Staff Member Discovers Helen Keller Photo
This 1888 photo released by the New England Historic Genealogical Society in Boston shows Helen Keller when she was eight years old, left, holding hands with her teacher, Anne Sullivan, during a summer vacation to Brewster, Mass., on Cape Cod. A staff member at the society discovered the photograph in a large photography collection recently donated to the society. This is believed to be the first known photograph of Helen Keller with one of her 
dolls.
"It’s really one of the best images I’ve seen in a long, long time," said Helen Selsdon, an archivist at the American Federation for the Blind, where Keller worked for more than 40 years. "This is just a huge visual addition to the history of Helen and Annie."
You can read about how this photo was hidden away for over a century here…
What a remarkable photograph. I think it serves well to depict the close relationship of Hellen Keller and Anne Sullivan. It must be impossible for anyone to fully comprehend the impact learning sign language had on Hellen Keller’s life. How to you you ever thank someone for giving you the ability to communicate with others? Of course, you never really can, but I think that is why Hellen Keller and Annie Sullivan remained so close throught their lives.