Rare Photo Of Helen Keller Discovered

1888 Photograph Offers Rare Glimpse Of Blind And Deaf Child With Her Teacher Anne Sullivan

(AP)  Researchers have uncovered a rare photograph of a young Helen Keller with her teacher Anne Sullivan, nearly 120 years after it was taken on Cape Cod.

The photograph, shot in July 1888 in Brewster, shows an 8-year-old Helen sitting outside in a light-colored dress, holding Sullivan's hand and cradling one of her beloved dolls.

Experts on Keller's life believe it could be the earliest photo of the two women together and the only one showing the blind and deaf child with a doll - the first word Sullivan spelled for Keller after they met in 1887 - according to the New England Historic Genealogical Society, which now has the photo.

"It's really one of the best images I've seen in a long, long time," said Helen Selsdon, an archivist at the American Foundation for the Blind, where Keller worked for more than 40 years. "This is just a huge visual addition to the history of Helen and Annie."

For more than a century, the photograph has belonged to the family of Thaxter Spencer, an 87-year-old man in Waltham.

Spencer's mother, Hope Thaxter Parks, often stayed at the Elijah Cobb House on Cape Cod during the summer as a child. In July 1888, she played with Keller, whose family had traveled from Tuscumbia, Ala., to vacation in Massachusetts.

Spencer, who doesn't know which of his relatives took the picture, told the society that his mother, four years younger than Helen, remembered Helen exploring her face with her hands.

In June, Spencer donated a large collection of photo albums, letters, diaries and other heirlooms to the genealogical society, which preserves artifacts from New England families for future research.

"I never thought much about it," Spencer said in a statement released by the society. "It just seemed like something no one would find very interesting." Spencer has recently been hospitalized and could not be reached for comment.

It wasn't until recently that staff at the society realized the photograph's significance. Advocates for the blind say they had never heard of it, though after they announced its discovery Wednesday they learned it had published in 1987 in a magazine on Cape Cod and a half-century earlier in The Boston Globe. It is unclear whether there was more than one copy of the photograph.

D. Brenton Simons, the society's president and CEO, said the photograph offers a glimpse of what was a very important time in Keller's life.

Sullivan was hired in 1887 to teach Keller, who had been left blind and deaf after an illness at the age of 1½. With her new teacher, Keller learned language from words spelled manually into her hand. Not quite 7, the girl went from an angry, frustrated child without a way to communicate to an eager scholar.

While "doll" was the first word spelled into her hand, Helen finally comprehended the meaning of language a few weeks later with the word "water," as famously depicted in the film "The Miracle Worker." Sullivan stayed at her side until her death in 1936, and Keller became a world-famous author and humanitarian. She died in 1968.

Jan Seymour-Ford, a research librarian at the Perkins School for the Blind in Watertown, which both Sullivan and Keller attended, said she was moved to see how deeply connected the women were, even in 1888.

"The way Anne is gazing so intently at Helen, I think it's a beautiful portrait of the devotion that lasted between these two women all of Anne's life," Seymour-Ford said.

Selsdon said the photograph is valuable because it shows many elements of Keller's childhood: that devotion, Sullivan's push to teach Helen outdoors and Helen's attachment to her baby dolls, one of which was given to her upon Sullivan's arrival as her teacher.

"It's a beautiful composition," she said. "It's not even the individual elements. It's the fact that it has all of the components."

[guidosfoot]

Yah, rickypoo is one of them "real" Christians who believe it''s okay to torture other humans, especially if they''re Muslims and a different color than he is. I''m sure Jesus is really proud of you.

[guidosfoot]

Singinrick would probably like to force everyone to abide by his/her morals and principles and force all citizens to recite the Lord''s Prayer at every public event. Nothing like the Christian Taliban to dictate the laws! Go preach in your church and keep the government secular as the founders intended.

[rainbow4142000]

I have a book written by Miss Keller entitiled MAINSTREAM, in it are priceless photos, one included is of Miss Keller and Charlie Chaplin.......I also enjoy the writings and testimonies of Corrie Ten Boom and Catherine Marshall, whose husband was Peter Marshall, the Senate Chaplain some years ago......

[rainbow4142000]

I have a book written by Miss Keller entitiled MAINSTREAM, in it are priceless photos, one included is of Miss Keller and Charlie Chaplin.......I also enjoy the writings and testimonies of Corrie Ten Boom and Catherine Marshall, whose husband was Peter Marshall, the Senate Chaplain some years ago......

[rainbow4142000]

I have a book written by Miss Keller entitiled MAINSTREAM, in it are priceless photos, one included is of Miss Keller and Charlie Chaplin.......I also enjoy the writings and testimonies of Corrie Ten Boom and Catherine Marshall, whose husband was Peter Marshall, the Senate Chaplain some years ago......

[rainbow4142000]

I have a book written by Miss Keller entitiled MAINSTREAM, in it are priceless photos, one included is of Miss Keller and Charlie Chaplin.......I also enjoy the writings and testimonies of Corrie Ten Boom and Catherine Marshall, whose husband was Peter Marshall, the Senate Chaplain some years ago......

[rainbow4142000]

I have a book written by Miss Keller entitiled MAINSTREAM, in it are priceless photos, one included is of Miss Keller and Charlie Chaplin.......I also enjoy the writings and testimonies of Corrie Ten Boom and Catherine Marshall, whose husband was Peter Marshall, the Senate Chaplain some years ago......

[rainbow4142000]

I have a book written by Miss Keller entitiled MAINSTREAM, in it are priceless photos, one included is of Miss Keller and Charlie Chaplin.......I also enjoy the writings and testimonies of Corrie Ten Boom and Catherine Marshall, whose husband was Peter Marshall, the Senate Chaplain some years ago......

[inachu1]

My two comments.

A. Hellen Keller is/was an awsome student to learn so well!
B. Always unable to leave comments on international news is really bad.
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At Least 7 Killed At Jerusalem Seminary.

Yes if your towns homes are being destroyed for illegal settlements then yes there will be no peace.
Israel call it a time of peace only when palestinians die.

[sis003]

Fortunately for Helen, she was NOT born without sight or hearing. She became ill and lost those abilities after the age of about 18 months. This short time of being able to hear language and make connections visually did give her brain some "hooks" to grasp later learning, but the 5 or so years that had gone by before Sullivan came into her life, made it take great tenacity to overcome the darkness on both their parts. Helen later made significant contibutions to society and the lives of others with, and without, Sullivan''s presence. We should remember her by never underestimating the potential of someone with any kind of disability.