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Home , Helen Keller, The Miracle Worker

IN HER STORY

PHOENIX LEARNING GROUP, 1953 BLACK & WHITE GRADES 5–12 48 MINUTES

DESCRIPTION Portrays all parts of Helen Keller's life. Shows her early life, her education, and work. Also depicts her travel experiences, showing the notables she met. Ends with her speech lessons and dally living habits. 1955 Academy Award winner for best documentary.

GOALS 1. To examine the life of a person who is disabled. 2. To dramatize life lessons that one person can give others. 3. To draw parallels between deaf-blindness as it existed in the past and exists in the present. 4. To aid in the study of the biographical form of literature.

INSTRUCTIONAL OBJECTIVES 1. State the effects of the onset of deaf-blindness on a person at birth, or during infancy. 2. Obtain facts about Helen Keller's life. 3. Deduce what lessons of life Helen Keller taught others. 4. Examine the medical, educational, and vocational services available to deaf-blind people today.

BEFORE SHOWING Review the SCRIPT for vocabulary and language concepts.

DISCUSSION ITEMS AND QUESTIONS 1. What happened to Helen Keller when she was 15 months old? What was the result? 2. How do you rate the medical treatment she received then? 3. How long did Helen have to wait until she learned to communicate, read, and write? Describe her behavior at that time. 4. Under what circumstances did Helen Keller begin to understand the communication processes? 5. How did Helen learn to communicate? How did she learn, to read and write? How did she learn to read lips?

1 Described and Captioned Media Program VOICE 800-237-6213 | TTY 800-237-6819 | E-MAIL [email protected] | WEB http://www.dcmp.org Funding for the DCMP provided by the U.S. Department of Education Revised May 2010 6. Helen wanted to learn to speak and had a good speech teacher, but her speech never was good. Why did this upset her? 7. What kind of work did she want to do? 8. Who did she live with for fifty years? What was the name Helen gave this person? 9. How did Helen develop her senses of touch, smell, and taste? 10. What help did she obtain in her work and travels? 11. What countries did she visit? 12. What celebrities did she meet? 13. What unique experiences did she have? 14. Describe what you think were her greatest accomplishments. 15. Explain her philosophy of life as described in the media. 16. What were Helen's goals in life? Did she accomplish all of them? 17. How did Helen obtain friendship and love? Draw parallels between her methods and other people's.

18. People talk about being "free to be me." Did Helen have the freedom of choice or opportunities to exercise her free will? State instances to support your opinion. 19. What transforming factor was most important in Helen's life? Think positively, then negatively. 20. How did Helen feel about being deaf and blind? Why did she say she would choose blindness over deafness? 21. If you had to choose, would you choose blindness over deafness or deafness over blindness? Why? 22. People consider Helen Keller a legendary figure, but she was also a human being. Cite one instance from the media that shows how lovable and human she was. 23. Who was Louis Braille and what is the Braille alphabet? 24. Why was Helen such a good communicator? 25. How did the media portray Helen's in 1953? How would it be portrayed today? Do you think the media would be produced the same way? Why? Why not?

2 Described and Captioned Media Program VOICE 800-237-6213 | TTY 800-237-6819 | E-MAIL [email protected] | WEB http://www.dcmp.org Funding for the DCMP provided by the U.S. Department of Education Revised May 2010 APPLICATIONS AND ACTIVITIES 1. List what and how we learn through our sense of hearing and by our sight. 2. Blindfold yourself and attempt to communicate with classmates and to move throughout the classroom. 3. Write a letter to Helen Keller as if she were living today. 4. Write a personality profile of Helen Keller, describing her physical, mental, and emotional characteristics. 5. Write a brief biography of Helen Keller. 6. Analyze the stages of adjustment to a disability: shock, disbelief, denial, anger, bargaining, mourning, and acceptance. How does this apply to you? 7. Visit a class for the deaf-blind in your community. Observe how they are taught. In what ways is it different from the way you are taught? 8. Determine if your school or community offers these accommodations to deaf-blind persons: accessible public transportation, interpreters for educational or social activities, assistance with shopping and banking, and opportunities for employment. 9. Invite a medical person to speak about the causes of deaf-blindness, medical improvements to save hearing and sight, and assistive devices for the deaf-blind. 10. Research the services available for the deaf-blind throughout the United States.

RELATED RESOURCES DCMP The DCMP Helen Keller Webpage (with as Keller) The Miracle Worker (based on the play by William Gibson) Tragedy to Triumph Helen Keller and (1928 Newsreel Footage) & Helen Keller Meeting First Lady Grace Coolidge (1926 Newsreel Footage)

VIDEO The World at His Fingertips. Library, Inc., New York. 1987.

PAMPHLET “Facts About Deaf-Blindness.” Washington. D.C.: Hearing-Vision Impaired Programs. Gallaudet University, 1985.

3 Described and Captioned Media Program VOICE 800-237-6213 | TTY 800-237-6819 | E-MAIL [email protected] | WEB http://www.dcmp.org Funding for the DCMP provided by the U.S. Department of Education Revised May 2010 WEBSITES The following websites complement the contents of this guide; they were selected by professionals who have experience in teaching deaf and hard of hearing students. Every effort was made to select accurate, educationally relevant, and "kid-safe" sites. However, teachers should preview them before use. The U.S. Department of Education, the National Association of the Deaf, and the DCMP do not endorse the sites and are not responsible for their content. Helen Keller Kids Museum Helen Keller Services for the Blind The Time 100 profile for Helen Keller Google timeline results for Helen Keller Helen Keller Foundation for Research and Education

4 Described and Captioned Media Program VOICE 800-237-6213 | TTY 800-237-6819 | E-MAIL [email protected] | WEB http://www.dcmp.org Funding for the DCMP provided by the U.S. Department of Education Revised May 2010 SCRIPT This desk belonged Of special interest to Helen Keller. is this Academy Award Oscar

It is now in a room presented in 1955 to the best theatrical documentary of the year, at the American Foundation for the Blind. the film you're about to see, Helen Keller In Her Story. I'm Astin. Produced by I have a special interest in Helen Keller. and narrated by , I played her In The Miracle Worker, both friends of Ms. Keller, in the play, and the film. the film is fascinating

The uncontrollable child as a portrayal of The Miracle Worker of an extraordinary woman grew to be world-famous, and as a documentary at its best. bettering the lives of millions of blind The film takes Keller's life through 1953, and deaf-blind people around the world. though she lived until 1968. She is the subject of more than 400 books, In the intervening years, thousands of articles, she continued her work and many, many films. for blind and deaf-blind people,

Here in the Helen Keller Room, usually with the American Foundation along with her desk, for the Blind, are many mementos which continues of her life and work: that work today. awards, medals, letters, citations, Wherever and whenever there was an opportunity gifts from blind and deaf-blind people.

5 Described and Captioned Media Program VOICE 800-237-6213 | TTY 800-237-6819 | E-MAIL [email protected] | WEB http://www.dcmp.org Funding for the DCMP provided by the U.S. Department of Education Revised May 2010 to champion the rights (female narrator) of blind people, In this room sits a remarkable woman. the foundation and Ms. Keller were there. She is Helen Keller.

She was the guiding spirit She does not see of the organization the book she is reading. and continues so today. She sees nothing.

To perpetuate that spirit, She does not hear the rustling curtains behind her. the foundation is reissuing this film. She hears nothing.

We hope it will serve She is deaf, deaf and blind. as a reminder But if you enter her room, that blindness, deafness, she will know. or any other handicap Your footfall will tell her need not be a deterrent you are coming. to a useful, busy, They'll tell her who you are and happy life. if she knows you,

Ms. Keller had such a life. as she knows Polly Thomson.

I'm sure you will agree Polly has been with Helen 40 years. that this film preserves For half of these, she's been the indomitable spirit Helen's only companion, of Helen Keller. Helen's eyes and ears. I hope you enjoy this film as much as I have. She talks with Helen by a finger system Thank you. in which each letter ♪ has a sign, like this.

In reaching out beyond her dark and soundless night,

6 Described and Captioned Media Program VOICE 800-237-6213 | TTY 800-237-6819 | E-MAIL [email protected] | WEB http://www.dcmp.org Funding for the DCMP provided by the U.S. Department of Education Revised May 2010 Helen depends most on touch. It is the acute disappointment

Two other senses remain: in not being able to speak normally. There is taste, and there is smell. It is the acute disappointment

The scent of objects in not being able and places and people to speak normally. tells Helen much that we learn Longingly, I think how much with eyes and ears. more good I might have done

Her hand is her chief link if I had only acquired with the world: natural speech. with Polly, with Anne, Longingly, I feel how much more good the part-time helper, I could have done with everyone she encounters. if I had acquired normal speech. With her hand, she reads Anne's lips. But out of this sorrowful experience, She answers with her voice. I understand more fully... It is an unnatural voice and her great sorrow. But out of this sorrowful experience, Helen has never learned to speak clearly. I understand more fully...

This isn't strange, all human strivings... for since she was a baby, all human strivings... she has not heard a word nor seen lips forming one. thwarted ambitions...

Let Helen, thwarted ambitions... with Polly's help, tell you. and the infinite capacity It is not blindness or deafness of hope. that brings me my darkest hours. and the infinite capacity It is not blindness or deafness of hope. that bring me my darkest hours.

7 Described and Captioned Media Program VOICE 800-237-6213 | TTY 800-237-6819 | E-MAIL [email protected] | WEB http://www.dcmp.org Funding for the DCMP provided by the U.S. Department of Education Revised May 2010 (narrator) Annie Sullivan, herself The story of Helen Keller half blind as a child, has become a legend her vision that belongs to the world. never fully restored,

She was born in 1880 broke through the darkness in Tuscumbia, , and silence of Helen's life. the eldest child With minute, of Capt. Arthur H. Keller painstaking steps, and Kate Adams Keller. she led Helen into realizing that around her Born a normal, healthy baby, was an unimagined world she had an illness of sight and sound, at 19 months that communication was possible that left her blind, between human beings. deaf, and mute. Once Helen's quick intelligence Until she was nearly 7, was freed, it leaped ahead. she lived in darkness She learned the meaning and silence, of reading. alone beyond human reach, Within three months, unaware, untaught. with ruler and pencil,

Then Helen's mother she had written read a travel book her first letter. by a great Englishman. At 9, she was corresponding

The author spoke of a school with a famous preacher, where a deaf-blind girl . had learned miraculously At 10, she could call herself to read and write. a published writer.

From the Perkins Institute With Annie always beside her, for the Blind fingerspelling every lesson came Helen's liberator, into her hand, young Anne Mansfield Sullivan. Helen was going to school.

8 Described and Captioned Media Program VOICE 800-237-6213 | TTY 800-237-6819 | E-MAIL [email protected] | WEB http://www.dcmp.org Funding for the DCMP provided by the U.S. Department of Education Revised May 2010 From Annie's hand to Helen's flowed "Come walk with me, the classroom lectures. and I will tell

She learned to read "What I have read in five languages. in this scroll of stone;

Helen learned "I will spell out this writing the seemingly impossible. on hill and meadow.

She learned to speak. "It is a chronicle wrought by praying workmen, Now she and Annie both voiced one ambition: "The forefathers of our nation-- that Helen should try for college. "Leagues upon leagues of sealed history Educators shook their heads as the two settled to their task, awaiting an interpreter." summers and winters Helen was living now of tireless preparation in a farmhouse near Boston. from Annie's hand Annie Sullivan to Helen's. had married John Macy,

♪ and they shared the house with her. In 1904, Helen Keller graduated cum laude Old friends visited them: from . her classmates from college; Blind, deaf, but no longer mute, great men who had long championed her: she was ready to face the world. , inventor of the telephone, Now she began writing articles and books who had encouraged Annie during Helen's early training; about the needs of the deaf and the blind. , who called Helen and Napoleon She also wrote a poem in blank verse.

9 Described and Captioned Media Program VOICE 800-237-6213 | TTY 800-237-6819 | E-MAIL [email protected] | WEB http://www.dcmp.org Funding for the DCMP provided by the U.S. Department of Education Revised May 2010 the most interesting figures By now she was one of of the 19th century. the most famous women in the world.

She was visited With letters pouring in, by her sister, Mildred, there began that bondage and by her mother. to the mailbag

Helen was working hard that Helen Keller to improve her voice was never to escape. so that she might lecture Soon she and Annie as well as write. needed a secretary,

Of this first lecture and they found one, she wrote: a young Scotswoman "I wonder if anyone has ever made named Polly Thomson. his first appearance 1919 saw them in Hollywood. "upon the platform with keener anguish. They were welcomed by Hollywood's royalty, "Terror invaded my flesh. Douglas Fairbanks "My mind froze, and . my heart stopped beating. Helen had agreed I kept repeating, to make a picture. 'What shall I do?'" ♪ With outward calm, she and Annie went on the platform. The movie was called Deliverance. She spoke, Annie interpreted, With the exception of a manufactured plot and together they showed how Helen had learned to speak. to provide romance

For all Helen's fears, and an elaborate Hollywood attempt the audience rose to her. at symbolism,

It was the beginning the picture was a forerunner of a five-year lecture tour. of the documentary film.

10 Described and Captioned Media Program VOICE 800-237-6213 | TTY 800-237-6819 | E-MAIL [email protected] | WEB http://www.dcmp.org Funding for the DCMP provided by the U.S. Department of Education Revised May 2010 It showed how Helen It is the only existing record could type of Annie Sullivan's voice. and write braille When I saw Helen Keller first, and how she could dance. she was six years It showed her and eight months old. with her mother She had been blind and with her brother, and deaf and mute Phillips Keller. since her 19th month It showed her first as the result of an illness. aeroplane ride, She had no way of communicating a daring feat at that time. with those around her,

[engine roaring] except a few imitative signs rrrrr that she had made Then, of course, for herself. the movie climaxed A push meant "go," with a typical and a pull meant "come," Hollywood spectacle finish. and so on. Many people were shocked She had observed that Helen that we did not use the hands would make a movie. when we were talking They were aghast to each other, at her next step, vaudeville. and I let her see, ♪ by putting her hand on my face,

For two years, how we talk with our mouths. Helen and her teacher She felt the vibration trouped the vaudeville circuit, of the spoken words. earning their daily bread. Instantly, she spelled, A part of their so-called act "I want to talk with my mouth." was later filmed. That seemed impossible,

11 Described and Captioned Media Program VOICE 800-237-6213 | TTY 800-237-6819 | E-MAIL [email protected] | WEB http://www.dcmp.org Funding for the DCMP provided by the U.S. Department of Education Revised May 2010 but after experimenting And with the second finger for a time, on the nose, we found that placing her hand the nasal sounds, in this position-- the [n]. the thumb resting on the throat, [n] right at the larynx, The [m]. the first finger on the lips, the second on the nose-- [m] we found The first word that she could feel she learned to articulate the vibration was the little word it. of spoken words. With the hand in this position, For instance, the throat: I made the vowel [i].

She feels the g, [i] the hard g. She felt it. [g] [i] [g] [i] And on the lips, she feels, Then I made the t. the, uh--and the k sound. [t], [t]

[k], [k] [t]

[k], [k] She feels it with the finger on her lips-- On the lips, she feels the b. on my lips.

[b] Then I put the two letters together [b] to form the word it. And the [p]. it [p]

12 Described and Captioned Media Program VOICE 800-237-6213 | TTY 800-237-6819 | E-MAIL [email protected] | WEB http://www.dcmp.org Funding for the DCMP provided by the U.S. Department of Education Revised May 2010 And the first word was learned. In a day when venereal disease After her seventh lesson, was not a topic for discussion she was able among women, Helen spoke out. to speak the sentence She was recognized word by word: not just as a wonder,

I but as a wonder worker.

I Great men and women of her time wished to know her. am She made Coolidge smile. am President Hoover received her not and her fellow members not of the First World Conference for the Blind. dumb Franklin D. Roosevelt dumb befriended her now. in her efforts for the handicapped. now. Like all the great, she was asked (narrator) to launch a ship. Calling attention to the needs of the blind and the deaf, Like all the great, she was made an Indian. Helen worked endlessly ♪ to gain for their more enlightened treatment, Writers wondered at her. more schools, more homes; Artists sculpted her. above all, to make people understand Poets drew inspiration from her. that the greatest service to the blind To the world, the miracle was Helen Keller. is the prevention of blindness.

13 Described and Captioned Media Program VOICE 800-237-6213 | TTY 800-237-6819 | E-MAIL [email protected] | WEB http://www.dcmp.org Funding for the DCMP provided by the U.S. Department of Education Revised May 2010 To Helen, the miracle to begin an Australian-wide was Annie Sullivan. lecture tour.

Then in 1936, She has brought light and hope and courage Helen's teacher, companion, and beloved friend to thousands of afflicted people. for nearly 50 years, Annie Sullivan, died. Blind and deaf,

Polly Thomson-- Ms. Keller could never learn to speak normally. warm, devoted, well-trained for this unique job-- When she addresses young students, was there to take Annie's place at Helen's side. her artificially acquired monotone

From that day, is interpreted she has never left it. by Ms. Thomson

♪ for children with partial or aided hearing. Together they follow Annie's star, I know every step of the road you are traveling... from continent to continent they go. I know every step of the road you are taking... To Britain, Italy, Greece, . and I rejoice at your cheer and determination... Perpetual beggars, they call themselves, and I rejoice at your cheer and determination... in the cause of the handicapped. because the obstacles you meet are many. The newsreels of the world have come to know Helen. because the obstacles you meet are many. (male newsreel announcer) Helen Keller arrives And when you go out to life's struggles at Kingsford Smith Airport and adventures...

14 Described and Captioned Media Program VOICE 800-237-6213 | TTY 800-237-6819 | E-MAIL [email protected] | WEB http://www.dcmp.org Funding for the DCMP provided by the U.S. Department of Education Revised May 2010 And when you go out to life's struggles visits a village and adventures... set apart for the blind. you will raise a banner... Keller's visit marks a new era. you will raise a banner... When she explains segregation for the deaf who follow you. is bad for the blind, for the deaf who follow you. authorities act promptly.

(male newsreel announcer) Seeing inhabitants are being At Wahroonga School encouraged to settle there. for Blind Children, The name has been changed Helen meets Alice Betteridge from Ha'ivrim, of Victoria, meaning "Village of the Blind," also blind, deaf, and dumb. to Or Adonai, Today, Ms. Betteridge achieves meaning "Light of God." a lifelong ambition (male newsreel announcer #3) as Helen Keller speaks to her In Johannesburg, the children of St. Vincent's School for the Deaf in the only language she can understand. have been rehearsing their percussion band for weeks [indistinct conversation] for the visit I'm glad to see you at last. of Helen Keller,

I'm glad to see you at last. the deaf-blind American who surmounted her cruel handicaps (male newsreel announcer) If Helen Keller could see to become world-famous. the excitement The band is a triumph on Ms. Betteridge's face, of patience, it alone would make the trip for none of these children worthwhile. can hear a single note (male newsreel announcer #2) they're playing. As guest of Israel, the famous Helen Keller [bells ringing]

15 Described and Captioned Media Program VOICE 800-237-6213 | TTY 800-237-6819 | E-MAIL [email protected] | WEB http://www.dcmp.org Funding for the DCMP provided by the U.S. Department of Education Revised May 2010 [whistle tweets] (narrator) tweet, tweet, tweet Nowhere is Helen more widely appreciated, [cymbals crash in rhythm] clang, clang, clang, clang more deeply honored, than in Japan. From the blind children of South Africa, The needs of their blind and deaf have been great, Helen Keller takes home a message in braille and twice she has toured their islands bearing cordial wishes to the children of America. in aid of their afflicted.

(male newsreel announcer #4) Schoolchildren line For the first time each route she takes, since before the war, singing songs especially written Helen Keller pays a visit for her. to Japan Rich and poor alike as a guest cherish her. of the United States government. She is respected as a woman In Tokyo and other cities, and revered as a saint. the population turns out Hiroshima and Nagasaki to cheer this American were still recovering left blind and deaf from the atomic bomb by an affliction. when Helen Keller went there To the Japanese people, on pilgrimage.

Ms. Keller's life ♪ is an example In a lake of shrines, of what hope and determination can do, the Japanese created an everlasting shrine for she has conquered darkness and isolation to the memory of the great teacher Annie Sullivan. to become a world figure. Helen lights the first candle.

16 Described and Captioned Media Program VOICE 800-237-6213 | TTY 800-237-6819 | E-MAIL [email protected] | WEB http://www.dcmp.org Funding for the DCMP provided by the U.S. Department of Education Revised May 2010 The people of Japan will see Polly knows it pleases Helen that the light never goes out. to wait upon her.

When Helen is not on public errands, Everywhere else, she's at Arcan Ridge, except in her own house, the house Helen must be waited upon built by friends by Polly. so that she and Polly Here, where every table, might have every chair, a roof and walls every dish in the cupboard of their own. is her friend,

Mornings at Arcan Ridge Helen can move freely begin around 5:00. and independently.

For Helen, they begin ♪ as they end, with a Bible. Though in this quiet house "The heavens declare the glory of God, Polly need not speak aloud to Helen, she usually does. "and the firmament showeth his handiwork. It helps to drive back the silence. "Day unto day uttereth speech. The first concern of the day is the weather, "Night unto night showeth knowledge. to know how to dress for the morning walk with her dog. "There is no speech nor language Clear but cold. where their voice She checks with is not heard." her braille thermometer.

Polly, meanwhile, She is right. has brought up the breakfast. In her dressing, Sometimes something is missing Helen is completely independent. from the tray, She knows her clothes and it is Helen and where to find them, who goes to fetch it.

17 Described and Captioned Media Program VOICE 800-237-6213 | TTY 800-237-6819 | E-MAIL [email protected] | WEB http://www.dcmp.org Funding for the DCMP provided by the U.S. Department of Education Revised May 2010 even to a stray belt. Even at home, they carry the responsibilities ♪ and obligations Every morning of public figures. Helen goes for a walk Their desk is never clear. along a thousand-foot handrail The mail piles up built by a friend while they are away, to guide her. and every morning, A thousand feet where more comes in. she is alone and free. The bulky packages The walk seldom varies, are books in braille. but for Helen it is always full They must wait. of small, unexpected events. The letters will be ♪ gone through

Helen has known after Polly finishes spelling out from childhood the morning headlines. what those with sight Helen is emphatic about keeping cannot realize, in touch with world events. that one does not need eyes But the mail looms large. to see the world. A few of the letters ♪ are personal ones,

A patch of herbs that was here but most of them are requests last summer is gone. for something.

By 8:00, Helen and Polly From New Zealand: have made their beds, (man #1) Polly has finished "Would you send a message household tasks, to the Royal Blind Institute?" and their business of the day begins.

♪

18 Described and Captioned Media Program VOICE 800-237-6213 | TTY 800-237-6819 | E-MAIL [email protected] | WEB http://www.dcmp.org Funding for the DCMP provided by the U.S. Department of Education Revised May 2010 (narrator) In her work, From Massachusetts: she will not indulge herself

(woman #1) because she is handicapped. "I have written a pamphlet on teaching the deaf. "Everyone has his own handicaps," Helen says. Please let me have your comments." "It just happens to be the handicap of the blind (narrator) From India: that they cannot see, for the deaf that they cannot hear." (man #2) "I am going blind. She does her own typing.

Can you help me?" Her speeches she does on her braille typewriter (narrator) From New York: so she can go over them herself for corrections. (girl) "I have chosen you The machine as the subject of my paper. has only six keys

Would you write me a letter because all braille letters about yourself?" are made

(narrator) by the combination and placement After the mail, Helen goes of six raised dots. to her study to work. For her letters, she uses There are reports a regular typewriter. to be made, She is fast and accurate, speeches and articles to be prepared. but she has Polly check her letters. So far as possible, she does her own research. Being blind, she cannot permit herself She locates her reference books casual mistakes of the seeing. by the braille lettering along the edge. If there are mistakes, Helen types the letter again.

19 Described and Captioned Media Program VOICE 800-237-6213 | TTY 800-237-6819 | E-MAIL [email protected] | WEB http://www.dcmp.org Funding for the DCMP provided by the U.S. Department of Education Revised May 2010

♪ The talk may turn to politics or world affairs. From the vibrations of a buzzer, Helen has strong views

Helen knows when it is time and has the courage for lunch. to express them,

The glint of crystals even when they're not popular. is the one thing She also likes a good story Helen thinks she remembers seeing before she went blind. and appreciates a joke as much as anyone else. Flowers are among her greatest pleasures. So they spend their days at home. Helen's home is not a sad place, Scarcely a week goes by because she is not that Helen's calendar a sad woman. doesn't call them

She's extraordinarily gay. to a conference or lecture. She goes toward each experience with the joy of a child. In this case, it is to a meeting On weekdays, there are only three for lunch, of the American Foundation for the Blind. Helen and Polly and Anne, Today, the foundation who comes in to help is submitting for her approval with housework. a device for communicating Their days are too full with the deaf-blind for social engagements. and for enabling the deaf-blind But at teatime, to communicate with each other. they relax The keyboard activates and catch up little metal prongs with their personal mail. that speak directly Friends may come in. to the fingertips in braille.

20 Described and Captioned Media Program VOICE 800-237-6213 | TTY 800-237-6819 | E-MAIL [email protected] | WEB http://www.dcmp.org Funding for the DCMP provided by the U.S. Department of Education Revised May 2010 It is perhaps the most we can perhaps direct means yet invented more easily understand of making contact with those why Helen says if she had who are both deaf and blind. a choice between afflictions,

"Now," Helen types out, she would choose blindness. "anyone can speak to us directly." The deaf, cut off Helen is interested in a great deal from the world that is being done by lack of hearing to find new ways and speech, of helping the handicapped. need all the encouragement At the Dyker Street Nursery, she can give. they are experimenting But perhaps those to whom Helen gives with placing sightless children her time most gladly and seeing children together. are those who, like herself, It is important to accustom are both deaf and blind. the blind There are perhaps 25,000 to normal, everyday life. of them in this country.

At the Lexington School In the 50 years for the Deaf, since Helen graduated, she watches children at play. there is only one other to have achieved a college degree, Today they have a new game. Robert Smithdas of St. John's From blowing a piece of paper, in Brooklyn. they are learning to say They enjoy life and work "who," "what," "when," why," like the rest of us. like ordinary children. Their fortitude should make us recall, She follows the progress of older girls learning to talk. in respect to our own small difficulties, Watching their struggles with speech, a truth spoken long ago:

21 Described and Captioned Media Program VOICE 800-237-6213 | TTY 800-237-6819 | E-MAIL [email protected] | WEB http://www.dcmp.org Funding for the DCMP provided by the U.S. Department of Education Revised May 2010 "I cried because Afterwards, of his face, I had no shoes she said, until I met a man "I felt the courage who had no feet." and thought that carried him

The newly handicapped through such great years young men of the world's history." who have come back From a life lived from Korea disabled mostly for others, command as much attention Helen manages to save some part for herself. as did their brothers in the Second World War. There are necessary things like shopping. Then, as now, she and Polly The excitement of the city, tramp the corridors of our military hospitals, its vibrations under her feet, she loves. bringing hope to the amputees, the blind, and the disabled. She enjoys the labor of choosing and buying. Meeting Helen, seeing what she has made of her life, ♪ gives them more courage She and Polly must shop to reshape their own. with economy.

For her services, she was cited Though it is Helen's job at the close of World War II. to look well in public,

Then the leader of our armies, they must also shop later the leader of the nation, with care.

Dwight D. Eisenhower welcomed her Helen's hats, to the White House back through the decades, and thanked her himself. are a minor footnote on the history of our times. Helen Keller asked the president Like her hats, the artists she has encountered if she might have the privilege of seeing him. also summarize an era:

22 Described and Captioned Media Program VOICE 800-237-6213 | TTY 800-237-6819 | E-MAIL [email protected] | WEB http://www.dcmp.org Funding for the DCMP provided by the U.S. Department of Education Revised May 2010 Joe Jefferson when (narrator) he played Rip Van Winkle, When Helen takes time to relax, she is a merry companion. Caruso at the height of his fame, She is interested in everything and everybody. Ethel Barrymore when she was in Declasse, Spending an evening with Robert Helpmann, the dancer, Melchior as Siegfried, and Guthrie McClintock, Benny Goodman the director, at Carnegie Hall. she seizes the opportunity Years ago, the young Heifetz played for her. to catch up with the amusement world. Years later, Gladys Swarthout sings for her. The theater gives her full measure, ♪ Bless the roofs and chimneys tall ♪ for she reads a play before she goes. ♪ Let thy peace lie over all ♪ Dance forms she must feel,

♪ Bless us all so Helpmann volunteers that we may be ♪ to show her the difference

♪ Fit in order between classical ballet to dwell with thee ♪ and the modern dance.

♪ Bless us all ♪ Mr. McClintock does not feel Mr. Helpmann made his point ♪ That one day we may dwell ♪ and suggests they take Helen to study modern dancing ♪ On high with thee ♪♪ at close range. That is beautiful. Helen has been to It is like my daily prayer. 's recitals,

(Polly) but this is the first time That is beautiful. she has been to a rehearsal.

It is like my daily prayer. ♪

23 Described and Captioned Media Program VOICE 800-237-6213 | TTY 800-237-6819 | E-MAIL [email protected] | WEB http://www.dcmp.org Funding for the DCMP provided by the U.S. Department of Education Revised May 2010 Polly must spell the action Obviously, Helen's sense into Helen's hand, of the world-- but she is aware its shape, its textures, of the rhythm and movement its forms-- through vibrations comes to her in the floor. through her sense of touch.

[resonating] But her knowledge of the world bong, bong, bong comes to her through books,

As Martha Graham realizes, and for books she is indebted, Helen's hands need not even touch the drums as are all the sightless, to feel intensely to a blind Frenchman, their vibrations. Louis Braille,

[lively piano music] by whose invention the blind of all nations can read. Though Helen has been to their performances, It was to honor his memory it is only in a rehearsal that Helen, in 1952, that she is able to discover went to France. the line of body and limb At the Paris Foundation for the Blind, that is the living pattern of the dance. she writes the address to give Once Helen wanted to feel a lion. on the 100th anniversary of his death. Annie Sullivan informed the zoo. "A notre maniere.

A lion was fed. "In our way, we the blind are as indebted to Louis Braille Helen entered the cage as mankind is to Gutenberg." and felt the lion from its head to its tail. Helen's speech is only a part of the world's tribute. ♪

24 Described and Captioned Media Program VOICE 800-237-6213 | TTY 800-237-6819 | E-MAIL [email protected] | WEB http://www.dcmp.org Funding for the DCMP provided by the U.S. Department of Education Revised May 2010 Today, 100 years There is peace and quiet. after his death, There is music. he is being taken to lie in the Pantheon, [jazz piano tune plays] the burial place There are also the dishes of France's great. to be washed.

Behind his coffin As Polly washes the dishes, march the blind of Paris. Helen shells pecans.

♪ Helen keeps a careful check on Polly. And later, at the Sorbonne, But when the radio Helen Keller delivers is playing, the address in his honor. it is hard to keep [speaking in French] Helen's hands on her work.

[speaking in French] Then there is bed.

(narrator) Afterward, Helen Keller, "This then is the message Louis Braille's great disciple, which we have heard of Him is made Chevalier "and declare unto you, of the Legion of Honor. "that God is light [man speaking in French] and in Him [applause] is no darkness at all."

♪ Funding to purchase and make this educational production (narrator) Then, from time to time, accessible was provided by the there is home again, U.S. Department of Education: where they sit among familiar things PH: 1-800-USA-LEARN (V) with curtains drawn or WEB: www.ed.gov. and are simply old friends.

25 Described and Captioned Media Program VOICE 800-237-6213 | TTY 800-237-6819 | E-MAIL [email protected] | WEB http://www.dcmp.org Funding for the DCMP provided by the U.S. Department of Education Revised May 2010