Written by Isabelle Shaw

Anne Sullivan is regarded as history’s most inspiring teacher—a ‘miracle worker’—since she devoted most of her life to teaching Helen Keller, who was blind and deaf, to read and converse. Her innovations in teaching blind individuals to communicate using braille and spelling out letters by touching the palm have had a significant impact on modern-day education. 

Early Life 

Sullivan was born in April 1866 in Massachusetts to Irish immigrant parents, who moved to the U.S. during the ‘Great Famine.’ Sullivan herself suffered from impaired vision due to contracting an eye disease, trachoma, when she was a child. This would be important in motivating her resilience to teach Keller later in life. She recognised the importance of education in her early life as a means to escape poverty. Her family fell into great poverty after being abandoned by her abusive father which forced her to move into a Poorhouse: Tewksbury Almshouse. Here she faced tragedy when her brother, her last living relative, died shortly after moving into the Almshouse.  

Education 

Due to her poverty, at age 14 Sullivan was still illiterate and had never received a formal education. In 1880, Sullivan struck luck when a special commission visited the Almshouse; Frank B. Sanborn from the State Board of Charities kindly gave her the opportunity to study at Perkins School for the Blind and she had eight surgeries to improve her vision. Despite Sullivan struggling to fit in at school due to her lack of understanding of “social graces,” her intelligence still meant her time in education was extremely successful and worthwhile. In June 1886, at her graduation, she was even named class Valedictorian. Sullivan’s academic skills made her close to her tutors; one of them had recommended her after receiving a letter from the Keller family looking for a governess for their daughter.  

Her relationship with Helen Keller 

Sullivan was well-prepared to educate Keller on account of her experience in teaching a fellow student, Laura Bridgman, who was also deaf and blind. When teaching Bridgman, Sullivan developed instruction methods to help communicate with her new student. The finger-spelling method that she would later use with Keller had first taught Bridgman how to form letters. In March 1887, Sullivan moved to Alabama to start her work with Keller.  

Sullivan’s methods were revolutionary to Keller’s education: techniques reached a water-shed point when connecting using objects as another concept of sign language to communicate with her during teaching. Within little time Keller had learnt how to read braille, knowing nearly 600 words in a short time, and improved her maths by memorising many multiplication tables.  

Sullivan and Keller’s reputation and fame 

Keller, due to her inspiring intelligence and education, despite her difficulty with communication, reached celebrity status after a report was released by the Perkin’s school detailing her learning progress. Sullivan’s teaching enabled Keller to meet other contemporary famous innovators such as Thomas Edison, Alexander Graham Bell, and Mark Twain. The Wight Humason School in New York appealed for her to write a speech. It is evident that Keller became regularly sought after.  

Keller’s Further Education 

In the 1900s Sullivan was committed to helping Keller become the first deaf and blind person to graduate from college. Despite Sullivan struggling with her own limited sight, she was determined to aid Keller in her studies at Radcliffe College. In 1903 Keller published her autobiography Story of My Life which Sullivan helped her write. By the late 1920s, Sullivan had lost most of her vision but still followed Keller touring the Vaudeville theatre.  

Sullivan’s Legacy 

Sullivan holds a great legacy as a ‘miracle worker,’ a term first coined by Mark Twain, for her great achievements in supporting Keller throughout her education to reach literacy and gain an important education. She has been praised by Bishop James Freeman and memorialised as:

“Among the great teachers of all time she occupies a commanding and conspicuous place. […] The touch of her hand did more than illuminate the pathway of a clouded mind; it literally emancipated a soul.” 

Throughout history, Sullivan’s success story has fascinated audiences for years. In 1962, her history with Keller materialised itself into modern culture when the play that entailed the story of Sullivan and Keller was turned into a film. Starring famous actors Patty Duke and Anne Bancroft, the film left a message that Sullivan held great influence in helping inspire the education of blind and deaf people.  

Anne Sullivan remains an important figure in history because of her determination to teach Helen Keller, which sends a strong message on the equal educational opportunities for blind and deaf individuals. Both are still inspiring today in their efforts to break down barriers for the blind and deaf community.  

Bibliography 

Biography.com Editors. “Anne Sullivan – Death, Helen Keller & Facts.” Biography.com website. A&E; Television Networks, May 7, 2021. https://www.biography.com/scholars-educators/anne-sullivan. 

Kettler, Sara. “Anne Sullivan Found ‘the Fire of a Purpose’ through Teaching Helen Keller.” Biography.com website. A&E; Television Networks, March 2, 2020. https://www.biography.com/authors-writers/anne-sullivan-helen-keller-relationship. 

McGinnity, B.L., J. Seymour-Ford, and K.J. Andries. “Anne Sullivan.” Perkins School for the Blind. Perkins History Museum, September 25, 2014. https://www.perkins.org/anne-sullivan/. 

National Women’s Hall of Fame Editors. “Sullivan, Anne – National Women’s Hall of Fame.” National Women’s Hall of Fame. National Women’s Hall of Fame, 2018. https://www.womenofthehall.org/inductee/anne-sullivan/. 

Featured Image Credit: Helen Keller with Anne Sullivan in July 1888. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Helen_Keller_with_Anne_Sullivan_in_July_1888.jpg