Helen Adams Keller (1880-1968) was born in Tuscumbia, Alabama, and lost her sight and hearing to an illness at nineteen months. From March 1887 she was taught by Anne Mansfield Sullivan, a graduate of the Perkins Institution for the Blind, who remained her companion until Sullivan's death in 1936. Keller learned to read raised print and braille, to write, and to speak, and in 1904 graduated cum laude from Radcliffe College. She went on to write a dozen books, lecture across the world, and work for the American Foundation for the Blind for more than four decades.
Frequently Cited
“The most important day I remember in all my life is the one on which my teacher, Anne Mansfield Sullivan, came to me.”
The Story of My Life is Helen Keller's account of her first twenty-two years, written while she was a student at Radcliffe College. She begins at Ivy Green, the family home in Tuscumbia, Alabama, where she was born on June 27, 1880.
