Anne Sullivan is the most famous teacher of the deaf in American History. She limited herself to one pupil – Helen Keller. The two met on March 3, 1887. Keller was the daughter of well-to-do ex-Confederate officer. She had a stable family life, although she was the cause of turmoil in it. Sullivan came from the opposite end of the spectrum. Born to Irish immigrants who fled the Great Famine, she grew up in poverty. At age 5, she contracted an eye disease that left her almost blind. Her mother died at age 8 and two years later her father abandoned her and her brother. They were put in a Dickensian almshouse where her brother died after four months. Anne lived on in terrible conditions. Luckily, a commission was established to investigate sexual abuses and even cannibalism. One day, she ran to the lead investigator and begged him to send her to school. At age 14, she was allowed to attend the Perkins School for the Blind. The ragamuffin did not get along well with her classmates, but she graduated as valedictorian. By this time the fifth operation (the others failed) restored much of her sight.
Anne’s life changed when Arthur Keller contacted Alexander Graham Bell (who had taught the deaf before becoming an inventor) who suggested the Perkins School. They put him in contact with Sullivan. Helen was 7 and Anne was 20. They began a 49-year partnership. It started rocky. Helen was quite wild due to the frustration of her handicap. One day, the breakthrough came with Anne using the “touch teaching” she had learned at Perkins to sign the letters W-A-T-E-R in Helen’s hand. At first, Anne implemented a strict learning regime. That didn’t work with Helen, so Anne shifted to teaching Helen her own interests. In 6 months, Helen had learned 575 words, her multiplication tables, and Braille. She then went to Perkins herself with Anne by her side. Helen was the star of the school and made the school the most famous school for the blind in the country. Helen became a celebrity, which left Anne in her shadow until Mark Twain referred to her as the “miracle worker”. The two ladies stayed together, literally. Anne did get married, to a John Macy, but he had to move in with the duo. Naturally, the marriage did not succeed. Helen came first. In 2003, Anne was put in the National Women’s Hall of Fame.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anne_Sullivan
https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/helen-keller-meets-her-miracle-worker
https://www.perkins.org/10-things-you-probably-dont-know-about-anne-sullivan/
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