Biography Project
Student Name: Cassidy
Person whom you have selected is: Helen Keller

Make sure to include:
WHY I CHOSE THIS PERSON? OPINION
I chose this person because I wanted to know about her life and how it was hard to be blind and deaf. I wanted to know what she did to help the world and what achievements she made.

WHY THEY ARE IMPORTANT TO YOU AND OTHERS? FACT AND OPINION
Helen Keller is important to me and others because even though she was blind and deaf it didn’t stop her from doing anything she wanted to do which made her a motivated person.

CHILDHOOD (parents, siblings, and events that impacted them as a child) FACTS
Helen Keller was born on June 27, 1880, in Tuscumbia, Alabama. Her parents were Kate Adams and Captain Keller. In February 1882, she became very ill. High fever and bad pains ruined her senses. She lost the use of her eyes and ears. Helen could barely communicate. Helen was a hard child to live with. She hit out and kicked at things. Her father decided to ask for help from the Perkins Institution for the Blind. The director of Perkins asked Anne Sullivan to become Helen’s teacher. Anne Sullivan arrived on March 3, 1887. Anne tried to figure out a way to teach Helen to understand words and their meanings. Anne taught Helen letters, by signing them into her palm. In 1888, Helen and Anne went to the Perkins School for the Blind. Outside of school, Anne taught Helen to touch and smell. Helen was beginning to learn how to speak. Helen’s speech was hard to follow but, Helen always knew what she was trying to say. Helen lived in New York City for 2 years. She went to school for the deaf. When she was 16, Helen went to the Cambridge School for Young Ladies. She took German, Latin, arithmetic, history, and English literature.

ADULTHOOD (who influenced them, achievements and disappointments, important events such as marriage or having children) FACTS
Helen’s goal was achieved in 1899, when she passed the entrance exam to Radcliffe College. In 1901Helen agreed to write about herself for the Ladies’ Home Journal. She and Anne met John Macy. John Macy was a writer and editor who helped them with the work. Her book came out in 1903. It was called The Story of my Life. When Helen was still in College she began to write. She wrote about 13 books. Helen graduated in 1904. Helen was the first deaf and blind person to earn a college degree. Helen was never married and never had any children. Helen was friends with many famous people, such as, Alexander Grahm Bell, the writer Mark Twain, and United States President Franklin .D. Roosevelt. Helen’s mother died in 1921. In that same year Anne got really sick. In 1936, Anne died and Polly Thomson had to take her place as Helen’s companion. Helen Keller visited 39 countries, such as, Australia in 1948, Canada in 1901, 1957, Germany in 1956, Ireland in 1930, and many more countries. Helen Keller died on June 1, 1968.

CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE WORLD (How did they impact the lives around them and how we live today) FACTS
In 1909, Helen joined the Socialist Party. She was wanted to speak out on all important issues. She supported Women’s suffrage and birth control. She also spoke out against child labor. In her room she hung up a red flag to show her support for Socialism. In 1924, Helen joined the American Foundation for the Blind. For 44 years Helen was the ambassador of the AFB (American Foundation for the Blind).

HOW DID LEARNING ABOUT THIS PERSON HELP YOU AND HOW DID IT MAKE YOU FEEL? OPINION
Learning about Helen Keller helped me understand how it was difficult to be blind and deaf, but Helen got through with them. It made me feel sad at first because she was so blocked out of the world and didn’t know what was happening around her, but when she got older she achieved many different things in her life.

WOULD YOU RECOMMEND LEARNING ABOUT THIS PERSON TO SOMEONE ELSE AND WHY? OPINION
Yes, because I want people to know how she did things having to deal with her disabilities. She did many more things than other people could do during a lifetime. Helen Keller is great role model for many people because she followed her dreams.