The miracle of Alabama’s Helen Keller
BY JAMES PATTERSON
OPINION —
The anniversary of Helen Keller’s birthday is June 27. Born in Tuscumbia, Keller (1880-1968) was admired around the world.
Though deaf and blind, she learned to speak several languages, authored several books, and starred as herself in the 1919 film “Deliverance,” about her challenging personal journey to a successful life. The film can be seen on YouTube.
As an infant, Keller lost her vision and hearing due to an illness. Her teacher, Anne Sullivan (1836-1936), led her student from a life of darkness to a life of success. Mark Twain called Keller a miracle. He called Sullivan the miracle worker.
Miss Keller’s 1919 film was not her only film appearance. She also appeared in the documentary “Helen Keller: In Her Story,” which premiered in Birmingham in 1954. The Associated Press reported that “Helen Keller: In Her Story,” had only one theatrical booking in the 18 months after its release. While Miss Keller was greatly admired, theater owners in the 1950s believed that the film would be too sad for ticket-buying audiences.
To combat the stereotype that a film about a disabled person would make audiences sad, Miss Keller’s supporters, including acclaimed actress Katherine Cornell (1893-1974), who narrated the film, wrote letters to newspaper editors telling them that the film depicted Miss Keller as a successful person.
Cornell stressed that Miss Keller was actively learning, traveling, writing and lecturing. She told newspaper editors that blindness and deafness were incidental to Miss Keller’s active life. In 1954, many Americans knew Helen Keller had overcome her disabilities. She was happy and Americans were happy for her.
In the film, Miss Keller is seen typing on a Braille typewriter and doing chores around her home. She is seen visiting wounded Korean War soldiers at a military hospital and visiting an Israeli kibbutz.
On Sunday, June 26, 1955, CBS broadcast “Helen Keller: In Her Story” as an afternoon TV special to commemorate Miss Keller’s 75th birthday. CBS’ Arthur Godfrey (1903-1983), the biggest radio and TV celebrity of the era, introduced the film. At that time, TV gave the film its largest audience.
“Helen Keller: In Her Story” is an outstanding film about a woman of courage. It shows Miss Keller with author and humorist Mark Twain (1835-1910), who speaking satirically about Keller, said, “If I could have been deaf, dumb and blind, I also might have arrived at something.”
In 1956, “Helen Keller: In Her Story” received an Academy Award as Best Documentary.
In 1957, “The Miracle Worker,” a television production based on Keller’s life, captured a large audience on Playhouse 90. It was expanded into a successful Broadway play, and in 1962, a film version with actresses Anne Bancroft (1931-2005) as teacher Anne Sullivan and Patty Duke (1946-2016) as a young Helen was a box office success. Both actresses received Academy Awards.
Keller died in June 1968 at the age of 88. At the time, Alabama was still mourning the death of its first female governor, Lurleen Wallace, who had died in May. Newspaper editors called Wallace “the First Lady of Alabama.” Keller, they said, was “the First Lady of Courage.”
President Lyndon Johnson said of Keller, “The gifts she has left behind are – the gifts of character and conviction – are America’s most precious heritage.”
The Birmingham Post Herald, in an editorial titled “Great Lady,” said Keller “may well be remembered longer, and with more reason, than any other person ever born in this state” and reminded readers that when Keller learned to communicate with others by the manual alphabet spelling of “water,” she wrote: “Delicious sensations rippled through me and sweet things that were locked up in my heart began to sing.” The editorial ended, “The song which sounded in Helen Keller’s heart that day will be heard as long as courage and determination have meaning.”
In 2023, “Helen Keller: In Her Story” was among 25 influential films selected by the U.S. Library of Congress for inclusion on the National Film Registry. Librarian of Congress Dr. Carla Hayden said she found “Helen Keller: In Her Story” to be “culturally, historically, or aesthetically important.”
In 2024, audiences are too sophisticated to think that a film about a disabled person would make audiences sad. It is a tribute to Helen Keller that the National Film Registry recognizes “Helen Keller: In Her Story” as worthy of preservation so that it can continue to educate future generations about what Helen Keller accomplished and what others can accomplish.
James Patterson, a former U.S. diplomat, is a life member of the Auburn University Alumni Association. His mom was named Helen in honor of Helen Keller.