A Rare Recording of Helen Keller, Anne Sullivan and Polly Thompson

Helen Keller was born on June 27, 1880, in  Tuscumbia, Alabama . Though born with the ability to see and hear, at 19 months-old she contracted an acute illness that left her both deaf and blind. Eventually, 20-year-old  Anne Sullivan , herself visually impaired, became Keller's speech instructor. It was the beginning of a 49-year-long relationship during which Sullivan evolved into Keller's governess  and eventually her  companion . In 1914, Sullivan's health began to fail, so a young woman from Scotland, Polly Thomson, was hired to keep house. Though she had no experience with deaf or blind people, Thompson progressed to working as a secretary, and eventually became a constant companion to Keller. Keller went on to become a world-famous speaker and author. She was a  suffragist , a  pacifist , a  radical  socialist, and a  birth control supporter . In 1915 she and  George Kessler  founded the  Helen Keller International  organization, devoted to research in vision, health and nutrition. In 1920 she helped to found the  American Civil Liberties Union .