10/17/2024
On this date in Henry County history, Oct. 15, 1940, internationally known disability rights advocate Helen Keller spoke in New Castle during an event sponsored by the B.P.W.
Here is a column about that day written by Henry County Historical Society Co-Director Darrel Radford.
"Life is either a daring adventure, or nothing."
"Alone we can do so little; together we can do so much."
"The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched – they must be felt with the heart." – Helen Keller
She was a prolific author, writing 14 books and hundreds of speeches on topics ranging from animals to Mahatma Gandhi. She traveled to 35 countries around the world and was America's first Goodwill ambassador to Japan. She became an outspoken advocate for the rights of others, even though she struggled to speak. Her words still inspire today, even though she could not hear.
Her name was Helen Keller, and history says she was one of the 20th century's leading humanitarians and co-founder of the American Civil Liberties Union. While many here may be aware of her incredible story, some – perhaps many – may not realize that on Tuesday, Oct. 15, 1940, she was in New Castle.
A front-page article in the Oct. 16, 1940 issue of The Courier-Times provides details of a monumental event the day before at New Castle High School, one that drew approximately 1,200 people to the then-Walnut Street facility.
Sponsored by the New Castle Business and Professional Women's Club, Helen Keller's appearance here gave local residents up-close-and-personal insight into one of the world's most inspiring people. Local BPW President Verena Hutson had the honor of introducing Miss Keller and her companion, Polly Thomson.
The article reported tribute was paid to Mrs. Anne Sullivan Macy, Miss Keller's "late great teacher and who has been called responsible for the development of one of the most remarkable women of this day." Macy, who taught Keller personally over a 49-year period, died Oct. 20, 1936, little more than four years before the 20th century icon visited New Castle.
Keller's remarks at the New Castle event struck both emotional and patriotic chords, according to the newspaper article. With help from Thomson, who occasionally added clarity to Keller's comments, her words no doubt riveted local residents in attendance that night.
IN HER OWN WORDS
This is part of what she said on that special night 81 years ago.
"In these unprecedented days of sorrow and anxiety, blessings once sweet to us have turned to ashes because freedom in a large part of the world is at bay.
"But however dark things may be, we have the light of faith at our command. Faith is a brave search for new paths to life; faith is a white fire of enthusiasm, a mental perception of what is good.
"Only by clinging resolutely to faith can we choose a way of life and contribute our talents to civilization.
"Americans, for the most part, had not had faith enough in themselves to keep democracy constructive. They have shirked responsibilities and faith has been left to preachers and dreamers.
"We cannot long evade an answer to the cynical and pessimistic doctrine that force, not human betterment, is the world's ideal. We dare not run the risk of revival of barbarism and the mutilation of mankind by war and intolerance.
"The founders of this nation made faith, by example, a vital duty.
"Moved by these stabbing issues, we must help roll back this flood of evil ideals with the faith of Lexington and Concord, the faith which has emancipated the human mind, the faith which looks beyond all discouragement to a remade world in which the flame of liberty and decency burns steady and unconsumed."
Her words then seem prophetic now. Little more than a year after she spoke in New Castle, the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor and America was thrust into World War II in a titanic struggle between good and evil.
AN AMAZING LIFE
Helen Keller's amazing life was all about "looking beyond all discouragement."
An Alabama native and daughter of a Confederate Army officer, biographers say Helen was born with senses of sight and hearing, but disease took them away before she was two years old. History tells us she was just 19 months of age when stricken with an illness the family doctor called "brain fever" that produced a high body temperature. In the many years that have passed, some doctors have speculated Helen's disease might have been scarlet fever or meningitis.
As Helen grew into childhood, she developed a limited method of communication with her companion, Martha Washington, the young daughter of the family cook. The two had created a type of sign language. By the time Helen was seven, they had invented more than 60 signs to communicate with each other.
Yet, if some family members had prevailed, Helen Keller would have been institutionalized. Biographers write Keller became very wild and unruly. She would kick and scream when angry, and giggle uncontrollably when happy. She tormented Martha and inflicted raging tantrums on her parents.
Had she been institutionalized, Helen Keller would not have become the worldwide inspiration who visited New Castle 81 years ago.
FINDING ANSWERS
Three classic names – Charles Dickens, Alexander Graham Bell and Mark Twain – are also part of Helen's incredible story.
Looking for answers and inspiration, Keller's mother came across a travelogue by Charles Dickens, American Notes, in 1886. She read of the successful education of another deaf and blind child, Laura Bridgman, and soon dispatched Keller and her father to Baltimore, Maryland to see specialist Dr. J. Julian Chisolm.
After examining Keller, Chisolm recommended that she see Alexander Graham Bell, the inventor of the telephone, who was working with deaf children at the time. Bell met with Keller and her parents, and suggested that they travel to the Perkins Institute for the Blind in Boston, Massachusetts.
There, the family met with the school's director, Michael Anaganos. He suggested Keller work with one of the institute's most recent graduates – a woman named Anne Sullivan.
On March 3, 1887, Sullivan went to Keller's home in Alabama and immediately went to work. She began by teaching six-year-old Keller finger spelling, starting with the word "doll," to help Keller understand the gift of a doll she had brought along. Other words would follow.
At first, Keller was curious, then defiant, refusing to cooperate with Sullivan's instruction. When Keller did cooperate, Sullivan could tell that she wasn't making the connection between the objects and the letters spelled out in her hand. Sullivan kept working at it, forcing Keller to go through the regimen.
As Keller's frustration grew, the tantrums increased. Finally, Sullivan demanded that she and Keller be isolated from the rest of the family for a time, so that Keller could concentrate only on Sullivan's instruction. They moved to a cottage on the plantation.
In a dramatic struggle, Sullivan taught Keller the word "water." She helped her make the connection between the object and the letters by taking Keller out to the water pump, and placing Keller's hand under the spout. While Sullivan moved the lever to flush cool water over Keller's hand, she spelled out the word w-a-t-e-r on Keller's other hand. Keller understood and repeated the word in Sullivan's hand. She then pounded the ground, demanding to know its "letter name." Sullivan followed her, spelling out the word into her hand. Keller moved to other objects with Sullivan in tow. By nightfall, she had learned 30 words.
Keller worked with her teacher Anne Sullivan for 49 years, from 1887 until Sullivan's death in 1936. In 1932, Sullivan experienced health problems and lost her eyesight completely. A young woman named Polly Thomson, who had begun working as a secretary for Keller and Sullivan in 1914, became Keller's constant companion upon Sullivan's death. Polly was the one who accompanied Helen to New Castle eight decades ago.
HELEN PRAISES SCHOOL BAND
The Courier-Times article on Helen Keller's appearance here noted that she "congratulated the high school orchestra directed by Carroll Copeland, which played for the program, and said she enjoyed music, and even dancing when she 'had a good partner.'"
The article also reported a reception was held for Keller at the Plaza Hotel before the event.
As her story became known to the general public, Keller began to meet famous and influential people. One of them was the writer Mark Twain, who was very impressed with her. They became friends.
Like Twain, Helen Keller was also a wordsmith. Her inspirational quotes dot the Information Superhighway, more than five decades after her death on June 1, 1968. Eighty-one years after she was a guest of the New Castle BPW, one of her quotes still speaks loudly to all who would hear – "Keep your face to the sunshine and you cannot see the shadows."
