Rare Helen Keller Photo Found

William Haskins · Mar 6, 2008

Helen Keller, 8, with her teacher Anne Sullivan,
in Cape Cod in 1888.

BOSTON, Massachusetts (AP) -- Researchers have uncovered a rare photograph of a young Helen Keller with her teacher Anne Sullivan, nearly 120 years after it was taken on Cape Cod.

The photograph, shot in July 1888 in Brewster, shows an 8-year-old Helen sitting outside in a light-colored dress, holding Sullivan's hand and cradling one of her beloved dolls.

Experts on Keller's life believe it could be the earliest photo of the two women together and the only one showing the blind and deaf child with a doll -- the first word Keller spelled for Sullivan after they met in 1887 -- according to the New England Historic Genealogical Society, which now has the photo.

"It's really one of the best images I've seen in a long, long time," said Helen Selsdon, an archivist at the American Federation for the Blind, where Keller worked for more than 40 years. "This is just a huge visual addition to the history of Helen and Annie."

http://www.cnn.com/2008/US/03/05/helen.keller.ap/index.html

SpookyWriter · Mar 6, 2008

I saw that photo this morning.

Don Allen · Mar 6, 2008

I seen that, fasinating... an amazing story. she was also a very pretty girl though most of her pictures are from when she is older and you don't see it as much....

KTC · Mar 6, 2008

This photo was obviously taken before she answered the iron.

Devil Ledbetter · Mar 6, 2008

It says they're "holding hands" but hand-to-hand was also how Anne Sullivan used sign language with Helen. They were probably communicating.

aliajohnson · Mar 6, 2008

First time I've seen it. Beautiful. Thanks for posting it.

Kerr · Mar 6, 2008

Thank you, Haskins. I think the story of Helen Keller is probably the greatest one of achievement in the entire history of mankind. Ever since I was a child and first watched Patty Duke portray Helen in The Miracle Worker, I've imagined myself as Helen, sealed inside a box and trying to find a way to reach out. In my late teens and early twenties, I worked with blind, handicapped and retarded children. The leap that Helen took when she first realized Sullivan was offering language was truly miraculous. In the picture, you see the peace it's brought her.

Jean Marie · Mar 6, 2008

Cool photo, William.

Her CT home is 3 houses down from mine.

William Haskins · Mar 6, 2008

enduring...

Perks · Mar 6, 2008

For those who don't know, Helen Keller and Annie Sullivan are buried together inside the National Cathedral in Washington, DC.

I lived in a high-rise about two blocks from the District line and could see the Cathedral from the roof. One day, I didn't have anything to do, so I thought, hey, if I can see it, it can't be that far, right?

So I walked to the Cathedral. Yeah. Took a while.

To find Annie Sullivan and Helen Keller there together was a sweet surprise that made the walk worth it.

I took the bus home.

billythrilly7th · Mar 6, 2008

I'm just not confident that Helen Keller ever truly had any idea what was happening.

It was dark and silent and something kept touching her hands for 50 years.

She couldn't understand what earth was about or god or people or anything.

It's impossible.

Yeah, you can put an apple in her moutha and she can eat it and then you can figure out a way for her to signal she wants another apple.

And basic functions of human necessity could be taught.

But I don't think she ever really had much of an idea what was really going on. What sight was or wasn't. Who she was. Where she was. Or anything.

But what do I know.

Perks · Mar 6, 2008

Um, Billy, have you ever read any of her writings?

http://www.quotationspage.com/quotes/Helen_Keller

She was far more than a vegetable. Here's a wiki bio. You can see for yourself some of her accomplishments.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helen_Keller

TerzaRima · Mar 6, 2008

But what do I know.

Indeed.

MelodyO · Mar 6, 2008

Are you serious? Didn't Helen Keller go to college and author books, including her autobiography?

Here's a quote of hers: I am only one, but still I am one. I cannot do everything, but still I can do something; and because I cannot do everything, I will not refuse to do something that I can do.

Sounds like she had it going on to me.

Perks · Mar 6, 2008

I'm really hoping Billy was just wiggling our giggle chains with that one. Hoping... hope is a good thing.

TerzaRima · Mar 6, 2008

There's an excellent biography, Helen and Teacher: The Story of Helen Keller and Anne Sullivan Macy, by Joseph Lash. It's a nicely nuanced look at their life together, without the inevitable sugary triumphing-over-disability overtones.

Perks · Mar 6, 2008

Nah, I'm holding out for the Fox Special Report,The Helen Keller Hoax. I'm thinking I know just the screenwriter they need...

Soccer Mom · Mar 6, 2008

billythrilly7th said:
I'm just not confident that Helen Keller ever truly had any idea what was happening.

It was dark and silent and something kept touching her hands for 50 years.

She couldn't understand what earth was about or god or people or anything.

It's impossible.

Yeah, you can put an apple in her moutha and she can eat it and then you can figure out a way for her to signal she wants another apple.

And basic functions of human necessity could be taught.

But I don't think she ever really had much of an idea what was really going on. What sight was or wasn't. Who she was. Where she was. Or anything.

But what do I know.

ETA: Thank you, Haskins for the photos. They gave me chills.

Please tell me you were joking.

"Literature is my Utopia. Here I am not disenfranchised. No barrier of the sense shuts me out from the sweet, gracious discourse of my book friends. They talk to me without embarrassment or awkwardness." Helen Keller.

Anne Sullivan unlocked the mind of a gifted writer.

mscelina · Mar 6, 2008

*jaw drops*

Oh, billy....good god man! I'm sure, when she was typing away on her braille typewriter, that it was just an extension of those monkeys randomly writing Hamlet.

Devil Ledbetter · Mar 6, 2008

I'm just not confident that BillyThrilly ever truly has any idea what is happening.

He posts in the dark at a computer without a monitor.

He can't understand what earth is about or god or people or anything.

It's impossible.

Yeah, you can put a donut in his mouth and he can eat it and then you can figure out a way for him to signal he wants another donut.

And basic functions of human necessity can be taught.

But I don't think he ever really has much of an idea what is really going on. Who he is. Where he is. Or anything.

But what do I know?

DWSTXS · Mar 6, 2008

Billy is laughing his A off at you guys. Pulling your chains like you're the dinner bell.

Hell, I was tempted to post a funny. But I'm not. so.

DWSTXS · Mar 6, 2008

Perks said:
Um, Billy, have you ever read any of her writings?

http://www.quotationspage.com/quotes/Helen_Keller

She was far more than a vegetable. Here's a wiki bio. You can see for yourself some of her accomplishments.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helen_Keller

As per peks suggestion, I just read the article on Wiki about her. Extremely interesting. All I'd ever known about her was what I'd seen in that movie with Patty Duke. I never knew she wrote books and taught, and loved playing horseshoes. Didn't know either that she was an expert seamstress and was buried alongside her teacher.
Wow! what a life she led, overcoming all those handicaps and doing so much.

Unique · Mar 6, 2008

Perks said:
Um, Billy, have you ever read any of her writings?

http://www.quotationspage.com/quotes/Helen_Keller

She was far more than a vegetable. Here's a wiki bio. You can see for yourself some of her accomplishments.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helen_Keller

Another class act, from bt, I'm sure. This is why billy has been on my ignore list for at least a year. I didn't know what he said. I didn't want to know what he said. Thankx in advance for not quoting him in the future when he says something totally vile.

DWSTXS said:
Billy is laughing his A off at you guys. Pulling your chains like you're the dinner bell.

Hell, I was tempted to post a funny. But I'm not. so.

Crass is never funny. Just sayin', DWSTXS. It's just obnoxious.

DWSTXS · Mar 6, 2008

Unique said:
Another class act, from bt, I'm sure. This is why billy has been on my ignore list for at least a year. I didn't know what he said. I didn't want to know what he said. Thankx in advance for not quoting him in the future when he says something totally vile.

Crass is never funny. Just sayin', DWSTXS. It's just obnoxious.

Hey! It wasn't me who broke out the Helen Keller joke series.

Unique · Mar 6, 2008

I know that. It's a warning so you don't make the same mistake.

Funny is funny but when funny ceases to be funny, it's not funny any more.

Some forms of 'humour' around here were never very funny to start with.
It's gone from ha ha to ah ah to ugh ugh.

/EOM/

Rare Helen Keller Photo Found

poet

Seeking a Sanctuary of Intelligence

Stand in the Place Where You Live

Come on you stranger, you legend,

I vant to bite you

calm waters ahead

poet

delicate #!&@*#! flower

delicate #!&@*#! flower

Absinthe O'Malice

Waiting for love on the web

delicate #!&@*#! flower

Absinthe O'Malice

delicate #!&@*#! flower

Crypto-fascist

Teh doommobile, drivin' rite by you

Come on you stranger, you legend,

Mr Mojo Risin...

Mr Mojo Risin...

Agent of Doom

Mr Mojo Risin...

Agent of Doom