Helen Keller Day 2023: June 27 every year is celebrated as Helen Keller Day. Helen Adams Keller is an American writer, political activist, and deaf lecturer. The day honors and celebrates the life, struggles and achievements of a wonderful woman. The annual fashion show takes place on June 27, the same day as a fundraiser in Lackawanna County, Pennsylvania to help and support those in need.
Helen Keller’s biography
Name | Helen Keller |
First and last name | Helen Adams Keller |
Born | June 27, 1880 |
place of birth | Tuscumbia, Alabama |
Nationality | American |
father’s name | Arthur Henley Keller |
Mother’s name | Catherine Everett (Adams) Keller |
Brothers and sisters | Mildred Campbell (Keller) TysonPhillip Brooks KellerJames McDonald KellerWilliam Simpson Keller |
Education | Radcliffe College (BA) |
Job |
|
important work | The Story of My Life (1903) |
Marital status | unmarried |
Husband | Peter Fagan (Soon to get married) |
Biggest Achievement | Presidential Medal of Freedom National Women’s Hall of Fame |
Death | June 1, 1968 |
Cause of death | blow |
Rest area | Washington National Cathedral |
Early life
Keller was born on June 27, 1880, in Tuscumbia, Alabama, to Arthur Henley Keller and Catherine Everett (Adams) Keller. She was diagnosed with a type of bacterial meningitis when she was just 19 months old and as a result was unable to see, hear or communicate. Alexander Graham Bell, the famous scientist and inventor credited with creating the first telephone, responded to the family’s request for guidance and advised them to admit her to the Perkins Institute for the Blind in Boston.
They followed Bell’s advice, and in 1887, Keller was tutored by Anne Sullivan, a young teacher who was also blind. Sullivan used ‘touch teaching’ techniques and her deft guidance helped calm the seemingly uncontrollable Keller. She learned to read and write in braille and mute sign.
Articles, books and other works
Keller moved to Forest Hills, Queens, with Sullivan and hired a butler Macy. She has used her residence as a platform for her advocacy work on behalf of the American Foundation for the Blind. As a speaker and writer, Keller has made a name for herself and advocates for people with disabilities. She gave presentations on the conditions faced by deaf people in 25 different countries. She opposes Woodrow Wilson and is a pacifist, radical socialist, birth control advocate, and an suffragist. Keller has published a total of 12 books, including the following:
- Ice King (1891)
- The Story of My Life (1903)
- optimistic: essay (1903)
- The Key to My Life: Optimism (1904)
- The World I Live In (1908)
- The Miracle of Life (1909)
- Song of the Stone Wall (1910)
- Out of the Shadows, A Series of Essays on Socialism (1913)
- Uncle Sam Calling (set to music by Pauline B. Story) (1917)
- My Religion (1927; also known as Light in My Darkness)
- Middle Course: My Later Life (1929)
- We are very sad. (1929)
- Peace on New Year’s Eve (1932)
- Helen Keller in Scotland: Her Own Personal Record (1933) Methuen, 212 p.
- Helen Keller’s Diary (1938)
- Have faith (1940)
- Teacher: Anne Sullivan Macy: Devotion to the adopted child in her mind. (1955)
- Open Door (1957)
- Helen Keller’s Faith (1967)
- Helen Keller: The Socialist Years, Writings and Speeches (1967)
Personal life
Keller was in his late 30s when Sullivan’s health began to decline. Keller brings with her Peter Fagan, her personal secretary, whom she falls in love with and intends to run away from. Peter Fagan, a young reporter for the Boston Herald, is a sociologist with a knack for spelling. The couple’s plan eventually fell through when her family vehemently opposed it, saying that disabled women should not get married. As a result, Keller moved with his mother to Montgomery, Alabama.
Awards and Achievements
On September 14, 1964, she received the Presidential Medal of Freedom, one of the two highest civilian honors awarded by the United States, from President Lyndon B. Johnson. At the 1965 New York World’s Fair, she was selected to be inducted into the National Women’s Hall of Fame. In the last years of her life, she devoted a significant portion of her time to raising funds for the American Foundation for the Blind.
Here are some of her posthumous recognitions:
In 1980, to celebrate Keller’s 100th birthday, the United States Postal Service issued a stamp featuring Sullivan and Keller.
In 1999, Keller was included in Gallup’s list of the 20th century’s most admired people.
One of Time magazine’s 100 Most Important People of the 20th Century in 1999, Keller.
With the introduction of Braille to the currency of the United States in 2003, Alabama celebrated her daughter’s birth in the state’s neighborhood.
She was honored by the Helen Keller Hospital in Sheffield, Alabama.
KK Srinivasan founded Helen Keller-themed preschool for the deaf in Mysore, India.
- The State of Alabama donated a bronze statue of Keller to the National Statue Collection in 2009.
Helen Keller Day celebrates resilience, raises awareness about disability, inspires others, advocates for education, and promotes human rights and social justice. It serves as a reminder of the importance of education and the need for access to education for all, regardless of their abilities. Because her experience emphasizes the importance of inclusion, accessibility and equal opportunity for people with disabilities. By spending Helen Keller Day, we promote understanding and empathy for people with disabilities.
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Categories: Trends
Source: HIS Education