Special Collections
Helen Keller Collection
Description: A collection featuring biographies and non-fiction books by and about Helen Keller. For books by and about other members of the deaf-blind community, visit: https://www.bookshare.org/browse/collection/194343 #disability
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Helen Keller
by Katharine E. WilkieFocusing on her childhood years, this biography is about Helen Keller who overcame her handicaps with the help of her teacher Anne Sullivan.
The Story of My Life
by Helen KellerAn American classic rediscovered by each generation, The Story of My Life is Helen Keller's account of her triumph over deafness and blindness. Popularized by the stage play and movie The Miracle Worker, Keller's story has become a symbol of hope for people all over the world.
This book-published when Keller was only twenty-two-portrays the wild child who is locked in the dark and silent prison of her own body. With an extraordinary immediacy, Keller reveals her frustrations and rage, and takes the reader on the unforgettable journey of her education and breakthroughs into the world of communication.
From the moment Keller recognizes the word "water" when her teacher finger-spells the letters, we share her triumph as "that living word awakened my soul, gave it light, hope, joy, set it free!" An unparalleled chronicle of courage, The Story of My Life remains startlingly fresh and vital more than a century after its first publication, a timeless testament to an indomitable will.
Beyond the Miracle Worker
by Kim E. NielsenAfter many years, historian and Helen Keller expert Kim Nielsen realized that she, along with other historians and biographers, had failed Anne Sullivan Macy. While Macy is remembered primarily as Helen Keller's teacher and mythologized as a straightforward educational superhero, the real story of this brilliant, complex, and misunderstood woman, who described herself as a "badly constructed human being," has never been completely told.
Beyond the Miracle Worker, the first biography of Macy in nearly fifty years, complicates the typical Helen-Annie "feel good" narrative in surprising ways. By telling the life from Macy's perspective-not Keller's-the biography is the first to put Macy squarely at the center of the story. It presents a new and fascinating tale about a wounded but determined woman and her quest for a successful, meaningful life.
Born in 1866 to poverty-stricken Irish immigrants, the parentless and deserted Macy suffered part of her childhood in the Massachusetts State Almshouse at Tewksbury. Seeking escape, in love with literature, and profoundly stubborn, she successfully fought to gain an education at the Perkins School for the Blind. As an adult, Macy taught Keller, helping the girl realize her immense potential, and Macy's intimate friendship with Keller remained powerful throughout their lives.
Yet as Macy floundered with her own blindness, ill health, and depression, as well as a tumultuous and triangulated marriage, she came to lean on her former student, emotionally, physically, and economically. Based on privately held primary source material, including materials at both the American Foundation for the Blind and the Perkins School for the Blind, Beyond the Miracle Worker is revelatory and absorbing, unraveling one of the best known-and least understood-friendships of the twentieth century.
Helen Keller
by Kim E. Nielsen“[My life] is so rich with blessings—an immense capacity of enjoyment, books, and beloved friends. . . . Most earnestly I pray the dear Heavenly Father that I may sometime make myself far more worthy of the love shown to me than I am now.”—April 22, 1900 letter from Helen Keller to John Hitz, AFBWhen Helen Keller died in 1968, at the age of eighty-eight years old, she was one of the most widely known women in the world. The overnight success of her biography, The Story of My Life, written at age twenty-three, made it obvious to Keller that she was endowed with a gift for writing and speaking. As she got older, she increasingly began to do both on a variety of subjects extending beyond her own disability, including social, political, and theological issues.Helen Keller: Selected Writings collects Keller’s personal letters, political writings, speeches, and excerpts of her published materials from 1887 to 1968. The book also includes an introductory essay by Kim E. Nielsen, headnotes to each document, and a selected bibliography of work by and about Keller. The majority of the letters and some prints, all drawn from the Helen Keller Archives at the American Foundation for the Blind in New York, are being published for the first time.Literature, education, advocacy, politics, religion, travel: the many interests of Helen Keller culminate in this book and are reflected in her spirited narration. Also portrayed are the individuals Keller inspired and took inspiration from, including her teacher Annie Sullivan, her family, and others with whom she formed friendships throughout the course of her life.This often charming collection revels in and preserves Keller’s public and private life, coming to us in the year which marks the 125th anniversary of her birthday.
Helen Keller
by Dorothy HerrmannA comprehensive biography of Helen Keller, focusing not only on her disabilities and challenges and how she overcame them or made them moot, but also on her relationships, her work with other challenged and inspirational people, her involvement in the arts as subject and as participant, and her political beliefs and actions.
Helen Keller's Teacher
by Margaret DavidsonFor twenty- year- old Annie Sullivan, life had been one hardship after another. All alone and half blind, she grew up in a poorhouse with only her pride and determination to sustain her. Even though the odds were against her, she would never allow her handicaps to defeat her. That is until she meets Helen Keller. The world is a dark and silent prison for little Helen. She cannot see or hear or speak. To Annie falls the incredible task of teaching Helen how to read, to write - to live a full life. Is Annie up to this incredible challenge? Can she dare to dream of accomplishing a miracle? This is the true story of Annie's and Helen's courage and determination to succeed.
Helen's Big World
by Doreen Rappaport and Matt TavaresThis picturebook biography is an excellent and accessible introduction for young readers to learn about one of the world's most influential luminaries. With her signature style of prose laced with stirring quotes, Doreen Rappaport brings to life Helen Keller's poignant narrative. Acclaimed illustrator Matt Tavares beautifully captures the dynamism and verve of Helen Keller's life and legacy, making Helen's Big World an unforgettable portrait of a woman whose vision for innovation and progress changed America-and the world-forever.
Helen Keller
by Kathleen V. KudlinskiA biography detailing Helen Keller's adventurous life as she worked tirelessly to lead the way for handicapped people.
Prayers That Changed History
by Tricia GoyerOne prayer can change everything. Martin Luther. Sojourner Truth. Helen Keller. St. Patrick. We read their stories, and of other people like them, in history books, and hear about the amazing things they did to change the world. But one part of the story is often left out: Each one of them wouldn’t have accomplished what they did without prayer. In this book from bestselling author Tricia Goyer, the stories of twenty-five notable people are presented along with the major prayer that changed their lives, and changed history. Following each historical example is a biblical story that ties to that person’s life and actions, as well as ways you can use the power of prayer in your life as well. Because God isn’t done changing the world yet, and he would love to use you to make history. Includes images of each historical figure.
Helen Keller in Her Own Words
by Caroline KennonThough Helen Keller became deaf and blind after a childhood illness in 1882, she grew up to be a renowned author, activist, and speaker. With the help of her teacher, Anne Sullivan, Keller overcame major obstacles in her life and used them to become an advocate for those experiencing discrimination and hardship. This inspiring biography uses Keller's own words as a primary source, so that readers can better know and understand this amazing woman and leader.
How I Would Help the World
by Helen Keller and Ray SilvermanHelen Keller's life was deeply changed when she began to read the writings of Emanuel Swedenborg in braille. Referring to him as "one of the noblest champions true Christianity has ever known," she said, "Swedenborg's message has been my greatest incitement to overcome limitations." Certainly, Helen Keller did much to help the world. But she felt she could help the world most by sharing with others the inspiration that came to her through reading Swedenborg's books. "Were I but capable," she said, "of interpreting to others one-half of the stimulating thoughts and noble sentiments that are buried in Swedenborg's writings, I should help them more than I am ever likely to in any other way. It would be such a joy to me if I might be the instrument of bringing Swedenborg to a world that is spiritually deaf and blind." Her essay, How I Would Help the World, is her attempt to do this. It is accompanied by an introduction by scholar Ray Silverman elucidating Helen Keller's spiritual process. This glimpse into the spiritual life of Helen Keller provides inspiration for those who may have wondered how she was able to find the strength and courage to overcome her triple handicap. Pictures of Helen Keller and direct quotations from the writings of Emanuel Swedenborg accompany her poignant words.
Give Me a Sign, Helen Keller!
by Peter Roop and Connie RoopIn this book, you will find out all about Helen Keller, before she made history.
The Radical Lives of Helen Keller
by Kim E. NielsenA political biography that reveals new sides to Helen KellerSeveral decades after her death in 1968, Helen Keller remains one of the most widely recognized women of the twentieth century. But the fascinating story of her vivid political life—particularly her interest in radicalism and anti-capitalist activism—has been largely overwhelmed by the sentimentalized story of her as a young deaf-blind girl. Keller had many lives indeed. Best known for her advocacy on behalf of the blind, she was also a member of the socialist party, an advocate of women's suffrage, a defender of the radical International Workers of the World, and a supporter of birth control—and she served as one of the nation's most effective but unofficial international ambassadors. In spite of all her political work, though, Keller rarely explored the political dimensions of disability, adopting beliefs that were often seen as conservative, patronizing, and occasionally repugnant. Under the wing of Alexander Graham Bell, a controversial figure in the deaf community who promoted lip-reading over sign language, Keller became a proponent of oralism, thereby alienating herself from others in the deaf community who believed that a rich deaf culture was possible through sign language. But only by distancing herself from the deaf community was she able to maintain a public image as a one-of-a-kind miracle.Using analytic tools and new sources, Kim E. Nielsen's political biography of Helen Keller has many lives, teasing out the motivations for and implications of her political and personal revolutions to reveal a more complex and intriguing woman than the Helen Keller we thought we knew.
Optimism, and Strike Against War
by Helen KellerAn essay on optimism by the famous author, activist, and lecturer, as well as a speech called Strike Against War that she gave at Carnegie Hall in New York City on January 5, 1916 in opposition to World War I.
"Miracle Worker" and the Transcendentalist
by David WagnerHelen Keller and her teacher, Annie Sullivan, remain two of the best-known American women. But few people know how Sullivan came to her role as teacher of the deaf and blind Keller. Contrasting their lives with Franklin Benjamin Sanborn, the era's prominent abolitionist, this book sheds light on the gender and disability expectations that affected the public perception of Sullivan and Keller. This book provides a fascinating insight into class, ethnicity, gender, and disability issues in the Gilded Age and Progressive-Era America.
Helen Keller
by Johanna HurwitzWhen a childhood illness leaves her blind and deaf, Helen Keller's life seems hopeless indeed. But her indomitable will and the help of a devoted teacher empower Helen to triumph over incredible adversity. This amazing true story is finally brought to the beginner reader level.
Optimism
by Helen KellerHelen Adams Keller was an American writer and social activist; an illness (possibly scarlet fever or meningitis) at the age of 19 months left her deaf and blind. No matter how dull, or how mean, or how wise a man is, he feels that happiness is his indisputable right. It is curious to observe what different ideals of happiness people cherish, and in what singular places they look for this well-spring of their life. Many look for it in the hoarding of riches, some in the pride of power, and others in the achievements of art and literature; a few seek it in the exploration of their own minds, or in search for knowledge. Most people measure their happiness in terms of physical pleasure and material possession. Could they win some visible goal which they have set on the horizon, how happy they could be! Lacking this gift or that circumstance, they would be miserable. If happiness is to be so measured, I who cannot hear or see have every reason to sit in a corner with folded hands and weep. If I am happy in spite of my deprivations, if my happiness is so deep that it is a faith, so thoughtful that it becomes a philosophy of life, - if, in short, I am an optimist, my testimony to the creed of optimism is worth hearing. Helen Keller was left blind and deaf by a terrible disease at the age of 19 months, trapped in a shell of incomprehensibility. With the help of Annie Sullivan, she was able to overcome these handicaps and educate herself. Shortly after her autobiography, My Story, appeared in 1900, this book on Optimism was also published.
Helen Keller
by Carol GhiglieriHelen Keller was deaf and blind, but went on to learn and teach and advocate. Correlate with Guided Reading Levels J. For use with Grades K-2.
Paarvaiyatra Mudhal Pattadhari Penn Helen Keller
by Yercaud ElangoHelen Keller is an example for self-confidence and perseverance. For her hard work, social service, education and equal rights, the world feted her. For the achievements of serving people by breaking the barriers by this Blind, deaf woman, people praised her as Wonder Woman. This book describes the wonderful lifetime achievements of this blind, deaf woman and by reading this book, the readers will get impulse to strive for the cause of social progress.
My Religion
by Helen KellerHere is a mind kept singularly pure from childhood; here is a religious experience unhampered by the blindness of any sectarianism; here is a spiritual insight, a gift of perception, undulled by absorption in the things of sense life. Here is one in whom the Lord worked a miracle, and Helen Keller declares to us "One thing I know, that whereas I was blind, now I see."
Who Was Helen Keller?
by Gare Thompson and Nancy HarrisonAt age two, Helen Keller became deaf and blind. She lived in a world of silence and darkness and she spent the rest of her life struggling to break through it.
But with the help of teacher Annie Sullivan, Helen learned to read, write, and do many amazing things. This inspiring illustrated biography is perfect for young middle-grade readers.
Black-and-white line drawings throughout, sidebars on related topics such as Louis Braille, a timeline, and a bibliography enhance readers' understanding of the subject.
Helen Keller's Best Friend Belle
by Jennifer Thermes and Holly M. BarryMany know the story of Helen Keller's journey to learn to communicate. And many have heard of Anne Sullivan, the brilliant teacher who helped Helen understand. But have you ever heard about Belle the dog? In this new picture book biography of Helen Keller's early life, readers are introduced to her beloved dog, Belle, who is with Helen every step of the way!
Helen Keller
by Richard TamesThe life of Helen Keller told in this biography also contains brief historical highlights that help illuminate certain concepts discussed in the book.
Blind Rage
by Georgina KleegeThe author writes letters to the late Helen Keller to explore different aspects of her life.