207,380 profiles ranked

Helen Keller

American deafblind author, political activist, lecturer, scholar (1880-1968) · United States · Writers · Died at 87

Helen Keller is read about 9,002 times a day, in 114 languages.

A typical day, 30 days to 15 October 2026

The middle day of the days counted, so one week of news cannot move it. The line under it is the last 390 days, one point a day.

Something wrong?
Compare

She couldn't see or hear from nineteen months old, yet became the first deafblind person in the United States to earn a college degree - then spent six decades writing, lecturing, and organizing for labor rights, suffrage, and socialism.

ActivistsWriter / AuthorLiteratureStand UpActivismUnited StatesAmericas20th Century

A life in dates

2010Labor Hall of HonorAward2006Connecticut Women's Hall of FameAward1973National Women's Hall of FameAward1971Alabama Women's Hall of FameAward1968Died1 June 19681965Golden Plate AwardAward1964Presidential Medal of FreedomAward1912“Some years ago I met a gentleman who was introduced to me as Mr. McKelway, editor of the Brooklyn Eagle ...”In their words3 November 1912"How I Became a Socialist", New York Call (3 November 1912)

1910“We differ, blind and seeing, one from another, not in our senses, but in the use we make of them, in the imagination and courage with which we seek wisdom beyond the senses.”In their wordsThe Five-sensed World (1910)

“The problems of deafness are deeper and more complex, if not more important, than those of blindness. Deafness is a much worse misfortune.”In their wordsLetter to Dr. James Kerr Love (1910), published in Helen Keller in Scotland: a personal record written by herself (1933), edited by James

1906“The only real blind person at Christmas-time is he who has not Christmas in his heart. We sightless children had the best of eyes that day in our hearts and in our finger-tips.”In their wordsDecember 1906"Christmas in the Dark" in Ladies Home Journal (December 1906)

1896“I want to say to those who are trying to learn to speak and those who are teaching them: Be of good cheer.”In their words8 July 1896Address to the American Association to Promote the Teaching of Speech to the Deaf (8 July 1896)

1891“If the light were not in your eyes, dear Mr.”In their words8 June 1891Letter to Rev. Phillips Brooks (8 June 1891)

1880Born27 June 1880

Also in Deutsch

Photos 11

Keller's birthplace in Tuscumbia, AlabamaKeller's birthplace in Tuscumbia, AlabamaKeller (left) with Anne Sullivan vacationing on Cape Cod in July 1888Keller (left) with Anne Sullivan vacationing on Cape Cod in July 1888Helen Keller in 1899 with lifelong companion and teacher Anne Sullivan. Photo taken by Alexander Graham Bell at his School of Vocal Physiology and Mechanics of Speech.Helen Keller in 1899 with lifelong companion and teacher Anne Sullivan. Photo taken by Alexander Graham Bell at his School of Vocal Physiology and Mechanics of Speech.Helen Keller with her second Akita Kenzan-GoHelen Keller with her second Akita Kenzan-GoHelen Keller, c. November 1912Helen Keller, c. November 1912Keller holding a magnolia, c. 1920Keller holding a magnolia, c. 1920

In their own words 10

,
Helen Keller
,
10 statements, newest first

  1. Some years ago I met a gentleman who was introduced to me as Mr. McKelway, editor of the Brooklyn Eagle ...

    Nov 3, 1912, "How I Became a Socialist", New York Call (3 November 1912), Own words

  2. Our democracy is but a name. We vote? What does that mean? It means that we choose between two bodies of real, though not avowed, autocrats.

    Mar 3, 1911, Letter published in the Manchester Advertiser (3 March 1911), quoted in A People's History of the United States (1980) page 345, Own words

  3. The bulk of the world's knowledge is an imaginary construction.

    1910, The World I live in (1910) chapter 8, The Five-sensed World Quoted in:, Own words

Wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0

Awards

Labor Hall of Honor2010
Connecticut Women's Hall of Fame2006
National Women's Hall of Fame1973
Alabama Women's Hall of Fame1971
Golden Plate Award1965
Presidential Medal of Freedom1964
Knight of the Legion of Honour
Order of St. Sava
Knight of the Order of the Southern Cross
Order of Bernardo O'Higgins
Order of the Sacred Treasure
Order of Merit

Family

Parents

Helen Keller
Is this everyone?

Only relatives with a profile here are drawn, so a family can be larger than this. A line here can also be wrong.

Correct this family

About this person

Born in West Tuscumbia, Alabama, on June 27, 1880, Helen Adams Keller lost both sight and hearing after an illness before she turned two. She communicated through home signs until age seven, when Anne Sullivan arrived as her teacher and lifelong companion, unlocking language through touch. Keller studied at specialist and mainstream schools, then entered Radcliffe College and graduated in 1903 - the first deafblind American to hold a college diploma. That same year she published The Story of My Life, the autobiography that made her education famous. She went on to write fourteen books and hundreds of speeches on subjects from animals to Gandhi, joined the Socialist Party in 1909, helped found the ACLU, and campaigned for disability rights, women's suffrage, labor reform, and world peace. She died June 1, 1968; her Alabama birthplace is now a National Historic Landmark and museum.

Country
United States
Category
Writers
Type
Writer / Author
Status
deceased
Dates
Lived 1880 to 1968 · aged 87

In common with Helen

James DunnAlso in Deliverance (1919)Elmo LincolnAlso in Deliverance (1919)Edythe ChapmanAlso in Deliverance (1919)

Writers from the United States 3

Ernest Hemingway86.1Isaac Asimov82.5Mark Twain88.8

Fame.am measures public visibility signals. It does not measure human value, talent, morality, or credibility.