The extraordinary life of Helen Keller discovered in a massive archive



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  In this photo which is part of the archive of the American Foundation for the Blind, Helen Keller receives a bouquet of A ...

Courtesy of the American Foundation for the Blind

In this photo which is part of the archives of the American Foundation for the Blind, Helen Keller receives a bouquet of flowers. 39, a child

"Is not it a shame for this great, prosperous, ingenious country that there should be thousands of children growing up in conditions that hamper their development normal, dampen the ardor of youth and extinguish the fire of aspiration in their young hearts?

Thousands of boys and girls – the most valuable treasure of the nation – live in overcrowded buildings where the walls are bare, the furniture cheap and ugly, and the coarse food and served negligently, wear worn clothes, play in alleys and gutters, always exposed to destructive influences. "

– Helen Kell er, written in a fundraising letter of 1923 on behalf of the American National Association of Playgrounds and Recreation

This letter, written by Keller on a typewriter Braille, part of the Helen Keller Archive, The Blind, a collection of more than 160,000 artifacts about Keller and his extraordinary life, is "the first of its kind to be fully accessible to people who are blind, deaf, hard of hearing, or visually impaired." deafblind hearing, "said the foundation in a statement.

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The New York City Archives are one of the most more s important collections of content about the life and work of Keller, become one of the most famous advocates of children and people with disabilities. Keller, who was "a feminist, suffragette, social activist and pacifist, as well as a prolific writer and published author," worked for the American Foundation for the Blind for 44 years.

Keller was born a healthy child with sight and hearing in Tuscumbia, Alabama, on June 27, 1880, according to the foundation. She was only 19 months old when she lost her sight and hearing after suffering from an "unknown disease, perhaps rubella or scarlet fever," says the foundation. But on March 3, 1887, she met Anne Mansfield Sullivan, a teacher who would change her life by teaching her to read and write.

"While the fresh water gushed out with one hand, it spelled out the other hand. First, the signals made sense in the spirit of. Helen: She knew that "water" meant that the wonderful cool substance was running down her hand. by nightfall she had learned 30 words. "

  Helen Keller traveled the world campaigning for children and the disabled."

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Helen Keller traveled the world campaigning for children and the disabled, notes Keller quickly learned about the world. whole alphabet, "both manual and in relief for blind readers, and has gained ease in reading and writing."

A year before graduating from Radcliffe College in 1904, Keller publishes his autobiography, "The Story of My Life", which had been published in the magazine Ladies' Home Journal

Mark Twain said: "The two most interesting characters of the 19th century are Napoleon and Helen Keller. "

Upon her death on June 1, 1968, at the age of 87, she bequeathed all her belongings to the American Foundation for the Blind." Because of their fragility, many of these objects were inaccessible to the public until now, "said the foundation in a statement

. The archive includes copies of more than 475 speeches and essays written by Keller. "Despite its notoriety, relatively few people know that Helen Keller has written 14 books as well as hundreds of essays and articles on a wide range of topics ranging from animals and animals. atomic energy to Mahatma Gandhi, "said the foundation. has always been a strong advocate for children's rights, "said Helen Selsdon, archivist of the American Foundation for the Blind.

During her life, Keller visited more than 39 countries, where she often advocated. "The archives contain images of her meeting with children from orphanages, her interventions in schools for students with disabilities and her contacts with agencies that have helped poor children. The needs of children were always paramount in her work. diplomatic visits.

In a letter of May 28, 1918 requesting help for orphans in France, Keller writes:

"I implore you, open your ears to the cry of the little orphans of France and give all that you can help them …

"Remember that you were once children, happy in the midst of peace and love. Think of the children who smile with confidence on your face and give free to the unfortunate children there. Think how little they are to have the hand of sadness so heavily on them!

"What a short time they will be children, and how little joy there will be in their childhood without your help!"

"C is Helen Seller also visited the Netherlands

  Helen Keller also went to New Zealand

Van Asch Center for the Education of the Deaf [19659005] Helen Keller also traveled to New Zealand.

Selsdon explained that for visually impaired visitors to the site, a computer can read documents. "This creates an initial transcript of thousands of papers, receipts, Helen Keller's letters, "she said

" If you are blind, visually impaired, hard of hearing and deaf / blind, it is sensational. "The interface is accessible. site to make it user-friendly, "said Selsdon

There is also a massive volunteer effort to correct errors generated by the computer and transcribe handwritten documents – those who are blind and deaf and want to access cinematic sequences , the archives contain video descriptions and subtitling.

"People are stunned at the breadth of one's life," said Selsdon. Keller appeared before state legislators and on Capitol Hill and demanded rehabilitative services and schools for blind children, she said.

"I have a senator's correspondence saying that the laws have been changed.It has done the same thing on a global scale," Selsdon said.

Keller received a Presidential Medal of Freedom from President Lyndon Johnson. "She has a correspondence of nine American presidents, Alexander Bell, Mark Twain and Andrew Carnegie."

The collection aims to answer as many questions as possible about Keller and his life. "People are asking me what food they like," said Selsdon. "She loved hot dogs, she wrote a lot about martinis, she was a big drunk, she was full of life, she was not a calm woman, she was neither a child of the day." Water, nor a holy old woman. 19659041] – The Washington Post

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