters. Helen Keller was born in a small town called Tuscumbia, Alabama, on an estate called Ivy Green. Her birthday was June 27, 1880, and her parents were Kate Adams Keller and Colonel Arthur Keller. Theirs was a house full of words; Helen's dad was the editor of the local paper, The North Alabamian. But silence fell on this house in February 1882 when 19-month-old Helen became extremely ill and lost her ability to hear and see. Helen's mother, Kate Adams Keller, is sitting sideways on a fancy, carved wooden chair. She is holding a white fan and wearing a Victorian-style dress that has a high collar and long sleeves. The top of the dress is striped and has a lace ruffle that dips around her shoulders. The bottom of the dress is dark and goes from way above her waist to past her knees. Learning was tough for Helen. Because of her deafness and blindness, no one could get through to her, and she could not communicate with others. Basic rules and lessons made no sense to her, and she was called a "wild child." Then, in 1886, her mom heard about the Perkins School for the Blind in Boston from Alexander Graham Bell, inventor of the telephone. Helen reminded Bell of another girl named Laura Bridgman, who was deaf and blind. Kate wrote to the head of the Perkins School to ask for a teacher for Helen and they sent their star student, Anne Sullivan. The day she arrived—March 3, 1887—Helen's life changed. This picture of Anne was taken when she was about 21. She is shown in profile, like a face on a coin. Her hair is very curly. She has short bangs and the rest of her hair is twisted up into a long bun at the back of her head. She is wearing a white, delicately embroidered top that has small buttons up the front and a low, round collar. Anne Sullivan was born on April 14, 1866, in Agawam, Massachusetts. Her family had very little money and could not take care of her. When she was 10 years old she was sent to live in a home for poor people. Anne also had very poor vision. At the age of 14, she was sent to the Perkins School for the Blind to receive training to be a teacher for children who were blind. This photo shows the famous water pump where Helen learned the meaning of words. The pump is in the yard next to the Keller's guest house, where Helen was born. The yard is framed by bushes and trees—it is probably autumn, because there are leaves on the ground. The metal pump has a long, curved handle and the spout is positioned to empty into a wide metal pail. A long metal pipe goes from the pump past the edge of the picture. Behind the pump is a house with three side windows and a front porch. Anne had to figure out a way to make Helen understand words and their meaning. She began to teach Helen letters, by signing them into her palm. Then just one month later, everything clicked. Anne held Helen's hand under a pump while signing W-A-T-E-R into her palm. Helen's whole face lit up. The word came to life, in one moment. That day, she learned 30 words. This is a piece of Helen's early writing, completed seven days before she turned seven (the page is dated June 20th, 1887). The page is lined, like a sheet in a notebook, and has words like cold, catch, latch, load, lord, coal, doll, hat, bad, and good-by. In Helen's handwriting, many round letters look square, but you can easily read everything. Now Helen was too busy to be wild, and her brainpower shone through. Quickly, she learned words and then sentences. Soon she was able to communicate by signing the manual alphabet. But Helen wasn't satisfied with signing alone. She wanted to learn to write. In addition to learning to write in braille, Helen placed a ruler on the page as a guide and drew very square block letters. This picture shows 14 students from the boys' kindergarten class at the Perkins School for the Blind in Massachusetts. They're at a group of tables pushed into a U shape, working on a craft project. They are wearing either Victorian blazers and neckties or sailor suits, and they all have on lace-up boots. The classroom looks like a dining room, except there are paper chains and mobiles hanging from the light fixtures. There is no blackboard or teacher's desk. Instead, there are wooden and glass bookcases, framed pictures on the wall, and plants that they can touch. In 1888, Helen left home for the first time. She and Anne attended the Perkins School for the Blind as a guest of the director, Michael Anagnos. Helen became an overnight celebrity. However, her friendship with Anagnos suffered when she was accused of plagiarism (which means copying someone else's writing and calling it your own). Helen had written a story entitled "The Frost King" for Anagnos's birthday. It was a lot like a story Helen had heard once, long before, and perhaps she remembered parts of it without realizing it. Some people said Helen's writing was just too good for someone who couldn't see or hear nature with her own eyes and ears. Helen is standing outside on a sunny day, touching the leaves of a tree. This picture was taken around 1914, when she was in her early thirties. Her hair is in a loose bun at the back of her head, and she is wearing a long, dark dress that has a layered skirt with a high waist. The sleeves of the dress are opaque down to the elbow, then turn into small ruffles made of transparent fabric. But Helen had spent most of her childhood outside! Anne had taught Helen many things outside of the classroom. She taught her to touch, smell, and experience nature. She wanted Helen to be curious, ask questions, and to discover the world around her. And, for the rest of her life, Helen loved to smell and touch flowers, to feel the wind on her face...she was curious about everything! Education 1894-1904 This is the first graduating class of the Wright-Humason School for the Deaf in New York City. Taken in 1895, it shows the group of students kneeling, standing, and sitting together on a fancy rug. Fourteen of the 21 students are female. Helen is sitting on the far left, holding Anne's hand. All of the women are wearing dark, Victorian-style dresses that are puffy in the chest and shoulders, then tight in the waist and forearms. The men have on jackets, vests and neckties. There is one incredibly young graduate, who is probably in the third or fourth grade. He is sitting patiently on the rug, wearing a white shirt with a huge collar, and a dark jacket, and pants. When Helen was 13, Helen and Anne moved to New York City. There Helen attended the Wright-Humason school for the deaf. She was the only student who was deaf and blind. In class, Anne read everything and signed what she read into Helen's hand. Helen devoured information and became able to communicate with other adults and children. She was even learning how to speak. Nowadays, colleges just send out acceptance letters, but many years ago, they used to give out certificates of admission. Here is the one Radcliffe College sent Helen in 1899. It has a handwritten note saying, "Miss Keller passed with credit in advanced Latin." In 1896, Helen went to the Cambridge School for Young Ladies, run by Arthur Gilman. Attending his school helped Helen prepare for her college entrance examinations. She was admitted to Radcliffe College in 1899. Radcliffe was the sister college to Harvard University, which at the time did not allow women to attend. In this picture, taken in 1900, Helen and Anne are playing chess. Helen is about to move a white queen. She has already captured one of Anne's black pawns, which is to the right of the board. Helen's hair is pulled into a single braid, down her back. She is wearing a long, dark dress with a high collar and sleeves that puff out from the shoulder to the elbow. Anne's hair is twisted almost like a flower, at the back of her head. She is wearing a dark dress with a white lace collar and dark ruffles around each shoulder. Anne Sullivan (Helen always called her "Teacher") was very dedicated to Helen. And Helen loved to learn about everything. She studied French, German, and Latin. She learned to play chess and to horseback ride. Since many books were not available in braille at that time, Anne would sign what she read into Helen's hand. This faded photograph, from 1902, shows four people on a sunny front porch. Helen is seated on the far left, smiling, while Anne stands behind her, signing into her hand. To their right is Mark Twain, sitting with his hands folded in his lap, and Laurence Hutton, who is standing behind Twain and holding a cigar. Hutton was Literary Editor of Harper's magazine and a supporter of Helen's education. Helen met a lot of famous people, including Mark Twain, the author of Tom Sawyer and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. Twain was great friends with Helen, and he signed his letters to Helen with his real name, Samuel L. Clemens. In this scenic photo, Anne and Helen are up on a hilltop, with a river and more hills behind them. (They may be at Alexander Graham Bell's summer home in Nova Scotia, Canada.) Helen is on the left, kneeling next to Anne and Bell, who are seated. Everyone is wearing hats. Helen's straw hat has a spiral of sheer fabric on top and a big dark feather sticking straight up. Anne wears a hat with huge flowers and a white dress with black ribbon trim and elbow-length gloves; she has one hand on her hat and the other hand in Helen's. Bell is sitting on a wicker chair, facing Helen, wearing a jungle explorer-type hat called a pith helmet. His right hand is outstretched to Helen's right hand, and he seems to be communicating with her using the manual alphabet. Behind Bell is another man, possibly John Hitz of the Volta Bureau, wearing a bowler hat. Helen was also good friends with Alexander Graham Bell, who invented the telephone. Bell was very interested in education for the hearing impaired, in part because his wife Mabel was deaf. In 1888 Bell founded the Volta Bureau for the Deaf, which is now called the Alexander Graham Bell Association for the Deaf. Bell was a good friend of Helen and Anne's and would remain so until his death in 1922. In this picture, he is talking to Helen using the manual alphabet. This picture shows Helen seated on an old stone wall with a large Braille book in her lap. She is sitting straight up, with her legs crossed, reading the left-hand page. Her dress is simpler, less heavy, and lighter in color than her outfits in other pictures. Behind her is a meadow with many trees shaking in the wind. In 1902, a year before her graduation, Helen successfully published her first book, The Story of My Life. John Macy, an editor and instructor at Harvard University, edited the book, and Helen dedicated it to Alexander Graham Bell, who had helped so much with her education. The book received great reviews, including one from Mark Twain. (In a letter to Helen, Twain also referred to the plagiarism scandal that took place 12 years before.) Since the book was first published, it has been translated into 50 languages! This photograph, taken in 1904, shows Helen crouched on the floor behind her dog, a bull terrier. The dog is lying down, but its head is facing the camera. Helen's left hand is on an open braille book and her right hand is on the dog's back. She is wearing a light-colored dress with full, pleated sleeves and a big bow at the collar. The skirt has a few horizontal ruffles, made out of the same fabric. Helen was amazing! Her actions led the way for so many women, as well as people with disabilities. In 1904, she was the first deaf-blind person to receive a college degree. She graduated from Radcliffe College cum laude, which means with very high honors. Young Woman 1904-1924 This picture, which came from a film, describes how Anne taught Helen to talk. The two women are sitting down, close to each other. Helen is touching Anne's right cheek while Anne is talking, to feel the muscles move. They are wearing more "modern" clothing than in other photographs. Helen has on a printed dress and a long chain necklace, and Anne is wearing a thin chain above a light top, with a dark cardigan and skirt. Behind them is a big vase of flowers. Did you know Helen wrote and gave speeches? The photo above shows Helen touching Anne's right cheek while Anne is talking, to feel the muscles move. Helen was also a gifted writer. She wrote fourteen books, many essays, articles and speeches on everything from her love of animals and nature to the importance of equal opportunities for women. She also wrote about the ideas of Swedenborg, a Swedish scientist and philosopher (1688-1772) who believed that by helping others, you grow and help yourself. This group shot from 1918 shows Helen and friends on a movie set, with the camera behind them. On the far left is Polly Thompson, then Anne, Helen, and Charlie Chaplin, a major comic film actor from the era of silent movies. Behind them all are many film props, such as signs and furniture. Chaplin is in his signature look of big, dark eyebrows, dark eyes (lined in eyeliner!), and a dark bushy moustache. Helen has her left hand on his shoulder and her right hand on Anne's mouth, feeling her speak. Both Helen and Anne have furs draped on their shoulders. In 1914, Polly Thomson began working for Helen and Anne—they were known as "the three musketeers." In 1918 they traveled to Hollywood to make the movie Deliverance, a silent movie about Helen's life. In the film, Helen and Anne starred as themselves. Plus Helen met movie stars like Charlie Chaplin. This clip from the movie shows Helen Keller flying in an old biplane. This close-up, action shot stars Helen, Anne, and Henry Ford, the famous automobile inventor. Helen and Ford are shown in profile, with Anne facing the camera. Everyone is smiling. Helen has her hand on Ford's mouth, to feel him speak, and Anne seems to be laughing. Helen and Anne have on big black hats with lots of dark feathers in the front. They are also both wearing loose, white blouses. Ford has on a dark suit, white shirt, and a dark printed tie. His short hair is blowing in the breeze. All sorts of people wanted to meet Helen, including Henry Ford, the man who invented the Model-T Ford automobile, one of the most popular cars in the world at that time. Helen also met three generations of the Rockefeller family, who formed the Standard Oil Company. The Rockefellers donated a fortune to the arts, culture, science, politics, and national parks. Here's Helen in her dressing room in a vaudeville theatre. She is sitting at a makeup table (which does not have a mirror), brushing her cheek with a giant powder puff. Behind her, hanging on the wall, are many elaborate outfits, including a silk robe, a dark evening dress, and a full-length fur coat. Helen has on a sleeveless, patterned dress that goes down to her toes and shiny high-heeled shoes. Helen's acting career continued on the vaudeville stage. She went on tour with Anne, giving lectures and performing in shows that featured drama, comedy, and music. Helen enjoyed the glamorous lifestyle, unlike Anne. Eventually the performances became too tiring for Anne and they stopped their tour in 1922. This photograph is from 1919, just after World War I. Helen has the arm of a newly-blinded soldier; they are walking down a woodsy path in Baltimore, Maryland. Behind them is a stone wall and a large house with many windows, which is the Red Cross Institute for the Blind. Helen is wearing a long, dark coat and a woolen hat. The soldier is dressed in a military uniform. He has a bandage over his left eye and is using a cane to help him walk. Bringing up the rear, also on the path, are Anne, Polly, and two other men, one in a military uniform. Helen was continually drawn to the cause of the underdog. As a pacifist, she protested against the First World War and was one of the early members of the American Civil Liberties Union. In the early 1930s, as America was dealing with the Depression, Helen got on the radio in New York to discuss the needs and rights of the unemployed and the poor. Champion of the Blind 1924-1946 In this image, which is from a film, Helen is seated in a wood-paneled meeting room, testing a communications device for the American Foundation for the Blind. She has on a plain, dark dress and hat with many feathers. To her left is Polly Thompson, who has her hand on Helen's arm and may be in the middle of signing a message. On Helen's right is M. Robert Barnett, Executive Director of AFB. Four other people, three men and one woman, are also in the room, watching Helen carefully. In 1924, Helen joined the American Foundation for the Blind (AFB), the country's leading advocate for people who are blind or visually impaired. For the next 44 years, she was an ambassador for AFB. She toured the United States, developing support for programs that help blind people. This crowd scene, just outside the White House, has Helen, Anne, and Herbert and Mrs. Hoover (the President and the First Lady), all in the front row! The picture was taken in 1931 during an international conference of workers for the blind, which Helen helped organize. Also front and near-center is Robert B. Irwin, Executive Director of AFB. In 1932, Helen and two leaders from the American Foundation for the Blind—M. C. Migel and Robert B. Irwin—persuaded the U.S. government to hold an international conference of workers for the blind. Thirty-two countries sent their representatives to Washington, D.C., for a special meeting at the White House. Not only did President Herbert Hoover greet the delegates, so did Helen! She held a reception for them and attended all of the meetings. Helen is showing Lillian Switzer, a ten year-old blind student, how to use a huge radio that has Braille symbols. The radio is almost as tall as Lillian! Helen is sitting down, with her right arm around Lillian's shoulders. She is wearing a dark ribbed shirt and skirt and a small dark hat with feathers. Lillian is operating the radio, wearing a light sweater and dark pleated skirt. The picture was taken in 1938, in the Helen Keller Room of AFB's old offices on 16th Street. Helen also convinced a major radio manufacturer to donate 250 radios to people who were blind or visually impaired. This was part of a 1929 AFB campaign that distributed over 3,750 radios. Did you know that "Talking Books" were the very first audio versions of books? They were developed at AFB in 1932. People who are blind can still get them for free from the Library of Congress. In 1935, Helen went to a Senate hearing in Washington, D.C., to make sure that government funds were put aside for this and other programs. Even though Helen couldn't hear, she knew that sound could help educate other people. This photograph, taken in their home, shows Helen and Polly in front of two large windows. The light is bright outside, and the curtains on the windows are pulled back. Helen is sitting at her typewriter, describing something with her hands to Polly, who is leaning towards her, smiling. Helen has on a dark dress with small light flowers and white trim on the neck and cuffs. Polly is wearing a long black dress, with a white pearl necklace. Helen was an excellent typist. She typed nearly all of her own letters on both a braille writer and a regular typewriter. The braille writer works a little bit like a typewriter. It has six keys, one for each dot in a braille cell. Helen wrote hundreds of articles and published many books. Her writings came to the world's attention in May 1933 when one of her books, Out of the Dark, was burned by young Nazis in Germany who hated socialism. Helen wrote an impassioned letter in response to the book-burning. A full-length portrait of Anne and Helen during their lecture tour in 1920. Anne is seated, with a book in her left hand, which she’s reading and signing into Helen's hand. They are both wearing fancy dresses that are embroidered and have sequins. Helen's dress is white and sleeveless, and her hair is curled up behind her head. Anne's dress is dark and has cutaway holes in the short sleeves; her hair is short and shaped into small waves around her head. The women gave an autographed copy of this picture to Walter G. Holmes, manager and editor of the Ziegler Magazine for the Blind. In 1936, Helen's beloved teacher Anne Sullivan died. Polly Thomson now became Helen's primary companion, and a whole new chapter of her life was beginning. Helen is meeting a patient in Moore General Hospital of North Carolina. Paul Grossman, a sergeant from Nebraska, is sitting on his hospital cot, surrounded by his soldier friends. Helen is sitting beside him, feeling his jaw, to understand his speech. According to a story written on the back of the photograph, Paul is saying that he just won $1,260 in a contest, but he is just as excited to meet Helen. In fact, Paul called Helen one of the most remarkable figures in either the ancient or modern world! The picture was taken on June 11, 1945. During World War II, Helen and Polly went all over the United States giving support to blind and wounded veterans. Everywhere Helen went, barriers and obstacles that faced the blind came tumbling down. Her boundless determination and her example of what a person with disabilities could accomplish helped change laws and create programs for people who were visually impaired. World Leader 1946-1968 Taken in Rome, Italy, this photo shows Helen with a nun and twelve young children from the Institution for the Blind. The photo was taken in 1946. Many of the children have amputated limbs and are wearing worn, stained clothing. The nun is facing the camera, wearing a traditional outfit called a habit. Her large white headdress, called a coif, has pointed sides that tilt up like the wings of a bird about to fly. Helen is leaning over, talking to one of the smallest children. Try naming 39 countries—that's how many nations Helen and Polly visited! This world tour was funded largely by the American Foundation for the Overseas Blind (now called Helen Keller Worldwide). Everywhere she went, Helen was greeted by throngs of children, as well as famous personalities such as the British leader Winston Churchill and the Indian Premier Jawaharlal Nehru. Centers were established in her name in countries such as India, the Soviet Union, and Egypt. A group of schoolchildren in Kobe, Japan wave white flags with messages of welcome for Helen and Polly, who are visiting in 1948. The children have on school uniforms, white shirts with dark shorts or skirts. Helen is wearing a long, dark dress and hat; Polly is wearing a long, flower-print dress. Both women are wearing white gloves. After World War II, Helen and Polly went to Europe and Asia to show support for war veterans abroad. This film footage is from their 1948 trip to Japan. They visited Hiroshima and Nagasaki to experience firsthand the aftermath of the only atomic bombs ever dropped. This photograph from Durban, South Africa shows Zulu dancers saying good-bye to Helen, who is smiling from the backseat of a Dodge sedan. The dancers stand to the right of the car, dressed in animal skins and holding ceremonial sticks and shields. In fact, they gave one of their shields to Helen, as a farewell gift! This picture was taken in 1952. Helen received incredible gifts on her travels around the globe—the Queen of Jordan once gave her a wooden box that was packed with candy! She also received this beautiful shield from Zulus in South Africa. In fact her entire house—which was called Arcan Ridge, in Westport, CT—was filled with gifts and souvenirs from her travels. Today those objects can be seen at the AFB headquarters in New York City. Helen is at a podium, beaming, with her Academy Award. She has on a dark, simple dress and a pearl necklace. Her hair is tied back, with a few small curls around her forehead. The space around her body is dark, as if she is standing in a spotlight. Helen's life has been the subject of movies, books, and plays for many decades. In 1955, Helen received an Academy Award for the documentary about her life, Helen Keller in Her Story (originally called The Unconquered). In 1959, Anne Bancroft and Patty Duke starred in the Broadway play The Miracle Worker. The play, written by William Gibson, was based on Anne's earliest efforts to teach Helen how to communicate. Three years later, Anne Bancroft and Patty Duke starred in a movie version of the play. Both women won Academy Awards for their performances. This image, taken from a film, shows Helen standing next to opera singer Gladys Swarthout to feel the sound vibrations from her lips. Helen is in profile, wearing a long dark dress and a big dark hat. She is biting her lips, deep in concentration. The singer has her mouth open and is facing the camera, singing with her hands in her pockets. She has short curly hair and is wearing a black short-sleeved shirt and pants. The photo is not dated. Helen loved all aspects of life, not just the political and social causes she fought for. She enjoyed good food and wine, and she appreciated beautiful things. Helen had very keen senses, including an extraordinary sense of touch. This photograph from 1961 shows Helen visiting President John F. Kennedy in the White House. The two are seated with Helen's secretary Evelyn D. Seide; a few Presidential aides are standing nearby. Everyone is smiling, including Helen, who is explaining something to the President. When Helen was seven years old, she was introduced to President Grover Cleveland. Cleveland was just one of many presidents that Helen met in her lifetime. This picture shows her meeting President John F. Kennedy in 1961. She received letters from eight U.S. presidents—from Theodore Roosevelt in 1903 to Lyndon B. Johnson in 1965. Her fame resulted in many awards in her lifetime, including the French Legion of Honor and the U.S. Presidential Medal of Freedom. This extreme close-up, from 1959, shows Helen with a gigantic smile. Radiant at 78 years old, Helen has a few soft curls around her face and is wearing a simple dark dress and a pearl necklace. Helen was a very spiritual woman. She believed that everyone from all races and cultures deserved the same rights. After Polly's death in 1961, Helen lived quietly at Arcan Ridge. She died in her sleep in 1968. Questions. The Helen Keller Kids Museum 1. List the two major disabilities that Helen Keller faced: Childhood 1880-1894 2. Where and when was Helen Keller born? 3. How old was Helen Keller when she lost her ability to see and hear? 4. Why was the young Helen Keller considered a wild child? 5. Who did Helen Keller’s mother reach out to for help educating her daughter? 6. What problems did Anne Sullivan overcome as a child and teenager? 7. List several ways that Helen Keller showed her brilliance as child: 8. List several ways that Anne Sullivan was a great teacher to Helen Keller: Education 1894-1904 9. How old was Helen when she moved to New York City and what school did she attend? 10. Why could Helen Keller not attend Harvard University in 1899? 11. List the three foreign languages Helen Keller studied: 12. Who were some of the famous celebrities that Helen Keller met in the early 1900s? 13. What amazing feat did Helen Keller accomplish in 1902? 14. What amazing feat did Helen Keller accomplish in 1904? Young Woman 1904-1924 15. How many books did Helen Keller write in her lifetime? 16. Did Helen Keller support the women’s rights movement of the early 1900s? 17. What did Helen Keller accomplish in 1918? 18. List several causes or ways Helen Keller helped people during the 1920s and 1930s: Champion of the Blind 1924-1946 19. How did Helen Keller support the American Foundation for the Blind? 20. What were “Talking Books”? 21. List several ways that Helen Keller supported education: 22. Which of Helen Keller’s books was burned by the Nazis in 1933? 23. In what year did Anne Sullivan die? 24. How did Helen Keller help people during World War II? World Leader 1946-1968 25. How many countries did Helen and Polly visit after World War II ended? 26. What award did Helen Keller receive in 1955? 27. List some of the other awards and honors that Helen Keller received in her lifetime: 28. What did Helen Keller believe about all people? 29. In what year did Helen Keller die? 30. What is something new or interesting you learned about Helen Keller? 31. List several ways that Helen Keller made the world a better place: 32. Write four words you would use to describe Helen Keller: