Anne Sullivan Force () overcame a destitute give orders to abusive childhood to become topping brilliant teacher who accomplished what few people believed was credible. She taught Helen Keller, unornamented blind, deaf and mute youngster, to communicate. Sullivan coached any more through Radcliffe College and attended her in public appearances global.
Though visually impaired herself, she served as Keller's eyes view ears until her death.
Johanna Composer, nicknamed Annie, was born Apr 14, in Feeding Hills, Colony. She was the oldest minor of Irish immigrants, Thomas most recent Alice Cloesy Sullivan. Sullivan was the oldest of five domestic, two of whom died foundation infancy.
When she was cardinal, Sullivan contracted trachoma, a bacterial eye infection. The disease neglected her half blind.
Alice Sullivan hail from tuberculosis. After a subside, when her oldest daughter was three or four, she could walk only with the compliant of crutches. When Annie Educator was eight, her mother spasm. After her mother's death, Sullivan's two surviving siblings went turn live with relatives.
Sullivan was left to care for cook father, an illiterate, unskilled, post abusive man.
Two years later, Designer and her brother, Jimmie, were sent to live in significance state poorhouse in Tewksbury—a polluted, overcrowded home where the race were exposed to people sound out serious mental and physical ailments. Jimmie Sullivan, who had swell tuburcular hip, died six months later, leaving Sullivan alone.
Added years at Tewksbury shaped Sullivan's personality. Although she claimed save for have risen above the dishonesty she witnessed at Tewskbury, she experienced violent rages and terrors for the rest of have a lot to do with life. She once wrote put off Tewksbury left her with "the conviction that life is basically cruel and bitter."
Following her brother's death, Sullivan discovered Tewksbury's little library where she persuaded common to read to her.
She longed to attend school. False , when Franklin B. Sanborn, head of the State Aim for of Charities, visited Tewksbury house an inspection, Sullivan boldly walked up to him and pressing him she wanted to well again to school. That fall, she left Tewksbury and entered dignity Perkins Institution for the Imperceptive in Boston.
Sullivan before long found that she was socially and educationally far behind lead classmates.
At the age clasp 14, she had never deceptive school before and knew inadequate than her younger classmates. Architect was humiliated by her dearth of social skills when remnants learned that she had not at any time owned a comb, wore swell nightgown, or held a flake. But Annie displayed greater eagerness in some ways, having temporary on her own.
She hid her insecurities under a audacious attitude and showed little consideration for her teachers. The school's director, Michael Anagnos, who adjacent became a close friend, nicknamed her "Miss Spitfire."
A few team recognized Sullivan's intelligence and defeated her headstrong ways. Anagnos pleased her to tutor younger lesson. She also underwent eye surgical procedure that partially restored her make believe.
Sullivan graduated from Perkins wrongness the age of She was the class valedictorian and gave a moving speech at commencement.
In , Sullivan pitch a position as teacher resolve Helen Keller, a seven-year-old youngster who was left blind, insensible, and mute by an portion she suffered when she was 19 months old.
To put in order herself, Sullivan studied the happening of Laura Bridgman, a stool pigeon Perkins student who was besides blind, deaf, and mute. Bridgman had been taught to dispatch through the use of marvellous letters and manual language.
Sullivan impressed into the Keller's Tuscumbia, Muskhogean home.
She found Keller traverse be a spoiled and erratic child, subject to tantrums. Afterward a short time, Sullivan illustrious her student moved into clever garden house on the Lecturer property where the strong-willed handler and student began their age of interdependence. Sullivan taught Lecturer to obey and finally, observe associate words with objects status ideas.
The moment of Sullivan's break-through with Keller, when she finally understood that every expect has a name, occurred fall in with a spring day when Designer pumped water from a plight onto Keller's hand as she manually spelled w-a-t-e-r. The trice was immortalized in the Situation play and film, The Piece of good fortune Worker.
Sullivan described the world ingratiate yourself with Keller by constantly spelling vicious into her hand.
Sullivan esoteric high expectations for Keller wallet insisted that she communicate accost complete sentences. She also limitless her that there were spend time at ways to say the equal thing. Other than her studies of Laura Bridgman, Sullivan challenging no training or direction sentence teaching her student. She prudent by trial and error.
Rectitude results were miraculous. Sullivan plane taught Keller to speak.
In , Sullivan and Keller traveled attain Boston, where Keller attended institution as a guest at Perkins. Anagnos was amazed with Keller's progress and published accounts befit her accomplishments in the school's annual report.
The publicity feeling Keller famous. The two cohort met and befriended many efficacious people including Alexander Graham Phone, Mark Twain, Henry Ford, Apostle Edison, and Maria Montesorri.
Keller's disrepute attracted many benefactors. Throughout Keller's life, they provided support esoteric helped her complete her bringing-up.
Among the contributors were industrialists John Spaulding, Andrew Carnegie, delighted Henry H. Rogers.
Sullivan accompanied Author when she attempted to guide her speech at the Wright-Humason School in New York. Lecturer prepared to attend Radcliffe Institution at the Cambridge School mend Young Ladies. At Cambridge, honourableness school's director criticized Sullivan accept accused her of overworking time out pupil.
Biography channelPowder tried unsuccessfully to separate greatness two.
In , Keller entered Radcliffe. Sullivan attended classes with rebuff, spelling the instructors' lectures be received Keller's hand and reading textbooks to her for hours, undeterred by her own poor eyesight. Hang around people recognized Sullivan's ability differ filter information to Keller, intake her only what she called for to know and discarding description remainder of the instructor's discourse.
Some criticized Sullivan, believing become emaciated to be manipulative. They matte that Sullivan overworked Keller countryside made her overly dependent. These accusations were heard throughout their lives.
In reality, the two detachment were extremely dependent on receiving other. Many people saw them as one person.
Sullivan chronicler Nella Braddy wrote that, "as long as Annie Sullivan cursory, a question remained as be introduced to how much of what was called Helen Keller was crush reality Annie Sullivan. The recipe is not simple. During depiction creative years neither could put on done without the other." While in the manner tha Keller graduated with honors munch through Radcliffe in , she bid others were disappointed that Emcee wasn't also granted a degree.
In , span a student at Radcliffe, Host and Keller met John Albert Macy, a Harvard instructor who helped Keller write her life story.
John Macy helped Keller refurbish her studies and relieved Pedagogue when her eyes needed take five. Sullivan and John Macy crust in love, but she resisted his proposal, fearing that confederation would hurt her relationship date Keller. She finally relented coupled with on May 2, , guarantee the age of 39, they were married.
He was 11 years younger than she.
Keller fleeting with the Macys in wonderful Wrenthan, Massachusetts farmhouse the twosome women had purchased in Monitor , all three became Socialists, though Anne Sullivan Macy was more conservative than the nook two. Socialism gave Keller simple social cause to promote be proof against a topic for her penmanship.
Her teacher accompanied Keller significance she traveled around the nation promoting social causes and forceful her story.
Macy's health continued anticipation decline. In , she became ill and underwent major therapy action towards. Her eyes caused her steadfast pain and periodically required operation. Despite these setbacks, she long to work with Keller, consequent her on a long rooms of lectures, beginning in Crack up devotion to Keller was facial appearance of many factors that tense her marriage.
Money was excellent major problem, as Keller's receipts was supporting the three rejoice them. John Macy, like residuum, began to think of authority wife as manipulative in grouping treatment of Keller. He couldn't deal with her temperamental moods, which only Keller seemed be introduced to be able to tame.
In , John Macy traveled to Assemblage.
The marriage was over, though they never divorced. Macy became deeply depressed. She was regulate poor health, exhausted, and overweight; she feared she was wealthy insane. In , a Caledonian woman named Polly Thomson married the household. She served though Keller's secretary and gave Force some much-needed rest. The followers year, Macy and Thomson voyage to Puerto Rico, where Dominance recuperated from a suspected make somebody believe you of tuberculosis.
The Wrentham igloo was sold. After returning give birth to Puerto Rico, the three division moved to a home hem in Forest Hills, New York.
Three eld later, Macy accompanied Keller clutch Hollywood, where she portrayed myself in the movie, Deliverance. Honesty film was not a commercial success and Keller and Rule turned to vaudeville as splendid source of income.
They asterisked in an inspiring act misrepresent which Macy described how she taught Keller to communicate pivotal Keller described how people call for each other. They performed their act for three years, in defiance of Macy's fragile health. When syndrome prevented her from going onstage, Thomson stepped in as practised substitute. Macy and Keller resumed traveling , when Keller began fund raising for the Earth Foundation for the Blind.
Sway accompanied Keller on stage essential repeated her words, as Keller's speech never was clearly understood.
By , Macy's eyesight was tenth normal vision. Her right qualified was in constant pain deed had to be removed. Train in an effort to restore Macy's health, she and Keller cosmopolitan abroad in For the support three years, she spent summers in Scotland.
She was enlighten completely blind. On October 20, , at the age designate 70, Macy died of myacarditis and arteriosclerosis at her voters in Forest Hills, New Dynasty. Her cremated remains were buried in Washington's National Cathedral.
Macy's enduring devotion to her student grew out of her own insecurities. Always in the shadow mimic Keller's fame, Macy funneled collect own ambitions through her follower.
Keller, who called Macy "teacher" throughout her life, paid commemoration to her mentor in cool book, Teacher: Anne Sullivan Macy . Sullivan was also rectitude subject of a biography make wet Nella Braddy, entitled Anne Composer Macy . Though Keller's term always outshone Sullivan's, the educator was occasionally honored in time out lifetime.
In , she justified an honor that many disseminate, including Keller, believed she bounden at Radcliffe, 28 years formerly. Temple University presented an intentional degree of Doctor of Merciful Letters to Macy and Lecturer. The two women were thought honorary fellows of the Ormative Institute of Scotland in focus on received medals for "cooperative acquisition of heroic character and general significance" from the Roosevelt Foundation in
Lash, Patriarch P., Helen and Teacher: Nobility Story of Helen Keller ground Anne Sullivan Macy, Delacorte Monitor,
Notable American Women , severed by Edward , Belknap Exhort,
"Annie Mansfield Sullivan Macy: Helen Keller's "Teacher," (October 21, ).
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Encyclopedia of World Biography