Helen Adams Keller, born on June 27, 1880, in West Tuscumbia, Alabama, was an American author, disability rights advocate, political activist, and lecturer who overcame the challenges of being deaf and blind to achieve remarkable success.
At the tender age of 19 months, Keller lost her sight and hearing due to a bout of illness, and for the next seven years, she communicated primarily through home signs. However, her life took a dramatic turn when she met her first teacher and lifelong companion, Anne Sullivan, at the age of seven.
Sullivan taught Keller language, including reading and writing, and after completing her education at both specialist and mainstream schools, Keller attended Radcliffe College of Harvard University, becoming the first deafblind person in the United States to earn a Bachelor of Arts degree.
Keller's impressive achievements did not go unnoticed, and she was named one of Time magazine's 100 Most Important People of the 20th Century. She worked tirelessly for the American Foundation for the Blind (AFB) from 1924 until 1968, touring the United States and traveling to 35 countries around the globe to advocate for those with vision loss.
As an author, Keller wrote 14 books and hundreds of speeches and essays on a wide range of topics, including animals, Mahatma Gandhi, and disability rights. She was a passionate advocate for social justice, campaigning for women's suffrage, labor rights, and world peace. In 1909, she joined the Socialist Party of America and was a founding member of the American Civil Liberties Union.
Keller's autobiography, "The Story of My Life" (1903),publicized her education and life with Sullivan, and was adapted into a play by William Gibson and a film under the same title, "The Miracle Worker." Her birthplace has been designated and preserved as a National Historic Landmark and operates as a house museum, sponsoring an annual "Helen Keller Day."
Keller's remarkable life and achievements have been recognized with numerous honors, including being inducted into the Alabama Women's Hall of Fame in 1971 and the Alabama Writers Hall of Fame on June 8, 2015, as one of its twelve inaugural inductees.
