Women's History - Helen Keller

"Until the great mass of the people shall be filled with the sense of responsibility for each other's welfare, social justice can never be attained."
- Helen Keller

The life of Helen Keller both inspires us to overcome the hurdles in our own lives and help others to do the same. The fearless story of Helen Keller is well-known, depicted in documentaries, films, plays, and on television.

At the age of just nineteen months, Helen Keller was diagnosed with "an acute congestion of the stomach and the brain" that left her blind and deaf. She worked through it, developing signs to communicate with her family, but life was particularly difficult for her until the arrival of Anne Sullivan, who became Keller's teacher and friend and taught her to speak by "fingerspelling" words. With the help of her teacher, Keller made remarkable progress that led to her fame.

But that's just where the story begins, as Keller spent the rest of her life helping others. She founded Helen Keller International, a nonprofit organization "devoted to fighting and treating preventable blindness and malnutrition." She worked for over forty years with the American Foundation for the Blind. She helped found the American Civil Liberties Union to defend the rights and liberties that have been afforded to people without disabilities.

She championed issues not only for the deaf and blind, but also for women's rights. It is this unflinching concern for the welfare of others that makes Helen Keller stand out as an American heroine.

For more biographies in celebration of women's history month, click here.