But here is the 2nd part of my 2 part Helen Keller series!
From last week:
When she attended a blind school later in life, she was ecstatic to find other children who read the same way she did and knew how to communicate with her. It was a great blessing for her!
Helen did make it through school. By the time she turned 18, she had graduated high school and was speaking fluently in the language her teacher, Anne Sullivan, had taught her and was by now even able to speak with her mouth. Creating amazement in the people who watched her life from the sidelines, Helen continued her education and left for college in 1900 at the age of 20. Her admirer, Mark Twain(yes the same Mark Twain who authored The Adventures of Tom Sawyer), contacted and old friend if his, Henry Rogers, who then funded her education all through out college.
In 1904, Helen graduated Radcliffe college as the first deaf blind person to earn a Bachelor of Arts degree. From there, Helen went on to becoming one of the world's most popular and cherished author and speaker, know world-wide as an advocate for those with disabilities. She was a radical socialist, an opponent of Woodrow Wilson, a pacifist, and much more. In 1915 George Kessler founded the Helen Keller International organization, which focused on researching nutrition, health, and vision.
Helen and Anne traveled to over 39 countries, making several trips to Japan and becoming quite famous there. Keller was close acquaintances with many of history's famous figures, such as the already mentioned Mark Twain, Alexander Graham Bell, and Charlie Chaplain. She made for herself a legacy and didn't let the fact that she wasn't a perfectly formed being get in her way. She was ambitious, and when she wanted something she wasn't going to stop until she achieved what she willed.
Helen Keller suffered through a series of strokes in the early 1960s, and finally passed away in 1968 at the well-lived age of 87.
Though Keller no longer lives among us in person, her legacy lives on; teaching us that with perseverance and determination, one really can achieve their dreams, and live the life they've always desired.
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