Helen Keller Popular Books

Helen Keller Biography & Facts

Helen Adams Keller (June 27, 1880 – June 1, 1968) was an American author, disability rights advocate, political activist and lecturer. Born in West Tuscumbia, Alabama, she lost her sight and her hearing after a bout of illness when she was 19 months old. She then communicated primarily using home signs until the age of seven, when she met her first teacher and life-long companion Anne Sullivan. Sullivan taught Keller language, including reading and writing. After an education at both specialist and mainstream schools, Keller attended Radcliffe College of Harvard University and became the first deafblind person in the United States to earn a Bachelor of Arts degree.Keller was also a prolific author, writing 14 books and hundreds of speeches and essays on topics ranging from animals to Mahatma Gandhi. Keller campaigned for those with disabilities, for women's suffrage, labor rights, and world peace. In 1909, she joined the Socialist Party of America (SPA). She was a founding member of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU).Keller's autobiography, The Story of My Life (1903), publicized her education and life with Sullivan. It was adapted as a play by William Gibson, and this was also adapted as a film under the same title, The Miracle Worker. Her birthplace has been designated and preserved as a National Historic Landmark. Since 1954 it has been operated as a house museum and sponsors an annual "Helen Keller Day". Early childhood and illness Keller was born on June 27, 1880, in Tuscumbia, Alabama, the daughter of Arthur Henley Keller (1836–1896), and Catherine Everett (Adams) Keller (1856–1921), known as "Kate". Her family lived on a homestead, Ivy Green, that Helen's paternal grandfather had built decades earlier. She had four siblings: two full siblings, Mildred Campbell (Keller) Tyson and Phillip Brooks Keller; and two older half-brothers from her father's first marriage, James McDonald Keller and William Simpson Keller.Keller's father worked for many years as an editor of the Tuscumbia North Alabamian. He had served as a captain in the Confederate Army. The family was part of the slaveholding elite before the American Civil War, but lost status later. Her mother was the daughter of Charles W. Adams, a Confederate general.Keller's paternal lineage was traced to Casper Keller, a native of Switzerland. One of Helen's Swiss ancestors was the first teacher for the deaf in Zürich. Keller reflected on this fact in her first autobiography, asserting that "there is no king who has not had a slave among his ancestors, and no slave who has not had a king among his".At 19 months old, Keller contracted an unknown illness described by doctors as "an acute congestion of the stomach and the brain". Contemporary doctors believe it might have been meningitis, caused by the bacterium Neisseria meningitidis (meningococcus), or possibly Haemophilus influenzae. (This could have caused the same symptoms, but is a less likely cause due to its 97% juvenile mortality rate at that time.) The illness left Keller both deaf and blind. She lived, as she recalled in her autobiography, "at sea in a dense fog".At that time, Keller was able to communicate somewhat with Martha Washington, who was two years older and the daughter of the family cook, and understood the girl's signs;: 11  by the age of seven, Keller had more than 60 home signs to communicate with her family, and could distinguish people by the vibration of their footsteps.In 1886, Keller's mother, inspired by an account in Charles Dickens' American Notes of the successful education of Laura Bridgman, a deaf and blind woman, dispatched the young Keller and her father to consult physician J. Julian Chisolm, an eye, ear, nose, and throat specialist in Baltimore, for advice. Chisholm referred the Kellers to Alexander Graham Bell, who was working with deaf children at the time. Bell advised them to contact the Perkins Institute for the Blind, the school where Bridgman had been educated. It was then located in South Boston. Michael Anagnos, the school's director, asked Anne Sullivan, a 20-year-old alumna of the school who was visually impaired, to become Keller's instructor. It was the beginning of a nearly 50-year-long relationship: Sullivan developed as Keller's governess and later her companion.Sullivan arrived at Keller's house on March 5, 1887, a day Keller would forever remember as "my soul's birthday". Sullivan immediately began to teach Helen to communicate by spelling words into her hand, beginning with "d-o-l-l" for the doll that she had brought Keller as a present. Keller initially struggled with lessons since she could not comprehend that every object had a word identifying it. When Sullivan was trying to teach Keller the word for "mug", Keller became so frustrated she broke the mug. Keller remembered how she soon began imitating Sullivan's hand gestures: "I did not know that I was spelling a word or even that words existed. I was simply making my fingers go in monkey-like imitation."The next month Keller made a breakthrough, when she realized that the motions her teacher was making on the palm of her hand, while running cool water over her other hand, symbolized the idea of "water". Writing in her autobiography, The Story of My Life, Keller recalled the moment: I stood still, my whole attention fixed upon the motions of her fingers. Suddenly I felt a misty consciousness as of something forgotten—a thrill of returning thought; and somehow the mystery of language was revealed to me. I knew then that w-a-t-e-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! Keller quickly demanded that Sullivan sign the names of all the other familiar objects in her world.Helen Keller was viewed as isolated but was very in touch with the outside world. She was able to enjoy music by feeling the beat and she was able to have a strong connection with animals through touch. She was delayed at picking up language, but that did not stop her from having a voice. Formal education In May 1888, Keller started attending the Perkins Institute for the Blind. In 1893, Keller, along with Sullivan, attended William Wade House and Finishing School. In 1894, Keller and Sullivan moved to New York to attend the Wright-Humason School for the Deaf, and to learn from Sarah Fuller at the Horace Mann School for the Deaf. In 1896, they returned to Massachusetts, and Keller entered The Cambridge School for Young Ladies before gaining admittance, in 1900, to Radcliffe College of Harvard University, where she lived in Briggs Hall, South House. Her admirer, Mark Twain, had introduced her to Standard Oil magnate Henry Huttleston Rogers, who, with his wife Abbie, paid for her education. In 1904, at the age of 24, Keller graduated as a member of Phi Beta Kappa from Radcliffe, becoming the first deafblind person to earn a Bachelor of Arts degree. She maintained a correspondence with the A.... Discover the Helen Keller popular books. Find the top 100 most popular Helen Keller books.

Best Seller Helen Keller Books of 2024

  • The Story of Helen Keller synopsis, comments

    The Story of Helen Keller

    Oldiees Publishing

    American Biographies Series provides descriptions and stories of people important in the history of the United States. Including the basic facts like education, work, relationships...

  • Women who Changed the World synopsis, comments

    Women who Changed the World

    Pyramid

    The 20th century began with a sense of great optimism after centuries of oppression. It was to be one of the most violent and tumultuous in world history and paved the way for many...

  • Helen Keller synopsis, comments

    Helen Keller

    Maria Isabel Sánchez Vegara

    In this book from the critically acclaimed, multimillioncopy bestselling Little People, BIG DREAMS series, discover the true story of Helen Keller. Little Helen was curious and eag...

  • I am Helen Keller synopsis, comments

    I am Helen Keller

    Brad Meltzer & Christopher Eliopoulos

    The seventh addition to this New York Times bestselling series spotlights Helen Keller and shows kids that obstacles can create heroes (Cover may vary) When Helen Ke...

  • Helen Keller synopsis, comments

    Helen Keller

    Maria Isabel Sánchez Vegara

    In this book from the critically acclaimed, multimillioncopy bestselling Little People, BIG DREAMS series, discover the true story of Helen Keller. Little Helen was curious and eag...

  • The Radical Lives of Helen Keller synopsis, comments

    The Radical Lives of Helen Keller

    Kim E. Nielsen

    Several decades after her death in 1968, Helen Keller remains one of the most widely recognized women of the twentieth century. But the fascinating story of her vivid political lif...

  • 50 Classic Autobiographies synopsis, comments

    50 Classic Autobiographies

    Mark Twain & Charles Darwin

    An anthology of 50 classic autobiographies with an active table of contents to make it easy to quickly find the book you are looking for.The Americanization of Edward Bok by Edward...

  • Beyond the Miracle Worker synopsis, comments

    Beyond the Miracle Worker

    Kim E. Nielsen

    A moving portrait of Anne Sullivan Macy, teacher of Helen Kellerand a complex, intelligent woman worthy of her own spotlightAfter many years, historian and Helen Keller expert Kim ...

  • The Essential Works of Helen Keller synopsis, comments

    The Essential Works of Helen Keller

    Helen Keller

    The most known works of Keller in one collection with an active table of contents.Works include:The Story of My Life The World I Live In

  • Helen Keller synopsis, comments

    Helen Keller

    Margaret Davidson & Wendy Watson

    Learn all about Helen Keller's inspiring life.A biography stressing the childhood of the woman who overcame the handicaps of being blind and deaf.

  • Helen Keller - Two Books and a Poem synopsis, comments

    Helen Keller - Two Books and a Poem

    Helen Keller

    This file includes: The Story of My Life, The World I Live In, and The Song of the Stone Wall.  According to Wikipedia: "Helen Adams Keller (June 27, 1880 ñ June 1, 1968) was ...

  • The Imprisoned Guest synopsis, comments

    The Imprisoned Guest

    Elisabeth Gitter

    The resurrected story of a deafblind girl and the man who brought her out of silence.In 1837, Samuel Gridley Howe, director of Boston's Perkins Institution for the Blind, heard abo...

  • Herstory synopsis, comments

    Herstory

    Katherine Halligan

    Move aside historyit’s time for herstory.Celebrate fifty inspiring and powerful women who changed the world and left their mark in this lavishly illustrated biography compilation t...

  • Helen Keller synopsis, comments

    Helen Keller

    Scott R. Welvaert

    A biography telling the life of Hellen Keller, a blind and deaf women who became an author and advocate for the blind. Written in graphicnovel format.

  • Helen Keller synopsis, comments

    Helen Keller

    Kim E. Nielsen

    “[My life] is so rich with blessingsan immense capacity of enjoyment, books, and beloved friends. . . . Most earnestly I pray the dear Heavenly Father that I may sometime make myse...

  • Helen Keller synopsis, comments

    Helen Keller

    Tanya Savory

    When Helen Keller was just a year and a half old, a terrible illness destroyed both her hearing and her sight.  Suddenly plunged into a dark, silent world, Helen could not lea...

  • Haptic Communication synopsis, comments

    Haptic Communication

    Helen Keller National Center

    The primary focus of this book is to explain and describe basic techniques in Haptic Communication. People who are deafblind and blind, as well as their family members, friends, in...

  • Helen Keller synopsis, comments

    Helen Keller

    Barbara Catchpole

    This brandnew series puts readers in the shoes of famous historical figures during their childhoods, with an emphasis on the gruesome and ghastly bits. A lively and varied mix of t...

  • The Book of Gutsy Women synopsis, comments

    The Book of Gutsy Women

    Hillary Clinton & Chelsea Clinton

    Now an eightpart docuseries on Apple TV+ Hillary Rodham Clinton and her daughter, Chelsea, share the stories of the gutsy women who have inspired themwomen with the courage to stan...

  • Helen Keller synopsis, comments

    Helen Keller

    Elizabeth MacLeod & Andrej Krystoforski

    Meet Helen Keller advocate for the blind and deaf. The story of Helen’s struggles to learn how to communicate and the enormous difference she made for the blind and deaf around th...

  • Helen Keller synopsis, comments

    Helen Keller

    Kathleen V. Kudlinski & Donna Diamond

    "Forget that I am deaf and blind and think of me as an ordinary woman," wrote Helen Kellerbut she was anything but ordinary.When  Helen was growing up, there were no facilitie...

  • Pit Bull synopsis, comments

    Pit Bull

    Bronwen Dickey

    The hugely illuminating story of how a popular breed of dog became the most demonized and supposedly the most dangerous of dogsand what role humans have played in the transformatio...

  • Helen Keller synopsis, comments

    Helen Keller

    Kim E. Nielsen

    “[My life] is so rich with blessingsan immense capacity of enjoyment, books, and beloved friends. . . . Most earnestly I pray the dear Heavenly Father that I may sometime make myse...

  • The People Speak synopsis, comments

    The People Speak

    Howard Zinn

    Collected here is a brief history of America told through stories applauding the enduring spirit of dissent.To celebrate the millionth copy sold of his book, A People's H...

  • The Ultimate Helen Keller Collection synopsis, comments

    The Ultimate Helen Keller Collection

    Charles River Editors & Helen Keller

    Includes: Charles River Editors’ original biography of Helen Keller The Story of My Life, Optimism, and The Song of the Stone Wall  by Helen Keller To say Helen Keller is one ...

  • Helen Keller synopsis, comments

    Helen Keller

    Amie Jane Leavitt

    At a young age, Helen Keller lost her ability to see and hear. With the help of Anne Sullivan, she met those challenges and became one of the most wellknown people of her time. She...

  • Stories I Love to Tell synopsis, comments

    Stories I Love to Tell

    Gene Edwards

    America’s beloved storyteller will guide and thrill your imagination with these classic tales. Join Gene Edwards as he recounts his favorite stories from more than 50 years of trav...

  • Helen Keller synopsis, comments

    Helen Keller

    Johanna Hurwitz

    When a childhood illness leaves her blind and deaf, Helen Keller's life seems hopeless indeed. But her indomitable will and the help of a devoted teacher empower Helen to triumph o...

  • Miss Spitfire synopsis, comments

    Miss Spitfire

    Sara Miller

    Annie Sullivan was little more than a halfblind orphan with a fiery tongue when she arrived at Ivy Green in 1887. Desperate for work, she’d taken on a seemingly impossible jobteach...

  • The Story of My Life synopsis, comments

    The Story of My Life

    Helen Keller, Jim Knipfel & Marlee Matlin

    Helen Keller's triumph over her blindness and deafness has become one of the most inspiring stories of our time. Here, in a book first published when she was young woman, is Helen ...

  • Haben synopsis, comments

    Haben

    Haben Girma

    The incredible life story of Haben Girma, the first Deafblind graduate of Harvard Law School, and her amazing journey from isolation to the world stage.Haben grew up spending summe...