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Perkins School for the Blind Archives Digital Collections
Helen Keller (1880-1968) was born on June 27, 1880, in Tuscumbia, Alabama to retired army Captain Arthur Keller and his second wife, Kate. When she was nineteen months old, she became ill with a very high fever that ultimately left her deaf and blind. Anne Sullivan arrived at the Keller household in Tuscumbia, Alabama to teach Helen in 1887. Keller quickly learned to fingerspell, as well as to read braille and raised type, and to write in block letters.
After a year and a half of homeschooling, Sullivan decided that Keller would benefit from the resources of a school. In 1888, Sullivan brought Keller to study at Perkins Institution and Massachusetts School for the Blind (now Perkins School for the Blind). She became a student at the Wright-Humason School for the Deaf in New York in 1894 before attending the Cambridge School for Young Ladies in 1896 to prepare for Radcliffe College. In 1904 she graduated cum laude from Radcliffe and became the first person with deafblindness to receive a Bachelor of Arts degree.
Arthur Gilman (1837-1909) was the headmaster of the Cambridge School for Young Ladies, which he founded in 1886, and helped prepare Keller for college. An educator an philanthropist, he was one of the founders of the women's institution associated with Harvard University that would become Radcliffe College.
Helen Keller (1880-1968) was born on June 27, 1880, in Tuscumbia, Alabama to retired army Captain Arthur Keller and his second wife, Kate. When she was nineteen months old, she became ill with a very high fever that ultimately left her deaf and blind. Anne Sullivan arrived at the Keller household in Tuscumbia, Alabama to teach Helen in 1887. Keller quickly learned to fingerspell, as well as to read braille and raised type, and to write in block letters.
After a year and a half of homeschooling, Sullivan decided that Keller would benefit from the resources of a school. In 1888, Sullivan brought Keller to study at Perkins Institution and Massachusetts School for the Blind (now Perkins School for the Blind). She became a student at the Wright-Humason School for the Deaf in New York in 1894 before attending the Cambridge School for Young Ladies in 1896 to prepare for Radcliffe College. In 1904 she graduated cum laude from Radcliffe and became the first person with deafblindness to receive a Bachelor of Arts degree.
Arthur Gilman (1837-1909) was the headmaster of the Cambridge School for Young Ladies, which he founded in 1886, and helped prepare Keller for college. An educator an philanthropist, he was one of the founders of the women's institution associated with Harvard University that would become Radcliffe College.
This collection spans the period from Anne Sullivan’s arrival in Tuscumbia, Alabama in 1887 through Helen Keller's studies at the Cambridge School for Young Ladies under the supervision of Arthur Gilman in 1896, and her entrance to Radcliffe College in 1899. Correspondence, writings and journals, exam and academic materials, clippings, and publications are included. The collection contains some of the earliest letters from Helen Keller beginning in 1887 to Michael Anagnos and others, correspondence to and from Anne Sullivan and other members of the Keller family, and a large collection of Arthur Gilman correspondence.
Gilman’s correspondence includes hundreds of letters from William Wade, Keller’s benefactor, in addition to correspondence to and from heads of schools and organizations for the blind and deaf, and other prominent individuals, including Edward E. Allen, Thomas Humason, Thomas Gallaudet, and Alexander Graham Bell.
The collection also includes materials related to "The Frost King incident," as well as concerns related to Helen Keller’s purported overwork and exhaustion, and an attempt by Gilman to have Anne Sullivan separated from Keller. Journal entries Keller may have composed while at the Wright-Humason School for the Deaf and materials related to Keller’s Radcliffe College entrance exams are in the collection as well.
Includes handwritten and typewritten correspondence from Helen Keller to others, including Keller's first handwritten letter, between 1887 and 1897. Recipients include John Greenleaf Whittier, Laura E. Richards, and Keller's sister, Mildred. New assets being added as they become available.
Includes handwritten and typewritten letters to Helen Keller from 1896 to 1898. New assets being added as they become available.
Includes handwritten and typewritten correspondence regarding Helen Keller's education between 1897 and 1925. New assets being added as they become available.
Includes handwritten and typewritten correspondence to Anne Sullivan from 1896 to 1897. Writers include John Hitz and Alexander Graham Bell. New assets being added as they become available.
Handwritten, typewritten, and printed correspondence and writing about Helen Keller by Michael Anagnos between 1887 and 1899. Includes letters from Anne Sullivan and Captain Keller to Anagnos. New assets being added as they become available.
Includes college examination blue books that were probably composed while Keller was at the Wright-Humason School for the Deaf. The text was likely handwritten by Anne Sullivan. New assets being added as they become available.
Includes handwritten and typewritten correspondence to Arthur Gilman from 1896 to 1904. Writers include Edward E. Allen, Michael Anagnos, Alexander Graham Bell, and Kate A. Keller (Helen's mother). New assets being added as they become available.
Includes typewritten correspondence from William Wade regarding Helen Keller from 1892 to 1904. New assets being added as they become available.
Includes handwritten and typewritten correspondence from Arthur Gilman, as well as personal papers and materials related to Helen Keller from 1896 to 1899. Recipients include William Wade, Kate A. Keller (Keller's mother), and Alexander Graham Bell. New assets being added as they become available.
Includes Arthur Gilman's notes on Helen Keller's work at The Cambridge School for Young Ladies from 1896 to 1897. New assets being added as they become available.
Includes samples of Helen Kellers exams and school works from 1896-1897. New assets being added as they become available.
Explore more resources and stories related to the Helen Keller and Arthur Gilman collection