02 Chapter 1 The Early Years

Chapter 1 The Early Years

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Helen Keller was born on June 27, 1880, in Tuscumbia, Alabama. Her father, Arthur Keller, had fought in the Civil War for the South. After the war, he went home to his farm. After his first wife died, he married a woman named Kate Adams. His two sons from his first marriage and his young wife called Arthur Keller “Captain.” In addition to running his farm, Captain was also the editor of the local paper. He was a quiet, stern man.

The first girl in the family, baby Helen lit up a room. She laughed and cooed. Helen was the apple of her mother’s eye. Her father adored her. Helen wrote about her early life. She said, “The beginning of my life was simple and much like every other little life … I came, I saw, I conquered, as the first baby in the family always does.”

Helen was smart. She spoke early. Her first words were said to be “tea, tea, tea” and “wah-wah” for water. If she did not know the words for things, Helen made up signals to show her mother what she wanted. She learned to walk at an early age. Soon Helen was racing around the house.

Then before she was two years old, Helen became sick. Very sick. She ran a very high fever. At that time, there were few medicines to cure sickness. The doctor thought that Helen would die. Then, suddenly, the fever broke. Helen slept peacefully. Her family rejoiced. Their golden daughter was fine again.

But Helen wasn’t fine. While Helen’s mother was bathing her, she moved her hand in front of Helen’s face. Helen did not blink. Helen’s eyes stared straight ahead. Kate tried again. She hoped that she was wrong. But she wasn’t. Helen was blind. And that was not all.

Every evening, a bell was rung to call the family to dinner. Everyone heard the loud, clanging noise. They stopped what they were doing and came to dinner. But Kate noticed that Helen no longer turned her head toward the sound. Kate called to the Captain and his sister Evelyn, who lived with them. They shouted at Helen. They spoke softly. They clapped their hands next to her ears. Helen did not react. Mrs. Keller’s fear was true. Her daughter was deaf as well as blind.

Her parents took Helen to a doctor. The doctor checked her, but there was nothing he could do. How, Mrs. Keller wondered, would her smart, beautiful little girl learn to live in her silent, dark world?