Ever since she’d been sick as a toddler, she couldn’t see or hear anything. But she wanted to communicate so many things. Sometimes Helen ran her hands over her parents’ faces so she could get a sense of what they were feeling. Other times, she would slowly feel the world around her, experiencing everything through touch alone. Her teacher Anne would then explain to Helen what she was feeling, signing words into her palm one letter at a time.

Helen reached her hand into a fountain, and a cold rush of liquid fell through her fingers. She knew this sensation. What was it called? Anne signed five letters on Helen’s other palm. What were all these letters spelling?

W-A-T-E-R. Water!

Helen grabbed Anne’s hand and formed the same letters back. Water!

Both of them were getting excited now. They ran around, touching the grass, the trees, the flowers. As they explored, Helen would pick up a rock or a twig, then Anne would spell the name of it into Helen’s palm and Helen would spell it back enthusiastically.

Helen didn’t know it yet, but the whole world was about to open up before her. One word at a time.

I’m Catarina Rivera, I’m a public speaker and DEIA consultant, also known by my handle, Blindish Latina.

And this is Good Night Stories for Rebel Girls, a fairy tale podcast about the real life women who inspire us.

On this episode, Helen Keller– author, educator, and humanitarian.

Helen Adams Keller was born in June of 1880 in a small city in Alabama, called Tuscumbia [tuh-SCUM-bee-yuh]. Helen was active and smart, walking and talking from a very early age. But then, when she was just a year and a half old, she got very sick. A raging fever took over her body, leaving her deaf and blind.

Helen’s parents were shocked by how quickly their worlds had changed. And Helen herself was frustrated! Suddenly things that were once second nature, like navigating a room or saying simple words, now posed a huge and daunting challenge.

Luckily, Helen was clever and very determined. With careful attention, and lots of patience, Helen and her parents and siblings soon found ways to communicate.

Helen would make hand gestures to show what she wanted to say, and her parents would respond accordingly. By the time she was 7, they had established almost 60 different gestures for a variety of questions and statements.

But Helen still felt frustrated. Incredibly so! Even with all of the gestures they had established, there were so many thoughts and feelings that Helen had no way to convey. She would frequently have outbursts, yelling and flailing her body, expressing herself in the only way that she could. Her parents wanted to support her, but at the time there were not many schools or teachers who knew how to help someone who was both deaf and blind. Until Helen’s family met Anne Sullivan.

Anne was partially blind herself, and had gone to Perkins School for the Blind in Massachusetts. In fact, she’d graduated top of her class as valedictorian.

She was twenty years old and looking for a career when she heard about Helen — the very intelligent and energetic little girl who desperately wanted to communicate.

Anne traveled to Helen’s home to see if she could help. She had no idea what she was in for though. Little Helen was fierce! She shrieked and struggled, threw epic tantrums and knocked one of Anne’s teeth out soon after she arrived!

Despite it all, Anne believed that she could help Helen learn and navigate the world. And she refused to give up. Anne decided she would work slowly, with patience and understanding, encouraging Helen’s spirit and teaching her control. Whatever wildness was coming their way next, they were in it together.

W-A-T-E-R. Water.

D-I-R-T. Dirt.

S-K-Y. Sky.

Anne made it her mission to teach Helen how to channel her energy and learn to communicate. She taught her that everything has a name, and began to sign letters into her palm. And once they had established their finger spelling alphabet, the world opened up for them both.

Anne and Helen spelled words back and forth onto each other’s palms day after day. Words turned into phrases, phrases got woven into sentences. Soon, they were telling each other stories and creating poetry together, all through touch alone!

Over just a few months, Helen transformed. She stopped raging and throwing things and became engrossed in the process of learning. With an incredible memory and thirst for knowledge, Helen’s vocabulary expanded to hundreds of words. Every day, she was excited to wake up and experience life with Anne.

By the time she was nine, Helen had learned something even more incredible. In addition to feeling written words on paper, she was learning to read lips. She would place her fingertips gently on someone’s mouth as they spoke, and piece together the puzzle of what words they were forming. Then, she used those shapes to make words and sounds of her own.

Without being able to see or hear, Helen was learning to speak. She could not have been more thrilled.

With Helen’s parents’ permission, Anne took Helen to the Perkins School for the Blind. During her time there, Helen learned how to read and write in Braille, which is a series of raised dots that can be read by touch. The dots are combined in different ways to represent letters, numbers, music notes, and symbols.

Finally, she could enjoy newspapers and novels, just like people with sight. She devoured stories of world events, philosophy, and poetry, and began to write using a special braille typewriter.

“It is very pleasant to live here in our beautiful world,” Helen wrote in a letter. “I cannot see the lovely things with my eyes, but my mind can see them all, and so I am joyful all the day long.”

Helen then attended a New York school for the deaf, followed by the Cambridge School for Young Ladies, where she learned how to control her voice, even though she couldn’t hear it. News spread about her incredible progress, and soon, she was accepted to the prestigious Radcliffe College. Because Radcliffe typically taught women who could see and hear, Anne would go along with Helen to spell out lectures and help her navigate the campus.

In between her studies, Helen started writing about her life. She sat down at her Braille machine, spilling out everything she could remember about her childhood and the faith it took to get through her loneliest times. Then, Anne helped Helen piece the scenes together to create a book. And then a second!

By the time Helen graduated college — with honors, of course — she had two books published and many more inside her, ready to spring forth. Her dear friend and mentor, Anne, was by her side every step of the way — their hands and their hearts never far apart.

During those first years after college, Helen lived with Anne and Anne’s husband in Queens, New York. Helen was hard at work, writing. Over the course of her life, she would write 14 books and hundreds of articles, speeches and essays.

She and Anne often traveled through the U.S., giving public speeches about the importance of disability awareness. The more people understood what life was like with a disability, the more they could work to make the world more accessible.

These are some of the words that Helen wrote and spoke to an amazed audience in 1912.

“I know you are thinking how blind I am, and I have been thinking for a long time how blind we all are. We differ, blind, and seeing, not in our senses but in the use we make of them.”

These are some of the words that Helen wrote and spoke to an amazed audience in 1912. She and Anne often traveled through the U.S., giving public speeches about the importance of disability awareness. The more people understood what life was like with a disability, the more they could work to make the world more accessible. Helen also advocated for women’s rights, workers’ rights, racial equality, voting rights, and so much more.

During those first years after college, Helen lived with Anne and Anne’s husband in Queens, New York. Helen was hard at work, writing. Over the course of her life, she would write 14 books and hundreds of articles, speeches and essays.

Helen was determined to open people’s minds and hearts. She felt like people who could see and hear each other were not truly looking or listening. As a young adult, she helped establish the American Foundation for the Blind, an organization that educates and advocates for people who are blind or low vision.

She also became an early member of the NAACP, speaking out against racism and supporting African-Americans in the fight for civil rights. She even helped protect fellow activists from the government, helping to form the American Civil Liberties Union to defend the rights of all people living in the United States.

Helen lived a long and full life. She traveled all over the world to speak about human rights and became one of the world’s most admired women. There were movies and books created to celebrate her story and in 1964 she was awarded the highest American honor, the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

Among the most beautiful tributes to her rebelhood is a bronze statue of her that stands at the United States Capitol. It’s the image of seven-year-old Helen standing at a pump, feeling the rush of water splash over her hand. It is the moment where she was given the gift of language from her mentor and hero, Anne. And under the figure is one of Helen’s quotes, written both in Latin and in Braille:

“The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched, they must be felt with the heart.”

Helen knew her opinions might not be popular, or even acceptable to a lot of people. But that only inspired her to get louder. She had ideas. She had language. She had a burning need to make everyone realize each human experience was incredible — that running your hands under water and sharing that sensation with someone else could be a miracle, in a world full of miracles.

Helen lived a long and full life. She traveled all over the world to speak about human rights and became one of the world’s most admired women. There were movies and books created to celebrate her story and in 1964 she was awarded the highest American honor, the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

Among the most beautiful tributes to her rebelhood is a bronze statue of her that stands at the United States Capitol. It’s the image of seven-year-old Helen standing at a pump, feeling the rush of water splash over her hand. It is the moment where she was given the gift of language from her mentor and hero, Anne. And under the figure is one of Helen’s quotes, written both in Latin and in Braille:

“The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched, they must be felt with the heart.”

Helen opened her heart to the world, and fought for others’ rights to do the same. Whether we can see, or hear, or feel her story, it’s a call to speak out for humanity, any way you can.

This podcast is a production of Rebel Girls. It’s based on the book series Good Night Stories for Rebel Girls.

This episode was narrated by ME, Catarina Rivera. It was produced and directed by Haley Dapkus, with sound design and mixing by Mumble Media.

The story was written by Abby Sher. Arianna Griffiths was our intern. Fact checking by Rose Garrett. Our executive producers were Joy Smith and Jes Wolfe.

Original theme music was composed and performed by Elettra Bargiacchi.

A special thanks to the whole Rebel Girls team, who make this podcast possible! Until next time, staaaay rebel!