Helen Keller's birth on June 27, 1880, preceded by nineteen months an illness — likely scarlet fever or meningitis — that left her deaf and blind. Under the guidance of teacher Anne Sullivan, she learned language through touch, eventually graduating from Radcliffe College and becoming a globally celebrated author, lecturer, and advocate for people with disabilities.
Keller's breakthrough came in April 1887 when Anne Sullivan, working with the wild, unruly six-year-old, pumped water over her hand at a backyard well while spelling W-A-T-E-R into her palm. Keller later described the moment as if "a light came" — the sudden understanding that everything had a name, and that language was the key to the world beyond her isolation.
She went on to write twelve published books, including her famous autobiography "The Story of My Life," and became the first deafblind person to earn a Bachelor of Arts degree, graduating cum laude from Radcliffe in 1904. She learned to speak, read lips with her fingers, and communicated in five languages.
Beyond her personal achievements, Keller became a fierce political voice — a socialist, suffragist, and founding member of the ACLU who toured the world advocating for workers' rights and people with disabilities. She met every US president from Grover Cleveland to Lyndon Johnson, and her life story has been dramatized countless times, most famously in "The Miracle Worker."
Key people: Helen Keller, Anne Sullivan