Helen Keller, 1912 from Library of Congress
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| Helen Keller spelled in Braille |
Topics on the Page
Biography Resources
Primary Sources
Multimedia Sources
Helen Keller as a Political Activist
Learning Plans
For a biography, link to Helen Keller from the American Foundation for the Blind
See also Helen Keller Kids Online Museum
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Deaf and blind at birth, she supported progressive causes and women's rights as well as opposing discrimination against people with disabilities.
- She advocated for women's suffrage, birth control, and pacifism.
- Became a socialist and member of the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW)
- Traveled the world inspiring millions of people with disabilities
- In 2009, a statute of Helen Keller was opened at the U. S. Capitol in Washington, D.C.
Anne Sullivan—Helen Keller Memorial, Tewksbury, Massachusetts
Helen Keller's Vaudeville Q & A, Perkins School for the Blind
- Background on Helen Keller and Anne Sullivan Macy's 1920s vaudeville routine
- Watch to learn more on how Helen Keller learned to speak
Primary Sources
- The Story of My Life (1905), an autobiography she began writing when she was 22 years-old, published as an e-book by the University of Pennsylvania
- See also her essay, How I Became a Socialist (November 3, 1912)
- Click here to read the FBI files on Helen Keller.
- "What is the IWW?" and "Why I Became an IWW" speeches by Helen Keller
- Click here for "I Must Speak" by Helen Keller
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| A-S-L in American Sign Language |
Multimedia Resources
Helen Keller Speech, a re-enactment of a speech given by Keller at the 1925 Lions Clubs International Convention, on YouTube with the text included.
Helen Keller & Anne Sullivan, 1930s newsreel footage on YouTube
Helen Keller Tribute Film from the Connecticut Women's Hall of Fame
For more materials, including historic photographs, see Helen Keller: An Introduction from the American Association for the Blind.
See the Facebook page for the film Becoming Helen Keller
Helen Keller as a Political Activist
The Radical Dissent of Helen Keller from Yes! Magazine (July 12, 2012)
The Politics of Helen Keller, International Socialist Review
Learning Plans
Exploring Disability using Multimedia and the B-D-A Reading Strategy from ReadWriteThink
See Helen Keller resources from the Disability History Museum