123 Facts About Helen Keller That Will Absolutely Amaze You

Helen Adams Keller was an American-born political activist, author, lecturer, and disability rights advocate who became blind and deaf at a very young age.

Helen Adams Keller was born on June 27, 1880, to Arthur Henley Keller and Catherine Everett Keller in Tuscumbia, Northwest Alabama. She lived with her family along with four of her other siblings but out of the four, two of them were half brothers as they were from her father's earlier marriage.

Helen Keller started walking and talking at a young age, however, she lost her ability to see and hear when she was merely 19 months old owing to an unknown disease. Helen described this period of her life in her autobiography as 'at sea in a dense fog'. Helen became increasingly frustrated at not being able to communicate. As a fact, several reports say that she was regarded as an unruly child due to her behavior but this was only until she met her teacher, and lifelong companion, Anne Sullivan who transformed her entire life and helped her overcome adversity. Prior to meeting Anne Sullivan, Helen could communicate only the most basic stuff using home signs but Sullivan taught her how to read and write. Later, she undertook the Tadoma method to teach Helen Keller how to understand someone else's speech. As Anne Sullivan's guidance and Helen Keller's intelligence combined, they began to achieve feats that the world never knew a deafblind person could do. Eventually, Helen Keller graduated from the renowned Radcliffe College of Harvard University becoming the first deafblind person to earn a degree in Bachelors of Arts. Later in her life, Helen Keller went on to work for the American Foundation for the Blind for years traveling across the world advocating for all the blind people. Helen's life story has been an inspiration for people all across the world and especially for the physically challenged.

Fun Facts About Helen Keller

Helen Keller had a pretty interesting, inspirational life throughout along with the support of her teacher Anne Sullivan but at the same time, Helen Keller had several incidents you might not know about.

• Did you know that Helen Keller was friends with the famous writer Mark Twain since she was just 14 years old? Twain appreciated Helen Keller's intelligence and also applauded the efforts of Anne Sullivan for nurturing Helen Keller.
• Helen Keller was once nominated for the prestigious Nobel Peace Prize in the year 1953; the honor came after she advocated for the rights of the blind people in the Mideast and contributed to society.
• As a mark of her legacy in the Mideast, there exists a school named Helen Keller School in Israel in the city of Jerusalem.
• Did you know, Helen won the 'Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature' for appearing in 'Helen Keller In Her Story', which was a documentary about her life itself?
• Helen Keller once fell in love when she was in her 30s and planned to elope, although ultimately her family objected and the plan could not go through.
• The incident took place when Anne Sullivan was ill and Helen appointed Peter Fagan as a private secretary, and with the passage of time, she fell in love with the man.
• Did you know, Helen Keller received the Presidential Medal of Freedom in the year 1964?
• Did you know, Helen Keller knew five languages including the likes of German, Latin, French?
• Helen learned and wrote in braille with the assistance of her teacher, Anne Sullivan.
• She didn't get married nor did she have any children.
• As a lesser know fact, Helen Keller loved animals such as dogs, chickens, and horses.
• She also enjoyed rowing and often went with her friends as it was one of her favorite hobbies.

Facts About Helen Keller's Achievements

Helen Keller's life sends a clear message that nothing is impossible if you are determined and have the correct guidance. Throughout her life, Helen Keller defied all odds along with the assistance of her teacher Anne Sullivan. Not only did she go on to attend mainstream schools, but also earned a college degree.

• Helen Keller first joined the Perkins Institute for the Blind in 1888 and never looked back; six years later, she attended the Wright-Humason School for the Deaf located in New York City.
• A couple of years later in 1896, Helen Keller joined her first mainstream school, The Cambridge School for Young Ladies, a scaling feat for a blind child.
• Helen Keller was determined to study and her teacher Anne Sullivan was by her side at every moment.
• In 1990, Helen Keller finally got into Radcliffe College becoming the first deafblind person not only in America but the whole world to scale such a feat.
• When Helen Keller was in her junior year, she wrote her autobiography titled 'The Story Of My Life' which talked about her journey from being a handicapped child to a student at Radcliffe.
• The autobiography was published in 1903 when Helen Keller was only 22 years old, and the story was also enacted as a play by Willian Gibson titled 'The Miracle Worker'.
• A film of the same title, 'The Miracle Worker', was also made in 1962 based on Helen Keller's autobiography which went on to win the Oscar.
• Helen Keller was a famous author. She changed the world by writing around 14 books in her life along with several other articles and small writings for newspapers and magazines.
• Helen Keller wrote several essays especially on the topic of socialism, and these essays were published at once under the title 'Out Of The Dark' in 1913.
• Helen Keller is also credited for founding the Helen Keller International back in 1915 which is currently functional in around 22 countries all across the globe (as of 2014).
• The primary focus of Helen Keller International is to fight against the causes of blindness, malnutrition and best manage its consequences.
• Helen Keller boldly voiced her opinion when it came to women's rights whether it was regarding their right to vote or their right to birth.
• Additionally, Helen Keller is credited for being one of the founding members of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) which initially focused on freedom of speech but has since expanded its area of concern.
• As a political activist, Helen Keller has also campaigned for socialism, anti-militarism and has always been against any discrimination.

Facts About Helen Keller's Education

Helen Keller attended both special schools which are built especially for blind children but eventually went on to attend one of the mainstream schools as well. Although her most notable achievement in the field of education was earning a college degree being a deafblind child.

• The first step in Helen Keller's formal education was when she attended the Perkins Institute for the Blind in May 1888.
• Six years later in 1894, Helen Keller moved to New York along with Anne Sullivan to begin studying at the Wright-Humason School for the Deaf.
• Helen also attended the Horace Mann School for the Deaf where she was under the umbrella of the renowned American educator, Sarah Fuller.
• The next educational step in the story of Helen Keller was to move back to Massachusetts in 1896 and get admittance into The Cambridge School for Young Ladies.
• Finally, in 1900, Helen got into the Radcliffe College under Harvard University and had quite magnificently written history.
• Years later in 1904, Helen Keller became the first-ever deafblind person to successfully earn a Bachelor of Arts degree.
• Helen was keen on communicating with people and she wanted to talk conventionally like others did.
• She eventually learned to speak and is today renowned for many lectures that she gave in the past about her life and how she overcame her childhood illness to scale such heights.

Facts About Helen Keller's Writings

Helen Keller is one of the most well-known American authors who is especially known for producing literature of such high quality despite her disabilities. Throughout her life, Helen Keller wrote an autobiography, several essays, and many other books as well.

• Helen Keller's career as an author comprised a total of 14 books along with numerous articles and pieces which were published in newspapers and magazines.
• One of the earliest pieces written by Helen Keller was 'The Frost King' in the year 1891 but soon there were allegations that it had been plagiarized which had demotivated Helen Keller.
• It was, later on, discovered that it was a case of cryptomnesia where the story which had supposedly been plagiarized from, had been read to Helen but she had no memory of it but her brain subconsciously remembered the plot of the story.
• In 1903, Helen Keller got one of her best works published. It was her autobiography named 'The Story Of My Life', and the book talked about her 21-year journey from being a handicapped child to a student at Radcliffe College.
• Did you know, in 1907, Keller wrote an article mentioning how, just by using a disinfectant solution to wash the eyes of a baby, one could prevent potential blindness? The measure spread quickly and eventually was widely used.
• Helen Keller was a socialist and was politically active as well. Throughout her life, she wrote various essays on socialism which were published as a whole under the title 'Out Of The Dark' in 1913.
• It is known that the book 'The Story Of My Life' is the autobiography of Helen Keller but did you know that Helen Keller later wrote a book which was known as her spiritual autobiography?
• Published in 1927, the book 'My Religion' was regarded as Helen Keller's spiritual autobiography.
• It was later reissued in the mid-'90s under the title 'Light In My Darkness'.