Welcome to the Deep Dive, the place where we
take the footnotes of history and turn them into
the main event. You know the name, Helen Keller.
Oh, absolutely. If I say that name, immediately
you think of Ann Sullivan, a water pump, and
the word W -A -T -E -R. Right. It is the essential
American miracle story, the ultimate triumph
of human resilience over seemingly insurmountable
odds. And while that moment is, you know, absolutely
foundational to her legend. The unfortunate reality
of history is that we often simplify and frankly
sanitize our most complex heroes. That's exactly.
We focus so intensely on the childhood struggle
and just we ignore the profound, often shocking
adult life. Exactly. Our mission today is to
unpack the life of Helen Adams Keller, who lived
from 1880 to 1968, and to move far beyond that
inspirational and, I mean, frankly, two -dimensional
picture. We are diving deep into her profound
political radicalism, her secret romantic life,
and the complex philosophical views that made
her not just a disability rights advocate, but
one of the most controversial, dynamic, and closely
monitored women of the 20th century. Yeah. And
the sources we've gathered for this, they reveal
a Helen Keller that very few people know. We're
talking about the suffragist, the staunch pacifist,
the Christian socialist. The unapologetic anti
-capitalist. Absolutely. The active member of
the IWW, the radical labor movement and the person
who, you know, landed herself on the FBI's watch
list for decades. For decades. This wasn't merely
a figurehead. This was a revolutionary intellect
operating at the cutting edge of progressive
thought. It's just a stunning contrast to the
image we usually hold. I mean, just look at the
academic credentials we often gloss over. Right.
She wasn't just taught to communicate. She attended
Radcliffe College, which was the academic pinnacle
for women at the time. And at age 24 in 1904,
became the first deafblind person in the United
States to earn a Bachelor of Arts degree. And
that degree wasn't some kind of honorary title.
No. It was hard -won intellectual proof. And
that success. that relentless determination wasn't
just deployed for her own benefit. She immediately
pivoted that energy toward advocating for the
working class and marginalized people globally.
It's true. Our journey today will cover the famous
breakthrough, certainly. But then we're going
to quickly transition to the extensive support
system that sustained her for 70 years, her surprising
political awakening and the backlash it caused,
and the complicated legacy she left behind. So
if you are seeking the aha moments that transform
a simple biography into a story of complex intellectual
and political engagement, you are absolutely
in the right place. We are going to gain knowledge
quickly but thoroughly. Let's unpack this incredible
life, starting where it all began, her Alabama
roots. Let's do it. So Helen Keller was born
on June 27, 1880, in Tuscumbia, Alabama, at the
family homestead Ivy Green. Right. And it's so
important to establish this southern elite background
because it provides vital context for the radical
politics she would later champion. Oh, absolutely.
Her father, Arthur Henley Keller, was a former
Confederate captain and the editor of the local
newspaper, the Tuscumbian North Alabamian. So
a man of some local standing. And this wasn't
just a military family. It was connected to the
Deep South aristocracy. Her mother, Kate Adams
Keller, was the daughter of a Confederate general,
Charles W. Adams. Wow. So the family was part
of the slaveholding elite before the Civil War,
though the sources do indicate they had lost
some of their status and wealth later, you know,
in the Reconstruction era. And that environment,
that aristocracy she was born into. It creates
this fascinating contrast with the radical labor
movement she would later join, fighting those
very power structures. It's a central contradiction
of her life. That structural privilege is just
a crucial layer to this story. But her personal
world changed irrevocably when she was just 19
months old. The onset of her disability was sudden.
Incredibly sudden. And doctors at the time were,
well, they were bewildered. They described the
unknown illness simply as an acute congestion
of the stomach and the brain. Which tells you
basically nothing. Exactly. Given the state of
medicine in 1881, the diagnosis was vague, but
the impact was devastating. It left her deaf
and blind. Modern analysis, though, it offers
a much clearer picture of what likely happened.
It does. Contemporary physicians overwhelmingly
believe it may have been meningitis. Specifically,
meningitis caused by Neisseria meningitatis meningococcus
is the most likely candidate. And what's the
alternative theory? Well, it could have been
Haemophilus influenza. But, and this is a big
but, that carried a devastating 97 % juvenile
mortality rate at the time. So the fact that
she survived. The fact that she survived suggests
meningococcal meningitis was the more probable
cause. It's a horrific condition, and the sources
show that she described the aftermath of this
illness as being at sea in a dense fog. That
feeling of isolation must have been total but.
And this is a common misconception. She was not
without communication during those early years.
Not at all. She was incredibly intelligent and
she rapidly sought ways to interact with her
world. So even before Ann Sullivan shows up.
Right. Before Ann Sullivan arrived, she had developed
an intricate system. We know she was communicating
with Martha Washington, the daughter of the family
cook. Martha was only two years older than Helen,
but she understood Helen's signs and was her
first real communication partner. And these weren't
just random gestures. No, not at all. By age
seven, the sources tell us Keller had developed
more than 60 specific home signs to communicate
with her family. This shows a functioning, if
isolated, intelligence. Truly remarkable detail
that speaks to her adapting senses. Yes. She
became adept at distinguishing people, family
members, and visitors by the vibration of their
footsteps alone. That's incredible. She was highly
sensitive to seismic input, using her feet and
body to map the world around her. She was actively
seeking a way out of the fog, and her family,
well, they were desperate to find a key. And
the process of finding Ann Sullivan sounds like
a quiz to fate, combined with just relentless
effort. It began with her mother, Kate Keller.
Reading something that gave her hope. Yes. Kate
Keller was inspired by a specific account in
Charles Dickens' American Notes. Oh, Dickens.
Yeah. Detailing the successful education of another
deafblind woman, Laura Bridgman. That book provided
the first glimmer of possibility. And this set
off a chain reaction, right? It did. The family
first consulted specialists who eventually referred
them to Alexander Graham Bell, who, of course,
wasn't just famous for the telephone. No, he
was deeply invested in working with deaf children.
His wife was deaf. Exactly. Bell was instrumental.
He directed the Kellers to the Perkins Institute
for the Blind in South Boston, the very place
where Laura Bridgman had been educated and was
still living. So he sent them to the one place
in the country that had any experience with this.
He did. And the Perkins Institute's director,
Michael Anagnos, understood the specific, unique
needs of this kind of education. It was Anagnos
who hired Ann Sullivan. And she was so young.
Just 20 years old at the time. Visually impaired
herself due to trachoma and a recent alumna of
the school. I imagine Sullivan's own experience
with vision loss played a huge role in her unique
empathy and determination. It had to. She arrived
on March 5, 1887. And Keller later remembered
that date as my soul's birthday. A beautiful
phrase. But, you know, the breakthrough wasn't
a sudden miracle. It was a brutal month -long
struggle marked by patience, frustration, and
rebellion on Helen's part. Yeah, the sources
described Keller's initial efforts as monkey
-like imitation. Right. She was repeating the
hand movement Sullivan was signing into her hand,
but without comprehending that the sign represented
an abstract concept, a word. or specific thing.
She was a brilliant mimicker, but without that
cognitive connection. The intensity of this struggle
really peaks when she became so frustrated while
trying to learn the word for mug that she intentionally
broke the mug, just throwing the pieces in defiance.
And she's, what, seven years old? Full of energy
and fury. Exactly. That's the part that is often
left out of the more saccharine versions of the
story. The sheer violent frustration of being
trapped inside her own head. But the legendary
moment finally happened the following month,
on April 5th, at the water pump. Yes, the classic
scene. Keller herself captured it perfectly in
The Story of My Life. As Sullivan ran cool water
over one hand and fingerspelled W -A -T -E -R
into the other, Keller described feeling a misty
consciousness as of something forgotten, a thrill
of returning thought. And then the ultimate realization,
that moment when the sign married the sensation.
Yes. She writes, I knew then that W -A -T -R
meant the wonderful, cool something that was
flowing over my hand. The living word awakened
my soul, gave it light, hope, set it free. It's
impossible to read that and not understand the
absolute transformative power of language. And
the change was immediate and total. She didn't
just learn water. She unlocked the entire concept
of language and abstraction. The sources note
that she immediately demanded that Sullivan sign
the names of all the other familiar objects and
people in her world. She finally had the key.
And she was desperate to use it to explore everything.
What stands out to me here is the pacing. That
transformation happened overnight, but it was
preceded by seven years of isolation and a month
of intense, even violent struggle. That's a crucial
complexity we need to hold on to as we move forward.
So once that dam of language burst, Helen Keller
became, well, she was unstoppable. Her pursuit
of knowledge was relentless. It really set her
educational path on a collision course with mainstream
academic institutions, which was unheard of at
the time. It was an incredibly rigorous journey,
combining specialized instruction with the toughest
academic settings available. Starting in May
1888, she attended the Perkins Institute for
the Blind. This was crucial for her initial foundational
learning in Braille and fingerspelling. But the
Kellers and Sullivan clearly felt that was only
the beginning. In 1894, they moved to New York.
Right. She attended the Wright -Kemison School
for the Deaf and then learned from the famed
Sarah Fuller at the Horace Mann School for the
Deaf. She was constantly shifting to absorb the
best methods available. And then moved back to
Massachusetts for the Cambridge School for Young
Ladies, which was really just prep school. All
in preparation for her ultimate goal, Radcliffe
College. She entered in 1900. And you just have
to stop and think about that. To enter an elite
institution like Radcliffe as a deafblind woman
in the early 20th century, and then to graduate
in 1904 as a member of Phi Beta Kappa, the academic
honor society. It's truly an achievement that
should rank among the highest intellectual feats
of her generation. It's exceptional, but it underscores
the cost of her education. Which brings us back
to that privilege component we mentioned earlier.
How is this all financed? Because this kind of
specialized traveling education would have been
astronomical. It was. And that's where the network
of her admirers stepped in. Mark Twain, who was
completely fascinated by Keller and her story,
he once called her one of the two truly great
characters of the 19th century. High praise from
Twain. Right. Twain introduced her to Henry Huddleston
Rogers, the standard oil magnate, and his wife,
Abby. The ultimate capital. Precisely. The Rogers
family were crucial patrons. They recognized
her genius and paid for her entire education,
ensuring she could access these elite institutions
without financial limitation. And Keller was
acutely aware of this, wasn't she? This financer
advantage. Oh, absolutely. It's something she
would later dissect in her political life. The
irony is just staggering. She had the backing
of one of the richest men in America, which allowed
her to become one of the fiercest critics of
American capitalism. That contradiction is so
central to her story. And shifting to her practical
communication, her commitment to communicating
conventionally is just staggering. She gave speeches
and lectures globally, which for a deafblind
person was an immense physical and intellectual
feat. Right. She couldn't just read notes or
hear feedback from the audience. No. The method
she used to hear others speak, called the Tadoma
method, is something few people outside of specialized
deafblind communication circles even know about.
So what is the Tadoma method? How does it work?
The Todona method is truly extraordinary. It
involves placing one's thumb lightly on the speaker's
lips and the fingers along their jawline and
throat. So she's not hearing air vibrations?
No. She was feeling the physical mechanics of
the sound production, the vibrations of the vocal
cords, the movement of the lips, the puffs of
air. It requires intense concentration and an
almost superhuman tactile sensitivity. It sounds
exhausting. both for her and for the speaker,
who would have had to remain perfectly still.
Incredibly so. It speaks volumes about her determination
to engage directly with the hearing and speaking
world rather than relying solely on fingerspelling,
which was her primary method of communicating
with Sullivan. And then there was Braille. And
she was proficient in American Braille, of course,
which uses a slightly reordered alphabet compared
to standard Braille. She had to master multiple
systems just to read a textbook, a process that
was slow and laborious compared to sighted students.
The sources mentioned the immense difficulty
she had taking exams and just reading the volume
of material required at Radcliffe. Which makes
her Phi Beta Kappa distinction all the more astounding.
You mentioned she experienced music, which, I
mean, conceptually that seems impossible. How
did that work? This is one of the most surprising
details we pulled from the sources. Shortly before
World War I, she discovered this unexpected sensory
pathway with the help of the Zoellner Quartet.
A string quartet. Yes. By placing her sensitive
fingertips on a highly resonant surface, specifically
a tabletop, she found she could feel the complex
vibrational structure of music played close by.
So she wasn't perceiving pitch or tone in the
way we might? No, but she was experiencing the
rhythm and the harmonic interplay through sheer
physical vibration. That capacity for sensory
adaptation is just profound. It really highlights
the plasticity of the human brain. She found
ways to interpret physical input as cultural
and emotional output. And we know from her correspondence
with intellectual figures like the Austrian philosopher
Wilhelm Jerusalem that her literary talent and
intellectual hunger were recognized globally.
This reinforced her status not just as a medical
marvel, but as a genuine intellectual force.
What an incredible journey just to achieve literacy
and a college degree. But that focus on academia
and education quickly gave way to a much deeper,
more complex personal life and a radical political
career. The narrative of Helen Keller usually
freezes Ann Sullivan in time as the teacher.
But the reality is that Keller's life was sustained
for decades by a complex, rotating system of
companions and secretaries. Right. Ann Sullivan
was a constant presence, yes. But her role changed
significantly after she married John Macy in
1905. The marriage created a strain, for sure,
and the dynamic shifted from an intensely private
student -teacher relationship to a more domestic,
shared existence. And Ann Sullivan suffered from
chronic health issues, particularly around 1914,
which created a logistical need for more help.
And that necessity brought in Polly Thompson.
Polly Thompson, a young Scottish woman, initially
entered the household strictly to keep house.
But as Sullivan's health declined, Thompson's
role expanded quickly to secretary, travel organizer,
and eventually Keller's second most constant
companion. These weren't just staff. Not at all.
These were individuals who shared her entire
life, acting as her eyes, ears, and voice. It
just speaks to the immense logistical burden
of Keller's existence that it required multiple
dedicated individuals working around the clock.
Ann Sullivan finally died in 1936, which must
have been a massive blow to Keller. It was a
heartbreaking moment. Keller was holding Sullivan's
hand when she died of coronary thrombosis, ending
a relationship that spanned nearly 50 years.
Unbelievable. Following this, the partnership
between Keller and Polly Thompson really solidified.
They moved to a home in Connecticut, Arkin Ridge,
and spent years traveling the world, relentlessly
raising funds for the American Foundation for
the Blind. And the chain of dedication continued
even after Polly Thompson. It did. Polly Thompson
suffered a stroke in 1957 and passed away in
1960. The sources show that Winnie Corbally,
a nurse who was initially hired to care for the
ailing Polly, stayed on after Polly's death and
became Keller's final companion, maintaining
that crucial continuity of communication and
care until Keller's death in 1968. That system
of companions spanning over seven decades. It's
a silent testament to the extraordinary level
of commitment required to support her success.
It is. Now, let's turn to the romantic life,
which is perhaps the most shattering detail in
the popular narrative. We're often led to believe
Helen Keller was almost asexual, a saintly figure
untouched by conventional human desires. But
the sources reveal a passionate woman. They absolutely
do. While in her 30s, Helen Keller had a real,
tangible love affair, became secretly engaged,
and attempted an elopement. This deeply humanizes
her, revealing her desire for a partnership,
marriage, and a conventional life, something
that was generally deemed impossible for a woman
with her disabilities at the time. And the man
was Peter Fagan. Tell us more about the finger
-spelling socialist. What a title. Peter Fagan
was a young reporter for the Boston Herald. He
had been sent to act as her private secretary
during a period when Ann Sullivan was seriously
ill and unable to perform all her duties. And
the connection was? It was obviously immediate
and intense, and he shared her political leanings,
hence the nickname. So he was both her lover
and a fellow political traveler. This entire
affair was done in secret, defying Sullivan and
her family. Yes. Her father had recently died,
and Keller and her mother were in Montgomery,
Alabama at the time. The engagement was hidden
and the attempt to elope was a dramatic act of
rebellion against the restrictive social and
familial structures that surrounded her. But
it was thwarted. It was ultimately thwarted and
the relationship ended, but it shows her profound
independence and her willingness to fight for
her personal happiness. She wanted a partnership,
not just a caregiver. It truly shatters the almost
childlike image we have of her. He was a fully
formed, rebellious adult woman. Absolutely. And
speaking of companionship, let's transition to
a different kind of bond, her dogs. It's a warm,
humanizing detail in a life that was otherwise
dominated by immense political and intellectual
struggles. Helen Keller was famous for her love
of Akita dogs. Where did that begin? It began
during a major visit to Japan in June 1937, where
she was incredibly popular. During that trip,
she naturally inquired about the legendary Hachiku.
Oh, the loyal dog from the train station. That's
the one. The Akita, famous for searching for
his deceased master at the Shibuya station for
nearly a decade. She fell in love with the loyalty
and temperament of the breed. And she didn't
just admire them, she brought them back with
her. She did. The first Akita given to her was
Kamikaze Go. This dog is historically significant
because he was the first Akita to ever travel
overseas from Japan and the first Akita to be
officially registered in America. Sadly, he died
shortly after arrival from an infection, which
was a devastating loss for Keller. But the generosity
of the Japanese people continued. They immediately
gave her Kamikaze -go's brother, Kenzango, whom
she affectionately nicknamed Gogo. The bond was
immediate, and Gogo became a profound companion.
The sources note that Gogo slept faithfully at
the foot of her bed. That's lovely. These dogs
were more than pets. They were physical companions,
offering a tangible, loyal presence in her silent,
dark world. That detail about the Akita, the
loyal dog who sleeps at the foot of the bed,
is a lovely moment of peace before we plunge
into the tempest of her political life. That
is the part of her story that the curriculum...
almost universally ignores. This is where we
need to spend the most time, because this is
the true core of Helen Geller's adult legacy.
She was an activist for a vast array of radical
causes, far more than just advocating for the
blind. Indeed. She was a tirelessly dedicated
suffragist, believing women deserve the right
to vote. She was an outspoken pacifist during
the lead -up to World War I. She supported the
nascent birth control movement, and she was an
ardent Christian socialist. And in 1915, She
co -founded Helen Keller International, HKI.
Right, which is focused on research and advocacy
in vision, health, and nutrition worldwide. Still
operating today. And her commitment wasn't just
limited to white progressive circles. In 1916,
she sent money to the NAACP, expressing her profound
shame over the Southern unchristian treatment
of colored people. Coming from a privileged Southern
background, that public statement was a huge
ideological leap. And she helped found organizations
that shape American civil liberties to this day.
In 1920, Helen Keller was a founding member of
the American Civil Liberties Union, the ACLU.
A founding member. She was instrumental in establishing
the framework for free speech and political rights
in the U .S. So she's supporting civil rights,
women's rights, and free speech. but her political
core was fundamentally rooted in socialism. When
did she make this commitment? She formally joined
the Socialist Party of America, the SPA, in 1909.
For the next decade, she actively campaigned,
lectured, and wrote in support of the working
class, backing SPA candidate Eugene V. Debs in
his presidential campaigns. Her ideology was
intensely focused on economic justice. Yes, she
was incredibly eloquent about the link between
her own personal success and the political system
she was trying to dismantle. She was explicit
about the role of privilege. She wrote, I owed
my success partly to the advantages of my birth
and environment. I have learned that the power
to rise is not within the reach of everyone.
She knew that without the Rogers family financing
her education. Exactly. Without one of the richest
families in America, her story would have been
just another tragedy. She felt compelled to fight
for the millions who lacked that access. Her
defining worldview is captured in a powerful
quote from 1911. which directly critiques the
capitalist system of the time. Let's unpack this
because this is strong revolutionary language.
It is. She didn't mince words. She stated the
few own the many because they possess the means
of livelihood of all. And then she says the country
is governed for the richest, for the corporations,
the bankers, the land speculators, and for the
exploiters of labor. This sounds less like the
sweet, inspirational figure and more like a hardline
revolutionary. How was this received by the American
public, which already adored the miracle worker?
It was met with shock and hostility, particularly
from the mainstream press, which had built its
reputation on her inspirational narrative. She
was challenging the very foundation of American
economic identity. She wasn't just criticizing.
She was offering a diagnosis of class warfare.
And she continues, connecting economic disparity
directly to fundamental human rights, which is
often a socialist hallmark. She said, the majority
of mankind are working people. So long as their
fair demands, the ownership and control of their
livelihoods are set at naught, we can have neither
men's rights nor women's rights. The majority
of mankind is ground down by industrial oppression
in order that the small remnant may live in ease.
To Keller, the personal fight for dignity was
inseparable from the political fight for economic
ownership. But she even found the Socialist Party
of America too slow in their progress, correct?
She wanted more action. That's right. By 1912,
she felt parliamentary socialism working through
the existing political system was sinking in
the political bog. She needed more immediate
direct action, so she upped the ante and joined
the Industrial Workers of the World, the IWW.
The Wobblies. The Wobblies. And the IWW was extremely
radical compared to the SPA. What distinguished
them and why did she join them? The IWW advocated
for industrial unionism. They believed all workers
should organize into one single union, regardless
of skill or trade. And they focused on direct
action strikes, boycotts, and eventually the
revolutionary overthrow of the wage system. So
anti -capitalist, anarcho -syndicalist in spirit.
Completely. Dedicated to fighting the bosses
head on, she wrote articles for the IWW between
1916 and 1918. This move is crucial. And the
deepest motivation for her shift ties back directly
to her work on disability, creating an intellectual
loop that informed her entire radical philosophy.
This is the aha moment that connects the two
narratives. In her essay, Why I Became an IWW,
she explained that when she was appointed to
a commission to investigate the conditions of
the blind, she realized that blindness wasn't
just a random misfortune or an act of God. So
what was the real cause, in her view? She realized
that too much of it was traceable to wrong industrialization.
conditions, often caused by the selfishness and
greed of employers. She wasn't just talking about
accidents. She was talking about systemic poverty.
And she provided a specific, heartbreaking example
of this connection. She did, she cited. And the
social evil contributed its share. I found that
poverty drove women to a life of shame that ended
in blindness. And the social evil. In early 20th
century public health discussions, that was the
common euphemism for prostitution. The sources
confirm that one of the leading causes of blindness
at the time was untreated syphilis, an infection
often associated with prostitution, which could
be passed from mother to child during birth.
So she saw that preventing blindness wasn't just
about charity or medicine. It was about ending
the industrial poverty that forced women into
situations leading to devastating preventable
disease. Exactly. She was using her disability
platform to critique the entire economic structure
of America. specifically cited the 1912 strike
of textile workers in Lawrence, Massachusetts,
the bread and roses strike, as a key factor instigating
her public support for the IWW. And this radical
stance immediately provoked a furious media backlash.
The press, which had built her up as an icon
of resilience, turned on her with remarkable
speed when her politics became inconvenient.
It was vicious. The editor of the conservative
Brooklyn Eagle famously attacked her, calling
attention to her disabilities and implying that
she was especially liable to error in her political
judgment precisely because she was blind and
deaf. The implication being that her sensory
limitations made her intellectually unfit for
political discourse. Yes. And Keller's response
was immediate and absolutely devastating. She
used sarcasm brilliantly. She wrote, At that
time, the compliments he paid me were so generous
that I blushed to remember them. But now that
I have come out for socialism, he reminds me
and the public that I am blind and deaf and especially
liable to error. She just throws it right back
at him. She does. And then she continues, I must
have shrunken intelligence during the years since
I met him. Oh, ridiculous Brooklyn Eagle. Socially
blind and deaf, it defends an intolerable system,
a system that is the cause of much of the physical
blindness and deafness. we are trying to prevent.
She didn't just defend herself. She diagnosed
her opponent. She accused the editor and the
capitalist press of being socially blind and
deaf to the suffering of the working class. That
exchange is a perfect demonstration of her intellectual
sharpness and her political courage. And a woman
who made such inflammatory political statements,
especially joining an organization as radical
as the IWW, was naturally a target of government
monitoring during the era of rising anti -socialist
paranoia. She was a threat. She certainly was.
The sources confirm that as a result of her advocacy
and associations, Helen Keller was placed on
the FBI's watch list. Her files reflected pertinent
information concerning her dating well into the
1950s. So the U .S. government took her political
activities seriously enough to track her for
decades. It's a powerful reminder that the beloved
figure on the coin was once considered a threat
to the state. Keller's impact extended beyond
the lecture hall and the protest line. She was
a major literary figure. She wrote 12 published
books and numerous articles and speeches on wildly
diverse topics. Ranging from the necessity of
labor reform to detailed essays on her beloved
dogs. Her most famous work, The Story of My Life,
written while she was still a college student,
came out in 1903 and recounted her life up to
age 21. It was an instant classic. And then The
World I Live In came out a few years later. Yes,
in 1908. And that one provided readers with a
unique sensory perspective, offering profound
insight into how she mapped and experienced her
world through touch and smell. And her political
convictions were published, too. Oh, yeah. Out
of the Dark in 1913 was a clear collection of
essays explicitly focused on socialism, providing
a deep look into her economic and political motivations.
She used her fame to broadcast radical ideas.
But before she became the radical, though. She
faced a very early controversy regarding one
of her first writings. That's right. When she
was just 11, in 1891, she wrote a piece called
The Frost King. It was later alleged to be plagiarized
from Margaret Canby's short story, The Frost
Fairies. And this caused a huge scandal at the
Perkins Institute. It did. An investigation was
launched, and the findings suggested she had
experienced cryptamnesia. It's a phenomenon where
a memory resurfaces without the context of where
it was originally learned. She had heard the
story read to her, forgotten the source entirely,
and genuinely believed the story was her own
creation. It's a fascinating detail that reminds
us of the unique challenges of source identification
and memory for someone whose primary input was
through interpretation by others. Let's shift
to her spiritual life, which underpins much of
her humanitarian work. She was a dedicated Swedenborgian.
What exactly does that mean? Swedenborgianism
is based on the teachings of Emanuel Swedenborg,
an 18th century scientist and Christian theologian.
Keller dedicated her spiritual autobiography,
My Religion, from 1927 to this faith. It was
later reissued as Light in My Darkness. And what
was the core difference in this denomination?
Well, the central tenets include the belief that
the second coming of Jesus Christ had already
taken place, not physically but spiritually,
in the form of a new understanding of Scripture.
And Swedenborgians focus heavily on uses, meaning
practical service to humanity and divine providence.
Keller described providence as the government
of God's love and wisdom and the creation of
uses. This focus on practical service strongly
informed her political life. So it emphasizes
doing good work in the world. which aligns perfectly
with her activism. Precisely. She asserted that
one specific religious creed didn't matter so
long as he is faithful to his ideals of right
living. It speaks to a deeply universalist philosophy
underlying her Christian socialism. And there's
that wonderful anecdote. Yes. When she was introduced
to Christianity, she famously said, I always
knew he was there, but I didn't know his name.
It suggests a spiritual awareness that preceded
formal instruction. Before we move to the most
difficult part of this section, let's highlight
a truly monumental positive achievement in public
health advocacy completely separate from her
radical politics. This is a huge unheralded success.
In 1907, Keller wrote an article titled Unnecessary
Blindness, which was published in the Ladies
Home Journal, one of the most widely read magazines
in America. And what was the simple but critical
public health measure she championed? She advocated
for washing the eyes of every newborn baby with
a disinfectant solution, specifically a silver
nitrate solution to prevent childhood blindness.
At the time, infections like neonatal conjunctivitis,
often caused by the transmission of gonorrhea
or syphilis during childbirth, were a leading
cause of blindness in infants. And very few doctors
were doing this. Only a fraction of doctors and
midwives were using this prophylactic measure.
So because of her fame and the weight of her
authority on the subject of blindness, her advocacy
had massive influence. The sources confirmed
this was a massive public health triumph. Thanks
directly to Keller's prominent advocacy, this
matter was swiftly and widely adopted across
the United States. She saved the sight of countless
people who would otherwise have faced the same
challenges she did. That is an undeniable, life
-saving legacy. Now we must address the most
challenging reality presented in the sources.
The fact that Helen Keller supported eugenics.
This is a difficult truth to reconcile with her
otherwise fierce humanitarianism. It is essential
to present this factually and with context. Eugenics,
the belief in improving the human race through
selective breeding, was a widespread, though
deeply flawed, progressive ideology in the early
20th century. Many respected, otherwise liberal
figures subscribed to it. And Keller was among
them. Yes. In 1915, she wrote in favor of refusing
life -saving medical procedures to infants with
severe mental impairments or physical deformities.
She stated her concern that these children's
lives were not worthwhile and expressed concerns
that they would likely become burdens on society
or even criminals. She also voiced concern about
human overpopulation. Which was another common
eugenic concern. This stance is deeply contradictory
to her work to prevent blindness and advocate
for the disabled. It creates an almost unbearable
complexity in her character. It does. She was
a humanitarian dedicated to empowering the disabled
community, yet she embraced eugenic concepts
that we now recognize as profoundly discriminatory
and dangerous. We have to hold both truths simultaneously.
Exactly. Her role as a tireless advocate and
her acceptance of these deeply problematic views
that were prevalent even among progressives in
her era. It highlights the difficulty of judging
historical figures who held views that are incompatible
with modern values. A necessary, if sobering,
point to consider before we wrap up her life.
Following World War II, Keller dedicated herself
entirely to global advocacy. She leveraged her
international fame and her passion for humanitarian
causes, traveling to 35 countries between 1946
and 1957. That is an immense undertaking, especially
in that era, focusing on the needs of the blind
community around the world. She was a global
celebrity, meeting every U .S. president from
Grover Cleveland to Lyndon B. Johnson. She was
also friends with figures like Charlie Chaplin
and Mark Twain. tier of intellectual and social
circles worldwide. She spent her final years
at her beloved home, Arkin Ridge, in Easton,
Connecticut, following a series of strokes that
began in 1961 and slowed her relentless pace.
But the world continued to recognize her immense
contributions. On September 14th, 1964, President
Lyndon B. Johnson awarded her the highest civilian
honor in the land. the Presidential Medal of
Freedom. She was also inducted into the National
Women's Hall of Fame in 1965 and the Alabama
Women's Hall of Fame in 1971. Helen Keller died
peacefully in her sleep on June 1, 1968, at the
age of 87. Her body was cremated and her ashes
were buried at the Washington National Cathedral,
placed alongside her two constant companions,
Ann Sullivan and Polly Thompson. The symbolism
of them resting together side by side speaks
volumes about the interwoven nature of their
lives. On a sad note related to her enduring
legacy and the sources we rely on, there was
a tragic loss for historians. Yes, it's a massive
blow to the historical record. Archival material
related to Keller, owned by the American Foundation
for the Blind and stored in New York, was unfortunately
lost when the Twin Towers were destroyed in the
September 11 attacks. A substantial amount of
firsthand history about her life and work vanished
that day. That archival loss makes the surviving
records, especially those detailing her fiery
political life, even more precious for historians.
Culturally, Her story has been told and retold,
but usually through a very narrow lens. The most
famous interpretation remains The Miracle Worker,
which derived from her 1903 autobiography. It
was popularized by the 1957 teleplay, the 1959
Broadway play, and of course the 1962 Oscar -winning
film starring Anne Bancroft and Patty Duke. The
narrative of the miracle worker focuses almost
exclusively on her transition from what the sources
called almost feral wildness to intellectual
celebrity. But it cuts off right when her political
life begins. Exactly. Many early portrayals,
including the 1919 silent film Deliverance, and
very little at her radical social activism. The
focus is exclusively on the personal internal
triumph. It's worth noting that the 2000 Disney
remake, at least, briefly acknowledged her activism
in the credits, attempting to close that historical
gap. But her impact resonated globally, inspiring
works outside of the American sphere, such as
the 2005 Bollywood film Black. She also featured
in the 1954 Academy Award -winning documentary
Helen Keller and Her Story, which was added to
the National Film Registry in 2023, confirming
its lasting cultural value. And posthumously,
her stature only grew. In 1999, she was listed
fifth in Gallup's Most Widely Admired People
of the 20th Century and was named one of Time's
100 Most Important People of the 20th Century.
Finally, we should mention her permanent recognition
in her home state. Her native state of Alabama
honored her in 2003 on its state quarter, which
is the only circulating U .S. coin to feature
Braille. And in 2009, Alabama donated a bronze
statue of Helen Keller to the National Statuary
Hall collection in the U .S. Capitol, solidifying
her place as a state and national icon. But as
we've seen today, that icon contains multitudes,
a fierce, complex, revolutionary mind whose legacy
is far bigger than a single moment at a water
pump. We began this deep dive believing we knew
the story, and what we found was a hidden history.
We traveled from the trauma of her infancy to
the triumph of the water pump. with the fingerspelling
socialists. And into her tireless intellectual
life as a socialist, IWW member and public health
pioneer. We saw a woman who owed her personal
success to the incredible advantages of her privileged
birth, but who leveraged that status to become
a furious fighter against the industrial oppression
that paid for it. Her most profound insight was
connecting the physical blindness she fought
against to the societal blindness of poverty
and exploitation. We've uncovered that the historical
image of Helen Keller is often sanitized, celebrating
her personal resilience while erasing her radical
critique of power and poverty. We know she fiercely
believed, and I quote again, that, quote, Understanding
this core political belief fundamentally changes
the way we view her triumph over adversity. Her
success wasn't just personal. It was meant to
be a political. So we leave you with this question
for you to mull over. If Helen Keller, the subject
of one of America's most beloved inspirational
stories, was actually a fierce anti -capitalist
who was monitored by the FBI for decades, what
other historical figures might have equally complex
hidden political lives obscured by our desire
for simple, digestible, inspirational narratives?
When we sanitize history to celebrate resilience,
what critical lessons about social justice and
systemic change do we sacrifice? Something to
think about long after this deep dive is over.