Several people in my family are blind or deaf. The story of Helen Keller was a huge part of my childhood. Everyone in the family knew sign language. And I taught my daughter the basics as a child. Now she is teaching her children to sign. In my opinion, sign language should be a part of every child's life.
It's my understanding that many kids who are nonverbal (not disabled, just slower to acquire speech) these days are encouraged to sign. It's such a helpful tool.
I think signing should be included in basic education . I was only thought the alphabet and a few other signs in high school but I have needed it a few times. There was a time before smart phones and electronic typing.
Important detail not mentioned here: Alexander Graham Bell's wife, Mabel Gardiner Hubbard, was deaf. Her struggle to get an education is also an amazing story. Mind you, in her times it was thought that teaching *anything* to a deaf kid was impossible.
That thought was shared by the larger culture. However, several Native American tribes and some poor outlier white communities would have disagreed with the conventional wisdom of the time (said tribes and poor white communities had sign language and so were able to teach deaf people way longer than conventional wisdom at the time said).
@Geo’s radio & musical stuff yet Bell was still a bad guy. In his schools for the deaf, he would tie his student’s hands behind their backs and force them to speak and if they didn’t, he would punish them. Yes, he did pave the way for the deaf but he did have problems in his teaching methods and how he treated his students
Wow, doesn't it looks so divine...Bell's name is even so prophetically connected to his invention itself! Could it be that husband's love actually invented phone? God acted His ways as well, since there is no coincidence...
Anne Sullivan’s childhood was almost as challenging as Helen’s. Her writings about the time she spent in the poor house are intense and graphic. Both of these women are heroes of mine.
@QW4Sanchick go online...Beyond the Miracle Worker and other books...such an amazing story. Anne was left in the poor house alone w her brother as I recollect. It's been a long time since I read the story,her brother died of tuberculosis not long after being left in the poor house surrounded by mostly adults. Anne was a survivor...amazing lady.
I agree. They didn't mention her brother Jimmie or sister Mary. It's a very heartbreaking story. Even thought it was a very traumatic childhood, she used that anger ad those frustrations into becoming independent and going to school. She never gave up and was very stubborn. People usually only think of her as Helen Keller's teacher and don't know about her traumatic childhood.
It’s a shame more people haven’t read the book about the life of Laura Bridgeman because it is truly her shoulders that Ms. Sullivan and Miss Keller stood upon. I feel sad knowing that very few people know who Laura was while Helen has all of the name recognition. Yet Laura did something I consider to be far more worthy of note, something truly amazing. Laura had far fewer resources and connections starting out, and her education truly was trailblazing, making Helen Keller‘s education more easily access. She was able to correspond with blind people throughout the country during a time when there wasn’t a unified braille code, when the technology to produce braille was not widely available, and impart during the American Civil War. It’s an amazing inevitability how once someone does an impossible thing, others are able to do it as well and do it even better because they already know it’s possible now.
@@rhyami it is but now I will read about her life! Helen Keller and Anne Sullivan attained fame because of the connection to Alexander Graham Bell. All three women are amazing and examples
um as far as i know anne implies helen and helen - anne. anne sullivan is so iconic that people recognize her name even when they cant remember why or never knew why.. because other people around them have mentioned them. christ dude shes even in family guy 😅😅😅 i agree Anne was a queen though
I’ve seen the miracle worker but I’ve always wondered just how Anne Sullivan was able to communicate complex ideas to Helen Keller. Things like colors, sounds, sentence structure, parts of speech that aren’t nouns or verbs, how to carry on a conversation, all of that stuff. Helen was obviously exceptionally intelligent to be able to grasp all of that without being able to absorb any information except by touch and spelling. Anne Sullivan was obviously likewise exceptionally intelligent to be able to communicate those concepts through spelling alone.
I wonder about this, too! How on earth did she learn the meanings of things like emotions? How do you explain to someone what love feels like? How do you explain clouds? Whales? Canyons? I can't fathom how isolating being in Helen Keller's shoes must have been, learning how vast the world is but only being able to experience a pinprick of it through her hands.
Agree, it's so interesting. Even letters - at the water fountain, she grasps that the pattern on her hand equals the name of the thing. How do you explain that the pattern is made of letters that combine into other words? Also curious about the innate nature of language, I wonder if anyone ever studied her in this aspect.
My first name is Helen...my whole damn life people have called me Helen Keller. It use to hurt my feelings when I was kid, then I learned how amazing she was. I'm grateful to have a name associated with such an impressive human being.
Helen your name is beautiful !! Kids are so dumb and would make fun of every name !! My maiden name was fisher and was called fish face /smelly fish /fisher woman /fissure ugh!!! Dumb kids. You are Helen of Troy!! The most beautiful woman ever
It's interesting to learn that Anne's stubbornness was such an asset in working with Helen. Something that could be seen as negative in other circumstances was a big reason for her breakthrough with Helen.
That moment that Helen connected the water on her hand with Anne's touch pattern must have been like being hit by lighting. She had only known darkness and silence. Then in a second, the whole world cracked open and she was no longer alone. I'm amazed that her young mind was able to develop enough to learn more.
She was amazing. All that she accomplished and overcame is astonishing. Anne Sullivan was an educator many strive to be. She showed patience and faith. Two incredible ladies!! Thank you. 😊
This was very good. I wish you had mentioned Anne's brother Jimmie and sister Mary. Their father abandoned both of them because she was blind and he had a bad hip which made it difficult to get around. They were separated from their little sister Mary who was brought to their aunt's house. Jimmie died in the almshouse where they were and they never told her he passed away. She had to find his body in order to know that he was dead, which she did. She never was able to find Mary and she really tried. Anne had a very traumatic childhood which fueled her desire to be more independent and became even more stubborn. She never gave up. Many people don't know those pieces of her life and only think about her as being Helen Keller's teacher.
@@TheCandiceWang you're welcome! I have a variety of books regarding both. While Helen is an amazing inspiration, Anne has been my role model ever since I was a kid. This is especially true because I also have disabilities. I look up to both!
@@janedoe5229 I agree. I cry every time I read about their childhood and especially about how she found her brother's body when he passed. Despite that, she was strong willed, independent and able to work with Helen.
It helped that her family could afford to treat her. There wasn't much, if any, government help for families with disabled kids in those days. They were on their own.
I live in Alabama and I’ve been to the Helen Keller homestead and museum. It is a beautiful place. The original house of the Keller’s still remain to this day and also the little house where Annie and Helen spent their time in away from the family is right there. We have so many pictures from my daughters 4th grade trip there. All of the original furnishings are still there along with dolls and a piano. They had to fool Helen into thinking she was far away from her parents and in a horse and buggy drove all over to get to the little house that was only feet away from the main house. Helen was a brat but Annie had to endure her and teach her how to have manners. The water pump is still there where she learned how to spell water. If you are ever in North West Alabama it’s a great place to visit.
What blew my mind was how she was bullied for being poor at the blind school...😒 like..guess if everyone couldn't see in the world they would still find something to belittle someone on..jeez human beings just cant help but be hateful..must be in the dna..luckily there are a small few who aren't.
@@Ass_of_Amalek Nah. I always found that the poor kids were cooler than the rich ones. You could also do whatever you wanted at their house and their parents usually bought the beer for us.
i learned about Helen Keller in 4th grade because we had to read her biography as a mandatory reading. she quickly became my hero and biggest inspiration in life. to this day, i look up to her a lot. she motivates and inspires me to work hard and accomplish the impossible.
This is one of the most incredible story of all time. The amount of compassion and patience is unreal. She never gave up on Helen as I'm sure most others would. Especially at that time with the lack of resources we have today for blind and deafness.
My mom was legally blind (her vision was 20/400). Her parents sent her to the school for the blind in Kansas City. I learned about Helen Keller early in life, and loved both of the movies. I think my background was what helped me when I ended up meeting someone who is one of my best friends. She had limited sight as a child, but was basically completely blind by the time I met her. I gravitated to her, being that I was used to being around blind people all my life. That ended up being a fortuitous moment, as I learned that she had experienced bullying as a child....and an adult. She even had people in her life that thought she was faking her blindness. I was privileged to stand up for her. She is basically the sister I never had, since my mother was basically forced to not have more than one kid due to my grandparents idea of "we don't want any more kids like my mom".
@@kandipiatkowski8589 I think you misunderstood their question. Why are you saying your mother had both both male and female genitalia? The question was if blind people still had sex.
@@dew66666 oh, I'm sorry. My mother was blind, it was only my grandmother's attitude that was wrong. She specifically told me more than once that "we don't want anymore like your mom". This was in reference to her choice not to have any more kids, as well as her meddling in my parent's marriage for the same reason.
Patty Duke who played Helen Keller in the Miracle Worker on film went on to play Anne Sullivan in the Miracle Worker TV movie. Talk about coming full circle!
My mom always loved the movie The Miracle Worker with Patty Duke, so I grew up watching that. But even after knowing a fair amount about Helen Keller, this piece of history made me cry. It’s so inspiring & both ladies are (and will forever be) heroes.
I love Weird History because it is REAL history. Meticulously researched and narrated in that special "weird" way. I love every episode, including the Weird Food version (when it is narrated by "Mr. Weird").
Anne was an amazing human in spite her own struggles. Truly inspiring. Its also key to the story that disabled children have parents who advocate for them way to go Helen's parents
I saw a signed first edition of Helen Keller’s autobiography displayed at a rare book store once. I stood there at the window, wanting it sooo much, but definitely could NOT afford the $12,000 price tag. I’ve admired her ever since I was a little girl.
I feel Anne Sullivan & Helen Keller were both remarkable women. When you hear this story & watch both "The Miracle Worker" movies, you not only gain more sensitivity for the disabled, but new appreciation for the people who instructed you when you went to school. You realize how patient they truly were with you when you could possibly be very testy. TY for sharing this. I am amazed every time I hear another detail about this. God Bless You & stay safe.
This story has inspired and fascinated me since I was about 7 years old. Growing up I watched and read as much material pertaining to it as I could… It’s such an amazing story and both women are absolutely heroes of mine 🌟
This story really touched me. I'm 50 years old and forgot many details of Helen & Ann's stories! What impressive women! Great job as always making history fascinating like it should be! If every history teacher learned that lesson those of us with ADHD would have learned far more
I saw the movie as a child and I was so impressed with Sullivan that I still think of that movie often. I saw it at probably 10 years of age. I am now 64.
We need to be taught these types of heros in schools. They helped change the system for those who find it stressfull and difficult as each indeviual has spcial needs and need support.
Helen Keller and so indirectly Ann Sullivan Macy were my heroes growing up. I lived in Massachusetts and even drove by the Perkins Institute many times. They lived a storied life. 🦋💖🕊️
I'm from Alabama, and I've toured the birthplace of Helen Keller. For a few years, my niece played Anne Sullivan in the annual production of The Miracle Worker that's performed there on the grounds of Ivy Green.
Helen Keller was my idol when I was a little girl. My name is Helen and I read anything I could find on her. Ann did such a great and loving thing for Helen. Just loved this video. ❤️
A great book about Helen’s learning process as a child is “Miss Spitfire” by Sarah Miller and told from the point of view of Ann Sullivan. A great read!
It's simply amazing how they worked together so that Helen could learn to communicate in a way that others understood despite Helen not being able to see or hear.. I can't wrap my head around how that worked. The incredible tenacity of both of them..
These people had so many struggles from the earliest years of their lives, yet they achieved so much. It really put into perspective what a human spirit can do if they put their mind and determination into it. Also I think they were probably both geniuses but that’s beside the point. 😊
I'm lucky, my grade school teachers were all wonderful and intelligent women. We were told the story of Helen Keller in 1st Grade; and I was a very depressed little boy. This was always so inspiring to me. These memories are very important to me. Still, how inspiring. The lesson distilled; everyone deserves a chance. This is what humans should treat each other, to life each other up to harmony. Always choose to hold love and hope in your heart!
She also founded one of the largest blindness organizations in the world. American Foundation for the Blind. This organization is now 100 years old. It also holds the Helen Keller archives. 11:34
I was just a young child, but I’ll never forget watching “The Miracle Worker “ with actress Patty Duke learning to discover the spelling of water….after throwing a lot scrambled eggs around!
Love your videos!! Been on a binge lately. You have great choice of topic and the perfect pacing for listening! Thank you! If I might throw a request your way - please look into the history of bushido, the Japanese "way of the warrior" concept. it was actually basically invented and retroactively applied to samurai as like a tourist draw-in thing, and yet it's become something that people really believe ancient samurai lived by. Please do a video on it!
My husband’s cousin was completely normal and when she turned two she had to get her immunizations and suddenly was blind and deaf. She went to school, won a large sum of money from the immunization maker and they decided to buy her a home and have a full time live in aid and tried to give her a normal life as possible. Losing my sight is probably the worst sense I’d hate to to lose. She lived to her 70s and lived a fulfilled life. God bless all the teachers who are so patient in teaching these special children.
I have been fascinated by Helen Keller since I was a child. Now I am wondering why Laura Bridgman wasn't more famous or didn't get the kind of attention Helen got.
As a kid I would joke that I was Helen Keller Light (back in the 80s I kinda stole the idea from diet products lol. I’m hard of hearing and almost blind, so yes, I do rely on assistive tech if anyone’s wondering haha. I love it when you talked about Anne Sullivan. She doesn’t get enough recognition! Both women were quite brilliant ♥️
When I was 17, (1977) I was in the pediatrics ward in the hospital for two weeks. I had a roommate for part of that time -- a girl, maybe 15 or 16, who was deaf. Her mother was only there for short times once it twice a day and none of the staff knew sign language. The girl had some sort of tummy surgery. She was frequently nearly hysterical with fear, not knowing what was going on or what was being done or what was required of her. I wished so badly at that time that I knew sign language. I married in my late 20s, and my husband was training to be an EMT. I talked him into going to ASL classes (by saying I would attend with him) and we learned some sign language - we never became fluent, but I know he learned enough to calm a patient down if they were deaf and not in an emotional place where they could read lips. I think ANYONE in the medical field should at least take a basic course in sign language. With my complex medical history, I know how scary it is to feel medical personnel are doing things TO you and you have no understanding or say in the matter. It is literally torture.
I grew up enjoying the movie THE MIRACLE WORKER with Anne Bancroft and Patty Duke. I eventually bought it on DVD. I had a child's book on it as well. So I found this documentary fascinating. I'm glad the teacher was blessed with a marriage, but sad that Helen was not. But she seems to have had a happy life.
I was on the hiway and decided to stop off in Tewksbury, where the poor house that Anne Sullivan lived in was at. It’s still in existence under the board of health, being used as both live in & day programs for substance abuse. One of the smaller old buildings houses a museum. It wasn’t open but I peered through the windows and they had lots of interesting old medical devices in there. It is open for guided tours on certain days. So I walked around the buildings that were there, most of them from the 1800s when Annie was there. The state obviously spent a good amount to renovate those buildings for use and also to keep up those that sat vacant. None were in great disrepair, which I thought was awesome. A large tree sits in the center of a circular driveway and I remember Annie wrote about a tree, perhaps it’s the same one? But the most incredible thing I saw was in back of one of the unused buildings. It was a very big, iron door, a gate. One of Annie’s most famous writings was about when state administrators and the president of the Perkins school for the blind in Watertown, MA came to tour the asylum. Annie, who could only see faint shadows said she knew it was her only chance to try and escape that awful place and as the group was leaving she ran up yelling, sobbing, “please Dr Anagnos, I want to go to school” and she pulled on an iron gate they’d just passed through. She clung to the gate until someone came & pried her hands away. Well, I wondered if I’d found THAT GATE?? By her description, it could have been. I touched it. Thinking of Anne Sullivan and the incredible life she shared with Helen Keller, my childhood hero. Sorry to be so long winded but I thought maybe someone would be interested.
An interesting side note about AGB was that he was starting to lose his own hearing when he invented the telephone. He invented the telephone invertedly while trying to find adaptive devices to help the deaf communicate with each other from great distances.
If you want to better understand Sullivan's ideas about teaching, read a copy of Helen's biography which includes Sullivan's letters to her Perkins friend Mrs. Hopkins(?sp). Helen didn't learn instantly, and abstract words came later. One day Anne was practicing arithmetic with Helen and Helen made a careless error. Anne promptly tapped her head and spelled the word 'THINK" into her hand. Helen realized the new word was what was going on in her head. When Helen first began spelling she jumbled words just as all toddlers do; she was a language toddler. Read about hos Anne used the things happening at Helen's home to teach her, like the morning she rushed to Teacher and spelled "dog" and "baby". Anne was afraid the hunting dog had hurt Helen's younger sister, but Helen pulled Teacher to the barn where a dog had a new litter. Whatever Teacher's lesson plan for the day was--she actually didn't have any at that point--she disregarded it to learn what Helen was interested in,. She learned words such as "puppies", "five", etc. Anne took Helen to a visiting zoo where the child touched the animals she could safely approach. As a child I wanted to teach the deaf-blind, but decided a genius had preceded me. I went for learning disabilities instead, and I still used some of Teacher's methods. She's my teaching hero.
This is the first I've heard of Anne's background. I wonder what Helen's IQ was. They were 2 brilliant women who were perfectly matched. Maybe we should start focusing on people like them as examples of overcoming obstacles (nstead of sitting down in front of obstacles and whining and blaming for the rest of your life.) Thanks for this well done video!
To teach someone who can’t hear or see and has never heard or seen someone talk a whole language is a whole new level of amazing! Great job Anne Sullivan! RIP
![Six Hundred Strike [EPIC: The Musical] Full Animatic](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/zov6NXIAuow/mqdefault.jpg)
I swear I'm in my feels just thinking about how that young woman literally saved that little girl's life. This is a really special story.
What does my feels mean?
I love that Anne Sullivan is, to this day, highly regarded as a teacher. My Midwestern town has an elementary school named after her.
Her life story is far more fascinating than Helen Keller's.
Several people in my family are blind or deaf. The story of Helen Keller was a huge part of my childhood. Everyone in the family knew sign language. And I taught my daughter the basics as a child. Now she is teaching her children to sign. In my opinion, sign language should be a part of every child's life.
Though I am bilingual in spoken language, I think learning sign should be a requirement also
I agree. Sign language should be part of every child's life. It should be taught in elementary school starting in Kindergarten.
It's my understanding that many kids who are nonverbal (not disabled, just slower to acquire speech) these days are encouraged to sign. It's such a helpful tool.
I've never known a deaf person, so sign language would not be particularly useful for me.
I think signing should be included in basic education . I was only thought the alphabet and a few other signs in high school but I have needed it a few times. There was a time before smart phones and electronic typing.
Important detail not mentioned here: Alexander Graham Bell's wife, Mabel Gardiner Hubbard, was deaf. Her struggle to get an education is also an amazing story. Mind you, in her times it was thought that teaching *anything* to a deaf kid was impossible.
Thank you I did not know this important fact.
That thought was shared by the larger culture. However, several Native American tribes and some poor outlier white communities would have disagreed with the conventional wisdom of the time (said tribes and poor white communities had sign language and so were able to teach deaf people way longer than conventional wisdom at the time said).
Thank you for pointing that out I was thinking the same thin while watching
@Geo’s radio & musical stuff yet Bell was still a bad guy. In his schools for the deaf, he would tie his student’s hands behind their backs and force them to speak and if they didn’t, he would punish them. Yes, he did pave the way for the deaf but he did have problems in his teaching methods and how he treated his students
Wow, doesn't it looks so divine...Bell's name is even so prophetically connected to his invention itself! Could it be that husband's love actually invented phone? God acted His ways as well, since there is no coincidence...
Anne Sullivan’s childhood was almost as challenging as Helen’s. Her writings about the time she spent in the poor house are intense and graphic. Both of these women are heroes of mine.
Helen Keler fake AF. Racism as hell
I have loved them both my whole life too ❤️
It was way more challenging. Poverty itself is an extreme challenge that Helen Keller never experienced.
@QW4Sanchick go online...Beyond the Miracle Worker and other books...such an amazing story. Anne was left in the poor house alone w her brother as I recollect. It's been a long time since I read the story,her brother died of tuberculosis not long after being left in the poor house surrounded by mostly adults. Anne was a survivor...amazing lady.
I agree. They didn't mention her brother Jimmie or sister Mary. It's a very heartbreaking story. Even thought it was a very traumatic childhood, she used that anger ad those frustrations into becoming independent and going to school. She never gave up and was very stubborn. People usually only think of her as Helen Keller's teacher and don't know about her traumatic childhood.
It's a shame that Anne Sullivan isn't as well known as Helen Keller, that woman was a BOSS
It’s a shame more people haven’t read the book about the life of Laura Bridgeman because it is truly her shoulders that Ms. Sullivan and Miss Keller stood upon. I feel sad knowing that very few people know who Laura was while Helen has all of the name recognition. Yet Laura did something I consider to be far more worthy of note, something truly amazing.
Laura had far fewer resources and connections starting out, and her education truly was trailblazing, making Helen Keller‘s education more easily access. She was able to correspond with blind people throughout the country during a time when there wasn’t a unified braille code, when the technology to produce braille was not widely available, and impart during the American Civil War. It’s an amazing inevitability how once someone does an impossible thing, others are able to do it as well and do it even better because they already know it’s possible now.
@@rhyami it is but now I will read about her life! Helen Keller and Anne Sullivan attained fame because of the connection to Alexander Graham Bell. All three women are amazing and examples
Fraud*
@@dongatello6969 How so?
um as far as i know anne implies helen and helen - anne.
anne sullivan is so iconic that people recognize her name even when they cant remember why or never knew why.. because other people around them have mentioned them.
christ dude shes even in family guy 😅😅😅
i agree Anne was a queen though
I’ve seen the miracle worker but I’ve always wondered just how Anne Sullivan was able to communicate complex ideas to Helen Keller. Things like colors, sounds, sentence structure, parts of speech that aren’t nouns or verbs, how to carry on a conversation, all of that stuff. Helen was obviously exceptionally intelligent to be able to grasp all of that without being able to absorb any information except by touch and spelling. Anne Sullivan was obviously likewise exceptionally intelligent to be able to communicate those concepts through spelling alone.
It makes absolutely no sense…
I wonder about this, too! How on earth did she learn the meanings of things like emotions? How do you explain to someone what love feels like? How do you explain clouds? Whales? Canyons? I can't fathom how isolating being in Helen Keller's shoes must have been, learning how vast the world is but only being able to experience a pinprick of it through her hands.
She didn’t, it’s an obvious sham. Isn’t it wonderful how Helen’s opinions were exactly those of Anne hahahaha
Agree, it's so interesting. Even letters - at the water fountain, she grasps that the pattern on her hand equals the name of the thing. How do you explain that the pattern is made of letters that combine into other words?
Also curious about the innate nature of language, I wonder if anyone ever studied her in this aspect.
Are we now so bored that we're accusing Helen Keller of being fake..? It must be miserable being that pessimistic.
My first name is Helen...my whole damn life people have called me Helen Keller. It use to hurt my feelings when I was kid, then I learned how amazing she was. I'm grateful to have a name associated with such an impressive human being.
I think Helen is a beautiful name.
Helen your name is beautiful !! Kids are so dumb and would make fun of every name !! My maiden name was fisher and was called fish face /smelly fish /fisher woman /fissure ugh!!! Dumb kids. You are Helen of Troy!! The most beautiful woman ever
She wasn’t a beautiful woman. She believed in eugenics and that disabled people shouldn’t be allowed to live
My grandma's name was Helen Virginia ❤
As a Rebecca who wanted to punch the next person who mentioned Sunnybrook Farm, I know the feeling.
It's interesting to learn that Anne's stubbornness was such an asset in working with Helen. Something that could be seen as negative in other circumstances was a big reason for her breakthrough with Helen.
I prefer to say she was determined and was not a quitter.
That moment that Helen connected the water on her hand with Anne's touch pattern must have been like being hit by lighting. She had only known darkness and silence. Then in a second, the whole world cracked open and she was no longer alone.
I'm amazed that her young mind was able to develop enough to learn more.
She was amazing. All that she accomplished and overcame is astonishing. Anne Sullivan was an educator many strive to be. She showed patience and faith. Two incredible ladies!! Thank you. 😊
This was very good. I wish you had mentioned Anne's brother Jimmie and sister Mary. Their father abandoned both of them because she was blind and he had a bad hip which made it difficult to get around. They were separated from their little sister Mary who was brought to their aunt's house. Jimmie died in the almshouse where they were and they never told her he passed away. She had to find his body in order to know that he was dead, which she did. She never was able to find Mary and she really tried. Anne had a very traumatic childhood which fueled her desire to be more independent and became even more stubborn. She never gave up. Many people don't know those pieces of her life and only think about her as being Helen Keller's teacher.
Wow, thank u for teaching us this 😊
@@TheCandiceWang you're welcome! I have a variety of books regarding both. While Helen is an amazing inspiration, Anne has been my role model ever since I was a kid. This is especially true because I also have disabilities. I look up to both!
@@dragonfliesnh4204I would love to learn more about Anne. ♥️
Wow. That is SO sad! :(
@@janedoe5229 I agree. I cry every time I read about their childhood and especially about how she found her brother's body when he passed. Despite that, she was strong willed, independent and able to work with Helen.
The secret to Helen Keller's success was her family and Anne Sullivan not giving up on her.
---family---
It helped that her family could afford to treat her. There wasn't much, if any, government help for families with disabled kids in those days. They were on their own.
What a wonderful story! I didn't know that Anne Sullivan had also been blind for a while. She really was the perfect teacher for Helen.
I live in Alabama and I’ve been to the Helen Keller homestead and museum. It is a beautiful place. The original house of the Keller’s still remain to this day and also the little house where Annie and Helen spent their time in away from the family is right there. We have so many pictures from my daughters 4th grade trip there. All of the original furnishings are still there along with dolls and a piano. They had to fool Helen into thinking she was far away from her parents and in a horse and buggy drove all over to get to the little house that was only feet away from the main house. Helen was a brat but Annie had to endure her and teach her how to have manners. The water pump is still there where she learned how to spell water. If you are ever in North West Alabama it’s a great place to visit.
Thank you. I did not know. If I every get down south again, I will pay a visit.
What blew my mind was how she was bullied for being poor at the blind school...😒 like..guess if everyone couldn't see in the world they would still find something to belittle someone on..jeez human beings just cant help but be hateful..must be in the dna..luckily there are a small few who aren't.
duh. everybody bullies the poor kids.
Our animalistic behavior shouldn't be surprising, it's human nature to develop a social hierarchies, usually by brutal means
Hurt people, hurt people.
@@Ass_of_Amalek Nah. I always found that the poor kids were cooler than the rich ones. You could also do whatever you wanted at their house and their parents usually bought the beer for us.
Probably her bullies failed school.
i learned about Helen Keller in 4th grade because we had to read her biography as a mandatory reading. she quickly became my hero and biggest inspiration in life. to this day, i look up to her a lot. she motivates and inspires me to work hard and accomplish the impossible.
Never happened. She was a fraud
Literally huh? Literally impossible
This is one of the most incredible story of all time. The amount of compassion and patience is unreal. She never gave up on Helen as I'm sure most others would. Especially at that time with the lack of resources we have today for blind and deafness.
My mom was legally blind (her vision was 20/400). Her parents sent her to the school for the blind in Kansas City. I learned about Helen Keller early in life, and loved both of the movies. I think my background was what helped me when I ended up meeting someone who is one of my best friends. She had limited sight as a child, but was basically completely blind by the time I met her. I gravitated to her, being that I was used to being around blind people all my life. That ended up being a fortuitous moment, as I learned that she had experienced bullying as a child....and an adult. She even had people in her life that thought she was faking her blindness. I was privileged to stand up for her. She is basically the sister I never had, since my mother was basically forced to not have more than one kid due to my grandparents idea of "we don't want any more kids like my mom".
No disrespect towards you but blind people still have sex plus kids?
@@quanbrooklynkid7776 yes, the intersex and blindness ran in their family.
@@kandipiatkowski8589 I think you misunderstood their question. Why are you saying your mother had both both male and female genitalia? The question was if blind people still had sex.
@@dew66666 oh, I'm sorry. My mother was blind, it was only my grandmother's attitude that was wrong. She specifically told me more than once that "we don't want anymore like your mom". This was in reference to her choice not to have any more kids, as well as her meddling in my parent's marriage for the same reason.
@@dew66666 it was only my friend's family who had the intersex condition.
Amazing. I can't even fathom overcoming such obstacles. People were so much tougher back then.
Patty Duke who played Helen Keller in the Miracle Worker on film went on to play Anne Sullivan in the Miracle Worker TV movie.
Talk about coming full circle!
Interesting
My mom always loved the movie The Miracle Worker with Patty Duke, so I grew up watching that. But even after knowing a fair amount about Helen Keller, this piece of history made me cry. It’s so inspiring & both ladies are (and will forever be) heroes.
I love Weird History because it is REAL history. Meticulously researched and narrated in that special "weird" way. I love every episode, including the Weird Food version (when it is narrated by "Mr. Weird").
These women are good example of never giving up on your goals. They are heroes.
Anne was an amazing human in spite her own struggles. Truly inspiring. Its also key to the story that disabled children have parents who advocate for them way to go Helen's parents
I saw a signed first edition of Helen Keller’s autobiography displayed at a rare book store once. I stood there at the window, wanting it sooo much, but definitely could NOT afford the $12,000 price tag. I’ve admired her ever since I was a little girl.
$12,000? Yeah, I'm pretty sure that book is still sitting there 😄😄
@@dew66666 I really doubt it. I would be tempted to buy it. Seems like a very reasonable price.
Anne Sullivan sure is a miracle worker. How she was able to teach Helen to communicate is definitely outstanding!
I feel Anne Sullivan & Helen Keller were both remarkable women. When you hear this story & watch both "The Miracle Worker" movies, you not only gain more sensitivity for the disabled, but new appreciation for the people who instructed you when you went to school. You realize how patient they truly were with you when you could possibly be very testy. TY for sharing this. I am amazed every time I hear another detail about this. God Bless You & stay safe.
I am so happy and grateful for your hard work, dedication, and spiritual endurance!
This story has inspired and fascinated me since I was about 7 years old. Growing up I watched and read as much material pertaining to it as I could… It’s such an amazing story and both women are absolutely heroes of mine 🌟
This story really touched me. I'm 50 years old and forgot many details of Helen & Ann's stories! What impressive women! Great job as always making history fascinating like it should be! If every history teacher learned that lesson those of us with ADHD would have learned far more
Those last few lines gave me chills. Wow.
I saw the movie as a child and I was so impressed with Sullivan that I still think of that movie often. I saw it at probably 10 years of age. I am now 64.
We need to be taught these types of heros in schools. They helped change the system for those who find it stressfull and difficult as each indeviual has spcial needs and need support.
Two women of absolutely brilliant intellect!
Helen Keller and so indirectly Ann Sullivan Macy were my heroes growing up. I lived in Massachusetts and even drove by the Perkins Institute many times. They lived a storied life. 🦋💖🕊️
I'm from Alabama, and I've toured the birthplace of Helen Keller. For a few years, my niece played Anne Sullivan in the annual production of The Miracle Worker that's performed there on the grounds of Ivy Green.
I was always curious about this it’s amazing what people can figure out! I love that Anne took the time to help this child
I'm from Tuscumbia, AL.. I love learning about Helen & Anne and visiting the Keller home when I am back in the area 🩷
Anne Sullivan and Helen Keller are two of my heroes. Ths is such an inspiring story.
Helen Keller was my idol when I was a little girl. My name is Helen and I read anything I could find on her. Ann did such a great and loving thing for Helen. Just loved this video. ❤️
I'm here for this one. I loved anything about Helen Keller❤️❤️‼️‼️‼️
As a child, One of my favorite stories
A great book about Helen’s learning process as a child is “Miss Spitfire” by Sarah Miller and told from the point of view of Ann Sullivan. A great read!
I was going to recommend that book
That vid just made me smile so much! I remember learning about Helen is school and I always wondered how Sullivan did it. Now I know! So inspiring! 🥰
Just being a real human makes you come with genuine ideas 💖💖💖
It's simply amazing how they worked together so that Helen could learn to communicate in a way that others understood despite Helen not being able to see or hear.. I can't wrap my head around how that worked. The incredible tenacity of both of them..
These people had so many struggles from the earliest years of their lives, yet they achieved so much. It really put into perspective what a human spirit can do if they put their mind and determination into it.
Also I think they were probably both geniuses but that’s beside the point. 😊
2:06 it's interesting to me how she survived these kinds of surgeries in the 1880s. And fascinating that they recognized her as valedictorian!
This story is simply amazing! I knew the basics of it, but I didn’t know all the little details. Both were amazing women!
Incredible story! What hurdles were overcome!
I'm lucky, my grade school teachers were all wonderful and intelligent women. We were told the story of Helen Keller in 1st Grade; and I was a very depressed little boy. This was always so inspiring to me. These memories are very important to me. Still, how inspiring. The lesson distilled; everyone deserves a chance. This is what humans should treat each other, to life each other up to harmony.
Always choose to hold love and hope in your heart!
I've always wondered but never looked into it. Thanks for the knowledge!
Every time I learn about Helen Keller, it is always something new and exciting. I have learned mostly about myself through her. AMAZING!
Move of her life is great. Both ladies were outstanding.
She also founded one of the largest blindness organizations in the world. American Foundation for the Blind. This organization is now 100 years old. It also holds the Helen Keller archives. 11:34
I was fascinated by Ann and Helen when I was a kid. Such incredible fighters, both of them.
I have no words to express my admiration for Anne Sulivan her patience and compassion are sorely lacking today what a fine teacher
I’ve always loved this story since we learned about it in grade school.
Helen Keller was my role model growing up. I’m 61 and every elementary paper I wrote was about her. Brilliant movie.
I love this. How inspirational. Thanks Weird History
If you want to see something electrifying, watch "The Miracle Worker" with Anne Bancroft and Patty Duke. Their acting is marvelous.
Yeah... If you want to watch something about this real story, go watch actors play pretend in a fiction piece!
@@jer280 yes, that is often what movies are
Amazing. Truly inspirational.
I was just a young child, but I’ll never forget watching “The Miracle Worker “ with actress Patty Duke learning to discover the spelling of water….after throwing a lot scrambled eggs around!
Thank you so much for covering this!
Love your videos!! Been on a binge lately. You have great choice of topic and the perfect pacing for listening! Thank you! If I might throw a request your way - please look into the history of bushido, the Japanese "way of the warrior" concept. it was actually basically invented and retroactively applied to samurai as like a tourist draw-in thing, and yet it's become something that people really believe ancient samurai lived by. Please do a video on it!
My husband’s cousin was completely normal and when she turned two she had to get her immunizations and suddenly was blind and deaf. She went to school, won a large sum of money from the immunization maker and they decided to buy her a home and have a full time live in aid and tried to give her a normal life as possible. Losing my sight is probably the worst sense I’d hate to to lose. She lived to her 70s and lived a fulfilled life. God bless all the teachers who are so patient in teaching these special children.
Thanks for reminding us about Anne Sullivan.
A+ video!
Amazing topic, beautifully presented, and very inspiring.
I have been fascinated by Helen Keller since I was a child. Now I am wondering why Laura Bridgman wasn't more famous or didn't get the kind of attention Helen got.
This is one of my favorite stories and movie! 😊! I always cry, which I of course, I did this time too.
Man, imagine having eye surgery in the 1800's. That takes some serious nuts. I wouldn't even let doctors touch my eyes today.
That’s what I was thinking! And the fact that it actually helped too.
It blows my mind how she was able to grasp language/ideas with no sensory other than touch.
She had a mind and an intelligence. The human spirit power IS immense.
As a kid I would joke that I was Helen Keller Light (back in the 80s I kinda stole the idea from diet products lol. I’m hard of hearing and almost blind, so yes, I do rely on assistive tech if anyone’s wondering haha. I love it when you talked about Anne Sullivan. She doesn’t get enough recognition! Both women were quite brilliant ♥️
Amazing story. I always wondered about Helen Keller's life. Thank you for these facts.
I remember the water spelling scene from the classic film "The Miracle Worker".
40 seconds live and I’m already invested
Não sei se é sobre Helen Keller ou Anne Sullivan, ou se ambas são igualmente fascinantes e incrivelmente magníficas.
I love that Helen gave Anne her flowers... "All the best of me belongs to her"
🌎🙏🙏🙏 She was blessed. Both the teacher and Helen Keller.
When I was 17, (1977) I was in the pediatrics ward in the hospital for two weeks. I had a roommate for part of that time -- a girl, maybe 15 or 16, who was deaf. Her mother was only there for short times once it twice a day and none of the staff knew sign language. The girl had some sort of tummy surgery. She was frequently nearly hysterical with fear, not knowing what was going on or what was being done or what was required of her. I wished so badly at that time that I knew sign language.
I married in my late 20s, and my husband was training to be an EMT. I talked him into going to ASL classes (by saying I would attend with him) and we learned some sign language - we never became fluent, but I know he learned enough to calm a patient down if they were deaf and not in an emotional place where they could read lips.
I think ANYONE in the medical field should at least take a basic course in sign language. With my complex medical history, I know how scary it is to feel medical personnel are doing things TO you and you have no understanding or say in the matter. It is literally torture.
Poor girl, that must have been awful! Couldn't they have used a pen and paper to explain things to her?
I grew up enjoying the movie THE MIRACLE WORKER with Anne Bancroft and Patty Duke. I eventually bought it on DVD. I had a child's book on it as well. So I found this documentary fascinating. I'm glad the teacher was blessed with a marriage, but sad that Helen was not. But she seems to have had a happy life.
I was on the hiway and decided to stop off in Tewksbury, where the poor house that Anne Sullivan lived in was at. It’s still in existence under the board of health, being used as both live in & day programs for substance abuse. One of the smaller old buildings houses a museum. It wasn’t open but I peered through the windows and they had lots of interesting old medical devices in there. It is open for guided tours on certain days. So I walked around the buildings that were there, most of them from the 1800s when Annie was there. The state obviously spent a good amount to renovate those buildings for use and also to keep up those that sat vacant. None were in great disrepair, which I thought was awesome. A large tree sits in the center of a circular driveway and I remember Annie wrote about a tree, perhaps it’s the same one? But the most incredible thing I saw was in back of one of the unused buildings. It was a very big, iron door, a gate. One of Annie’s most famous writings was about when state administrators and the president of the Perkins school for the blind in Watertown, MA came to tour the asylum. Annie, who could only see faint shadows said she knew it was her only chance to try and escape that awful place and as the group was leaving she ran up yelling, sobbing, “please Dr Anagnos, I want to go to school” and she pulled on an iron gate they’d just passed through. She clung to the gate until someone came & pried her hands away. Well, I wondered if I’d found THAT GATE?? By her description, it could have been. I touched it. Thinking of Anne Sullivan and the incredible life she shared with Helen Keller, my childhood hero. Sorry to be so long winded but I thought maybe someone would be interested.
Absolutely amazing. Dedication and hard work pays off❤
Anne Sullivan deserves statues across the world for this.
An interesting side note about AGB was that he was starting to lose his own hearing when he invented the telephone. He invented the telephone invertedly while trying to find adaptive devices to help the deaf communicate with each other from great distances.
Aw, I have all the feels now
If you want to better understand Sullivan's ideas about teaching, read a copy of Helen's biography which includes Sullivan's letters to her Perkins friend Mrs. Hopkins(?sp). Helen didn't learn instantly, and abstract words came later. One day Anne was practicing arithmetic with Helen and Helen made a careless error. Anne promptly tapped her head and spelled the word 'THINK" into her hand. Helen realized the new word was what was going on in her head. When Helen first began spelling she jumbled words just as all toddlers do; she was a language toddler. Read about hos Anne used the things happening at Helen's home to teach her, like the morning she rushed to Teacher and spelled "dog" and "baby". Anne was afraid the hunting dog had hurt Helen's younger sister, but Helen pulled Teacher to the barn where a dog had a new litter. Whatever Teacher's lesson plan for the day was--she actually didn't have any at that point--she disregarded it to learn what Helen was interested in,. She learned words such as "puppies", "five", etc. Anne took Helen to a visiting zoo where the child touched the animals she could safely approach. As a child I wanted to teach the deaf-blind, but decided a genius had preceded me. I went for learning disabilities instead, and I still used some of Teacher's methods. She's my teaching hero.
I had always wondered this. Thank!
Thanks for sharing
This is the first I've heard of Anne's background. I wonder what Helen's IQ was. They were 2 brilliant women who were perfectly matched. Maybe we should start focusing on people like them as examples of overcoming obstacles (nstead of sitting down in front of obstacles and whining and blaming for the rest of your life.) Thanks for this well done video!
I have visited their tombs. Seldom felt more privileged
Never forget it & be me❤.
Nice presentation!
I feel Helen's frustration as a toddler. I'd threw major eye opening tantrums. Good times.
Man, I really need to stop cutting onions when watching stuff like this.
Amazing !
Thank you for a great history lesson 🏆.
🙂
I just LOVE the story of Helen Keller. She became a wonderful CHRISTIAN TOO!
The movie "The Miracle Worker" is one of my favorites. The acting is AMAZING! The iconic food scene was brutal!
To teach someone who can’t hear or see and has never heard or seen someone talk a whole language is a whole new level of amazing! Great job Anne Sullivan! RIP
I’ve always liked Helen Keller’s story. If I remember correctly, it was either scarlet fever or measles that blinded & deafened her.