Trivia

The most common question she was asked during public appearances was, "Do you close your eyes when you sleep?" Her standard reply was, "I don't know. I've never stayed awake long enough to find out!"

She helped promote the use of Braille among blind people.

Had her eyes replaced with glass eyes when she was 30

An archive of her writings was lost due to the 9/11 terror attacks.

The Helen Keller Society (American Foundation for the Blind) was, sadly, located in one of the Twin Towers.

When she arrived in Hollywood in the mid 1910s, she befriended "Charles Chaplin," whom was very friendly with her and was her favorite movie star. Photographs were taken with the two and are in print today.

Befriended 10 U.S. presidents

Learned German, Latin, Greek, and French before she graduated from Radcliffe College.

When she was 36 Helen fell in love with Peter Fagan, a 29-year-old Socialist and newspaperman who was her temporary secretary. The couple took out a marriage license, intending a secret wedding. But a Boston reporter found out about the license, and his witless article on the romance horrified Helen's stern mother, who ordered Mr. Fagan out of the house and broke up the love affair. Helen never had any contact with Peter ever again.

In 1937, she brought the first Akita (a breed of dog found only in Japan) to the United States. It was a gift from a speaking tour.

Contracted scarlet fever which led to her total visual and hearing impairment at a very young age.

Founded The John Milton Society for the Blind in 1928 to develop an inter-denominational ministry to bring spiritual guidance and religious literature to deaf and blind persons.

Graduated from Radcliffe College in 1904, becoming the first deaf/blind person ever to attend an institute of higher learning, and the first deaf/blind person ever to receive a Bachelor of Arts degree.

Blind and deaf student of teacher Anne Sullivan.

Her portrayal by Patty Duke in The Miracle Worker (1962) won Duke the Best Supporting Actress Oscar at age 16, a record that remained unbroken until Tatum O'Neal, at age 10, won in the same category for Paper Moon (1973).

The blind children of Japan always called Helen Keller "Mother", as a sign of respect.

On June 16, 1955 she was the first woman to receive an honorary degree from Harvard University.

Pictured with Anne Sullivan on a 15¢ US commemorative postage stamp issued in their honor, 27 June 1980.

Founding Member of the ACLU.

She was stranded in Cleveland, Ohio in the infamous "White Hurricane Storm," in November 1913 while she was completed a public speaking engagement.

She became a socialist while in her early 20s.

Was awarded the French Legion of Honor and the Congressional Medal of Freedom

Charter member of the National Women's Hall of Fame in 1973.

Wrote her first autobiographical book, The Story of My Life, while still in college.

Performed in vaudeville with Anne Sullivan.

Her family lived on a homestead, Ivy Green, that Helen's paternal grandfather had built decades earlier.

Her Grandfather Charles W. Adams was a Confederate general.

Inducted into the Connecticut Women's Hall of Fame in 2006.

Her father worked for many years as an editor of the Tuscumbia North Alabamian and had served as a captain in the Confederate Army.

Her family were part of the slaveholding elite before the war, but lost status later.

Was interred at Washington National Cathedral, Washington, District of Columbia. Plot Columbarium South.