Fort Madison High School - Madisonian Yearbook (Fort Madison, IA)

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IHE HIGH SCHOOL TIMES of the day ln fact she has made more of her l1fe than one would expect under such clrcumstances and thus we can truly say that her career 15 marvelous Today she has the honorable t1tle of Bachelor of Arts from Radcllffe College IS a fluent speaker of five languages author of a well known book and the fr1end of many noted men and women of Amer1ca Such IS the posxtxon to wh1ch she has elevated herself Helen Keller was born June 27 1880 1n Tuscumb1a Ala bama Her parents were very respectable people and qulte well educated In her mfancy she became deaf and bhnd the result of a fever Consequently she could not speak As she developed she began to show an eager d1spos1t1on and a longmg for a way mn wh1ch to express herself as dld those about her She would touch the laps of people whsle they were speakmg but could not understand what xt all meant The desrre to express herself 1n a more deftmte way be came greater but prospects of any educatlon for her seemed gloomy untll her father heard of the Perknns Inst1tute a school for the deaf and bhnd He was successful ID securxng was about seven years old Mnss Sulllvan s manner of mstructmg was excellent She would glVB Helen a certaln object and spell nnto one hand the name of the word wh1ch the object represented whlle Helen placed her other hand on Mxss Sullivan s lips to grasp the meanmg At once she trted to 1m1tate by sound those words wh1ch her teacher had spelled and soon she learned the names of snmple objects such as chalr book hat etc another helpful thmg Wh1Ch Mnss Sulhvan d1d for her pupxl was to take her out xnto the woods and let her obtam an ndea of na ture She became acquaxnted wnth the flowers trees and blrds The next step 1n her educatnon was to learn to read and also to count Cardboard Sl1pS w1th prlnted words on them were gxven her and she soon learned that each word repre sented an object act or quahty In thas way she learned to read 1n Prxmary books, and by contmued readmg her voca U 1 9 1 1 ' ' 9 ' ' i 1 1 . . , l I , . 1 U Miss Sullivan, who arrived in the spring of 1887, when Helen I I . . , . . I . . I I V 9 9 'G 4 V 1 ' I I l ' I - I ' ' s .

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HELEN KELLER SARA STARBURG SALUTATORIAN ELEN KELLER stands out before 'sexy the world as a woman who al lg f wbijg -3 cultxes has won success through her courage and perseverance Q Possessmg only three senses taste w ww , touch and smell and bemg de haf L?-l 'I prxved of the most lmportant ones dvi! Z2- besldes bemg speechless she was certamly a p1t1able creature But she possessed that w1l1 power whlch made all thmgs possmble and constantly looked forward to a txme when she mnght make her l1fe a success Thls purpose was only 'nccom plxshed by degrees It took a great deal of force and deter mmatxon on her part The flrst great thmg she dxd wis to learn to read ra1sed letters wxth the axd of a teacher then to wr1te and finally to speak Next she saw the lmportant need and value of a college educatlon She was prepared for thls work and made wonderful progress On entermg college she fully realxzed her deficxencxes yet endeavored all the whnle to look on the brnghter sxde of l1fe Her college educatlon was a decnded success as It qualxhed her ln varnous subjects xn whlch she was especlally mterested Influenced by thls tram mg she began to take an actxve part mn llfe especnally ln thc work of axdmg bl1nd chxldren She vxsxted them read to them and trxed to comfort them and lS domg such work at the present tune She IS also mterested 1n polltxcal and soclal affalrs and is eager to become fam1l1ar wlth all current events l 3 ' :Y 't I l 4 , LL -,K ' . ' H il I though surrounded by many d1ffl- I TT ' ' F X f 1 S i I ,IQ . . - J

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THE HIGH SCHOOL FIMES bulary was increased She was taught to count by Stringing beads and the various forms of arithmetic were understood by using kinder garten straws Helen Keller was not taught in a short time but day by day she learned new ideas It was hard for her to grasp new thoughts because she could neither see nor hear But Miss Sullnvans earnest sympathy with Helen made it pleasanter and easier for her In 1888 Helen went to the Perkin s Inst: tute nn Boston where she met many wxth similar afflnctxons She and her teacher also visited noted places in and around Boston She now appreciated things as never before She had received such a training in the form and use of words that she could write quite well It was a real pleasure to her and she took great delight in communicating to her many friends telling them of her advancement Not only could she write with a pencil at this time but she was also very competent with a typewnter The movement of her fm gers was quick, and her mistakes on the typewriter were few because she actually learned to speak She was taken to Miss Fuller Principal of the Horace Mann School who took care ful pains in teaching her Whenever she made a sound she would place Helens hand over her face not only that she might feel the pos1t1on of her tongue and lips but also the vibrations Helen began to imitate her and soon learned to put xdeas into words Practice was her only watchword and by this she conquered In 1893 Helen Keller began to study the histories of many natxons Latin grammar and arithme tic under Mlss Sullivan In 1894 it was arranged that she should go to the Wright Humason School for the deaf in New York Cnty with Miss Sullivan as attendant Here she might learn hp-reading more fully than she had but her success was not promising As Miss Keller grew older she began to feel her need in helping the blind, and leading them into the new world whxther she had been brought This called for a qualiiied education so she entered Cambridge School in 1896 deter I 1 , . . , . . 1 . . , .- ' I 1 1 ' I . 1 . ' 1 I In 1890, Miss Kel1er's long wished for desire was granted, v 1 ' 1 I I . . I . , ' I ' 1 . . . , . , l . - 9 ' I , . I I Q 1 '