Statues: The People They Salute -Helen Keller

Helen Keller -Alabama

Helen Keller inspires. Learning her story as a young child was a powerful lesson. Imagining the challenge of living life without the ability to see or hear made me appreciate having these senses, and at the same time it taught me that seemingly insurmountable challenges could be conquered.

Helen Keller navigated difficult obstacles and set an amazing example for people to follow when confronted with threatening blockades in their own lives.

Helen Keller is the subject of one of the two statues representing Alabama in the National Statuary Hall Collection in the U.S. Capitol. The statue is of a seven-year-old Helen, shown at the water pump which is where she made the connection between “words” and objects and sensations. The cool water running over her hand and the letters w-a-t-e-r that her teacher Anne Sullivan was signing on her hand were linked. Helen Keller would later say of this moment “It was my soul’s birthday.”

Helen said that life before the ability to communicate had been like living at sea, in a dense fog. When you think about it, Helen Keller could not possibly know what it felt to be at sea in a dense fog, but her skill at communicating had developed so far, that she was able to describe her feelings in a way that others could identify with.

Helen Keller was born on June 27, 1880, in Tuscumbia, Alabama. Before her second birthday, she was struck with an illness (possibly scarlet fever or meningitis) that left her deaf, blind and unable to speak.

In seeking medical solutions for his daughter, Arthur Keller was advised to consult Dr. Alexander Graham Bell, who was working with deaf children. Six-year-old Helen and her father left immediately for Washington, D.C., in search of Bell. Bell understood her crude signs. Helen never forgot Bell, and would one day dedicate her autobiography, “The Story of my Life”, to him. Bell’s help had led to Anne Mansfield Sullivan, “Teacher”, the woman who could reach Helen and enable her to connect objects and thought, to words.

Helen Keller, with teacher, Anne Sullivan at her side, went on to study at schools for the deaf and eventually gained entrance into Radcliffe College. Helen Keller graduated in 1904, and was the first deaf/blind person to earn a Bachelors of Art degree.

Helen went on lecture tours, speaking to audiences in many countries, with Anne Sullivan continuing to be at her side. Helen met U.S. Presidents and other famous individuals. Helen wrote several books and was active in many social causes, among them the suffragette cause, and efforts to aid the blind and deaf.

Helen Keller inspired many throughout her life, and continues to inspire all who learn her story.

Diana Erbio is a freelance writer and author of “Coming to America: A Girl Struggles to Find her Way in a New World”. Read more in her series Statues: The People They Salute visit The Table of Contents and the Facebook Page.  (I’ll be adding to the Substack Table of Contents as I transfer the Blog Posts. Please subscribe to this Substack 😊🇺🇸🤓