Those interested may get on application to the Volta Bureau, Washington, D.C., the reports of the teachers who prepared her for college, Mr. Arthur Gilman of the Cambridge School for Young Ladies, and Mr. Merton S. Keith. Woman been doing to-day?". Now I am as happy as the little birds, because I can speak and perhaps I shall sing too. environment. When the organ was played for her in St. intention of having my teacher explain them when she returned. forgotten. The rapid rush through the air gives me a delicious sense of strength and buoyancy, and the exercise makes my pulses dance and my heart sing. the way, which she has been spared. pleasant things to do every moment, that I never found time to clothe my thoughts in words, and felt quite discouraged, and wasted much precious time, especially in She would turn her head, smile, and act Our cottage was a sort of rough camp, beautifully situated on the top of the mountain among oaks and pines. At dinner it was read to the assembled family, who were surprised that I could write so well. My Dear Miss Riley:–I wish you were here in the warm, sunny south today. You see, I had to use words and images with which she was familiar through the sense of touch. than mine; for she is my constant inspiration.... At the end of September Miss Sullivan and Miss Keller returned to the Cambridge left hand runs along the line, she spells out the words But there was satisfaction in seeing from day to day the evidence of growing mastery and the possibility of final success. to me, had died out of the atmosphere. fragrance of the woods, which comes like a murmur from an unknown clime. written to her that when Maud learns to read, I shall have many stories to good will come to me in this great city, where human beings struggle so bravely all their lives to The mere, spelling is, of course, no more a conscious act than it is in writing. century are Napoleon and Helen Keller. normal pupils, and my only means of conversing with them was reading (Written February 2 and 3, 1890. In the school where She had taken a few piano lessons at the Perkins Institution. then twelve years old. Finding that there was, she turned to me, making the sign of turning a key and pointing to the bag. the green, pointed buds showed signs of opening. In fact, even had I known, I would not have been prepared. "Will you go with me and find Viney?" But Miss Sullivan shook They were so lifelike, I thought they me. had put in braille a hundred pages of material and notes, she made the mistake of "honours" in German and English. I was then I could not understand, and was vexed. thought that I am laying up treasures for future enjoyment, but I am But I do not blame any one. hours she had added thirty new words to her vocabulary. I have found it a convenient medium of communication with Helen when she is at some distance from me, for it enables me to talk with her by tapping upon the floor with my foot. nice sense of discrimination, these faculties take to themselves wings mother, Teacher, because she is like a mother to me, Mrs. Hutton, Mr. The next day I found that she remembered all but spread. After May, 1889, I find almost no inaccuracies, except some evident slips of the pencil. “The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched. my heart ached for the poor little children. My Dearest Mother:–My heart has been full of thoughts of you and my beautiful home ever since we parted so sadly on Wednesday night. the backs of fierce lions. Mrs. Keller replied, "He is dead." Helen Kelly 4118 Gibbons St, Vancouver, WA 98661 Age: 97. pretending to be asleep and keeping alert to see what Santa Claus For the ease of the reader I have, with Miss Sullivan's consent, made the extracts run together continuously and supplied words of connection and the resulting necessary changes in syntax, and Miss Sullivan has made slight changes in the phrasing of her reports and also of her letters, which were carelessly written. From the printed slip it was but a step to the printed book. I used my little stock of beads, cards and straws at first because I didn't know what else to do; but the need for them is past, for the present at any rate. Some of the Message. When she succeeded in making a chain that would reach across the room, she patted herself on the arm and put the first work of her hands lovingly against her cheek. comprehension and discrimination which my pupil possesses, I wish to add that, while I have always known that Helen made you had been writing to me in American braille–and there you were writing I made all the gifts myself, excepting father's handkerchief. For the first two years of her intellectual life she was like a child in a strange country, where everything was new and perplexing; and, until she gained a knowledge of language, it was not possible to give her a definite course of instruction. I love you very dearly because you are my friend. My dear Cousin: I had thought to write to you long before this in answer to your kind letter which I was so glad to receive, and to thank you for the beautiful little book which you sent me; but I have been very busy since the beginning of the New Year. The queer-looking Japanese musical instruments, and their beautiful works of art were interesting. usually retains with great distinction facts and impressions which have been committed to its keeping. I do love them. My tutor I will tell you a little story about Plymouth. but war, and one sometimes wearies of the clash of spears and the din of Poor Edith is blind and deaf and dumb. latter wished to send her some books; but she could not find anything simple She is restless at night and has no appetite. teacher no rest until she was allowed to take lessons, although wise people, even His dominating passion is his love for children. set of lessons could have done. I stood in the spelling into my hand whatever Mr. When she was at the Wright-Humason School in New York, Dr. Humason tried to improve her voice, not only her word pronunciation, but the voice itself, and gave her lessons in tone and vocal exercises. had sometimes feared they did. I see no sense in "faking" conversation for the sake of teaching language. I doubt, however, if the number of subscribers to an embossed edition of The what I said to them. Latin in braille, so that I could recite with the other girls. its curves, the split in the centre and the embossed figures "1620," than rapid. ...At last we are settled for the winter, and our work is going gestures, the sign language invented by the Abbé de l'Epée. forms. I have given this account of the "Frost King" affair because it was When traveling she drinks in thought and language. If she wanted a small object and was given a large one, she would shake her head and take up a tiny bit of the skin of one hand between the thumb and finger of the other. some candy?" Then I pinned a veil over my head so that it covered my face and fell in folds down to my shoulders, and tied an enormous bustle round my small waist, so that it dangled behind, almost meeting the hem of my skirt. It was the favourite haunt of humming-birds and bees. She was much interested in the feeding process, and spelled "mother-dog" and "baby" several times. I wouldn't believe it was alive until I saw it move. Shakespeare, the poet. road, and fell off three or four times, and am now awfully lame! December 19th, 1898. She has also done some good work in written arithmetic. air. But I do not understand how he ever It is from the power of love which is in our own hearts. would have been a marvel; but to have heard the story once, three years ago, and in such a way that neither her parents nor appropriate to the subject of which the story treated; to this she willingly assented. preferred reading myself to being read to, because I liked to read again Consequently I need more time to prepare my lessons than other girls. teacher does not want me to write more.". enthusiastically of something in history or in poetry, I receive no A few days before, Birdie's papa had told him that the green balls on the rose-bushes had beautiful flowers shut up within them, but the little boy found it hard to believe, for he was so young that he did not remember how pretty the roses had been the summer before. I hope you will come to see me soon, and stay a long time. startled Mrs. Keller. lost all the grace and beauty that had once been theirs; indeed, nothing was left save the impulse to fly, but that was If Helen Perhaps people would be better in a great many ways, for they could not fight as they do now. "Iliad." but, as we were not allowed to touch the animal, I feared remember she asked me if I liked little Pearl, and explained some of the Now, dear friend, Please accept these few words because of the love that is linked with them. a hundred times by the learned doctors. Sometimes I make a mistake and do the wrong thing. We make a sort of game of it and try to see who can find the words most quickly, Helen with her fingers, or I with my eyes, and she learns as many new words as I can explain with the help of those she knows. We were sadly in the way, but that did not interfere with our pleasure in the least. way bravely through a dull routine of textbooks. For my part, I wish, with Mr. Howells, that the literature of the past might be purged of all that is ugly and barbarous in it, although I should object as much as any one to having these great works weakened or falsified. and taught me algebra, geometry, Greek and Latin. and loved him best can understand what his friendship meant to me. When I asked her what she was doing, she replied, "I am a very funny camel.". The doll cried, too, and stretched out its arms from among the green branches, and looked distressed. We also visited the anthropological department, and I was much The morning after our arrival I awoke bright and early. had been told nothing about her, nor did she even know Yesterday the Countess of Meath came again to see me. Oh, man, how dost thou forget and obstruct thy brother man, and say, "Give us this day our daily bread," when he has none! Please do not forget to send me some pretty presents to hang on my tree. A few teacher could ever allude to it or refresh her memory about it, and then to have been able to reproduce it so vividly, even mouse that worried Hippopotamus, satrap of Cambridge under Astyagas, the child's version and the woman's is the more remarkable. speak she could hardly have gone to higher schools and to college. President Roosevelt had little difficulty last spring in making Miss Keller understand him, and especially requested Miss The warm sun was shining on us. In a letter to a friend * at the Perkins Institution, dated May 17, 1889, she gives a reproduction from one of Hans Christian Anderson's stories, which I had read to her not long before. I do not object so much to the cynical and satirical Our last halt was Now, sweet mother, your little girl must say good-bye. English–Sophomore English, if you please, (though I can't see that it is “The most pathetic person in the world is someone who has sight but no vision.” – Helen Keller, 3. Mr. Anagnos, dated September 29, 1891, words and sentiments exactly like Her eyes actually filled with tears. spirit of spring had passed through the summer-house. God is love, God is our Father, we are His children; therefore the darkest clouds will break, and though right be worsted, wrong shall not triumph. I thought I might start or struggle frantically to escape from my tormentor. Our meals are brought from the house, and we usually eat on the piazza. Miss Sullivan writes in a letter of 1891: "Yesterday I read to her the story of 'Macbeth,' as told by Charles and Mary Lamb. would do when he came. On the 29th and 30th of June, 1899, I took my examinations for Radcliffe The furnace is to make iron. I think if this sorrow had come to me when I was older, it would have broken my spirit beyond repairing. There grew up a mass of controversial matter which it is amusing to read now. composition to be orginal. They have promised to let me have a free hand and help me as much as possible. The little girl could not reach the doll, and could not help it down, and therefore she cried. She has a fine head, and it is set on her shoulders just right. We visited our good friends, Mr. and Mrs. Chamberlin, at fresh and spontaneous and worthy of your criticisms, I will bring it to you, For, after all, every one who We met a sweet little child. We would have taken any way rather than this; but it was late and growing dark, and the trestle was a short cut home. I rejoiced over all his successes, I shut my eyes to his Indeed, I am often obliged to coax her to leave Can it be that the language of the story had remained dormant in her mind until my description of the beauty of the autumn scenery in 1891 brought it vividly before her mental vision? home. As soon as my strength returned, I began to take an interest in what the trying in thought and action and example to make my life sweet and her mind of the phrases she had written nine years before. such didactic phrases as "Jack Frost as he is sometimes called," "Noon, For many years Red Farm, by King Philip's Pond, the home of Mr. J. E. Chamberlin and his family, was my home. It is very pleasant to live of the problems of composition. The dress is blue like your eyes, and candy is sweet just like your dear little self. She spelled, "Helen is good, Viney is bad." It is an unspeakable boon to me to be able to speak in winged words that need no interpretation. But at other times, when I am happier, I do feel his presence, and his loving hand leading me in pleasant ways. Can you see leaves and flowers and bark on the coal? preserved everything as Miss Keller wrote it, punctuation, spelling, and all. Her ability to overcome any and all obstacles in her path makes her a true force in our history. she is unable to throw any light on the matter. to think at first that the children all belonged to the attention to the subject under consideration or the manner in which it I started Radcliffe, has persuaded me to take a special course for the present. Mrs. Hopkins was unable to find her copy; but she has told me that at that time, Indeed, she feels the movements of Miss Sullivan so minutely that she responds to I sat there for a long, long time, severely. confused memories of earlier reading. never lost a jot of my delight in this great park. So when people try experiments with her, she displays sportsmanlike determination This morning I took a bath, and when teacher came upstairs to comb my hair she told me some very sad news which made me unhappy all day. (see pp. I shall talk into her hand as we talk into the baby's ears. a tutor, Mr. Merton S. Keith, of Bessie is weak and little. I thought it What jolly times they must have at fear and trembling lest I should fail, and now it is an unspeakable relief to know that I have passed I hope when I visit Venice, as I surely shall some day,.that Mr. Munsell will go with me. kept spelling milk for mug, and mug for milk until teacher must have lost My Dear Helen–I was very glad indeed to get your letter. Then, too, it will be rendered still more efficient of conversation. Nor is it true that, after I had learned these elements, I did the rest of the work myself. None of our teachers or officers who are accustomed to converse with Helen ever knew or heard about Miss Canby's book, nor did the child's parents and relatives at home have any knowledge of it. off in the nick of time. "We must have breakfast special instruction in this subject beyond a critical study of the books One of them is the precious science of trees in our front yard ring with their and the desk with an hourglass on it. wise men of the East and the West such simple I made her go through the motion of knocking the doll's head on the table and spelled to her: "No, no, Helen is naughty. Do you realize that this is the last letter I shall write in my hand, so you see, Ragnhild has got ahead of me in some things. All life seemed to have ebbed away, and even when the sun shone the day was. There was the same difficulty throughout the school. December 27th, 1900. His parents are too poor to pay to have the little fellow sent to school; so, instead of giving me a dog, the gentlemen are going to help make Tommy's life as bright and joyous as mine. unintentionally placed obstacles in my way, I have the consolation of Good sense, good humour, and imagination keep her scheme of things sane and beautiful. At first she was Thinking that she "Not yet," she responded, laughing. I send you with this letter a pretty book which my teacher thinks will interest you, and my picture. It is not necessary that a child should understand every word in a book before he can read with pleasure and profit. and the account of Goethe's life. We had a good frolic this morning out in the garden. I also met Mr. Richard Watson Gilder and Mr. Edmund Clarence Stedman. She began to solicit contributions from her friends, and saved her pennies. Saturday at my home in Tuscumbia, and I was not there. always do! She could only This lovely, sweet-natured lady offered to teach me herself, and we began the twenty-sixth of March, 1890. When she drops stitches she says, "Helen wrong, teacher will cry." I was in New York not long ago and I saw Miss Rhoades, who told me that I tell everybody the time when they ask me. Her arguments seemed so wise and practical, that I could not but yield. Language grows out of life, out of its need and experiences. Please give her my love. WHERE'S MY TELEGRAPH? It would astonish you to see how many words she learns in an hour in the pleasant manner. I am very sorry that Eva and Bessie are sick. movements. matter and phrasing. From your loving little friend, am striving for; but in another minute a bend in the road hides it from my view, and I am again left of its education and reflects here a flower, there a bush, yonder a I told her that God was everywhere, and that she must not think of Him as a person, but as the life, the mind, the soul of everything. I did not study nor analyze them–I did not know whether they I named him myself after my dear friend Phillips Brooks. And it can be applied by any teacher to any healthy deaf child, and in the broadest interpretation of the principles, can be applied to the teaching of language of all kinds to all children. Here the long, sunny days were mine, and all thoughts of work and college and the noisy city were thrust into the background. At ten we come in and string beads for a few minutes. Without that degree of mental development and activity which perceives the necessity of superhuman creative power, no explanation of natural phenomena is possible. United States. Sullivan had taught me to find beauty in the fragrant woods, in So wherever he goes he does many wonderful works; he builds bridges over every stream, as transparent as glass, but often as strong as iron; he shakes the forest trees until the ripe nuts fall into the laps of laughing children; he puts the flowers to sleep with one touch of his hand; then, lest we should mourn for the bright faces of the flowers, he paints the leaves with gold and crimson and emerald, and when his task is done the trees are beautiful enough to comfort us for the flight of summer. Most educated blind people know several, but it would save trouble if, as Miss Keller suggests, English braille were universally adopted. her favourite authors. was unable to keep up my end of the dialogue. The play seemed so real, we almost forgot where we were, and believed we were watching the genuine scenes as they were acted so long ago. My Dear Friend, Mr. Krehl:–I have just heard, through Mr. Wade, of your kind offer to buy me a gentle dog, and I want to thank you for the kind thought. long ramble. You enjoy with all your soul the sweet thunder of the Old Testament, Lady Meath said she would like to see your flowers, and hear the mocking-birds sing. I read La Fontaine's "Fables" first I guarded both doll and cradle with the most jealous care; but once I discovered my little sister sleeping peacefully in the cradle. courses somewhat like those offered at Radcliffe, under the instruction of Will Mildred sleep with me when I come home. golden autumn leaves, "Yes, they are beautiful enough to comfort us for At the same time the inborn gift of style can be starved or stimulated. Mother will make garden of vegetables. story, making corrections as she read, which were taken down on the manuscript that be allowed to prattle on his fingers, or with his pencil, But I am afraid you cannot come to Tuscumbia; so I will write to you, and send you a sweet kiss and my love. with our excitable little creature, requiring the attention of everybody on until I discovered "Little Lord Fauntleroy," which was the first book of words describe so exactly the atmosphere of jostling, tumbling ideas I This compact I have only just broken in my study of Shakespeare under Professor Kittredge. One goes to college to learn, In 1890 Mrs. Lamson, who had been one of Laura Bridgman's teachers, and who had just returned from a visit to Norway and Sweden, came to see me, and told me of Ragnhild Kaata, a deaf and blind girl in Norway who had actually been taught to speak. And so He loved men Himself and though they were very cruel to Him and at last killed Him, He was Of course we must not give it up. Soon after this conversation, a lady came to see her and told her about the deaf and blind Norwegian child, Ragnhild Kaata, who had been taught to speak and understand what her teacher said to her by touching his lips with her fingers. THE first Christmas after Miss Sullivan came to Tuscumbia was a great Nor did I know the details of the investigation. The "Iliad" tells of almost nothing I did teach Miss Hall, my teacher in Physics, how to write Her motions are often more expressive than In a flash she answered, "I think Uncle Frank is much (too) old to read very small letters." task. has made the acquaintance of some literature with which I am not familiar; she has also found in books printed in raised 138 BRATTLE STREET, CAMBRIDGE, It is true rather that she has a special aptitude for thinking, and her leaning toward language is due to the fact that language to her meant life. more of her surroundings and of the great forces which However, I am glad that I am not debarred from all pleasure in the pictures. helped me to phrase and inflect. A gentleman in Philadelphia has just written to my teacher about a deaf and blind I suppose he has been too busy to write to his little friend. Could there be anything more dramatic than the scene in which Esther stands before her wicked lord?