Massachusetts Native Anne Sullivan, the Miracle Worker, 1866-1936

Educator Anne Sullivan, known in her lifetime as the Miracle Worker for her work with the blind, including her pupil Helen Keller, died on October 20, 1936 at age 70.

The daughter of impoverished Irish immigrants, Anne was born on April 14, 1866 in Feeding Hills, Agawam, Massachusetts. When she was five, Anne contracted trachoma, an eye disease caused by bacteria, which caused her to become partially blind. After her mother died in 1874, eight year old Anne and her brother Jimmie were sent to the Tewksbury Almshouse, known as the Poor House for indigent people. Conditions were horrible, and her brother Jimmie died shortly after arriving.

When state officials arrived to conduct an investigation of the almshouse, Annie convinced the commissioners to send her to the Perkins Institute for the Blind in South Boston, which taught blind children to read, write and spell. Annie entered the school in October 1880.

After graduation, Anne was sent to Tuscumbia Alabama to teach a six year old blind child named Helen Keller. She began teaching Helen on March 3, 1887. An epiphany came for Helen one summer day when Anne splashed water on Helen's hand, then spelled out the word 'water' over and over until Helen realized that everything had a name that could be spelled out.

Anne remained Helen's teacher until Anne's death in 1936. Their lives together were made into a film called The Miracle Worker, staring Anne Bancroft as Anne and Patty Duke as Helen.

Keller attended Radcliffe College in Cambridge, MA and became a nationally renowned leader for women's rights and a founder of the American Foundation for the Blind. The Schlesinger Library at Radcliffe houses the Helen Keller Collection.

In 1960, Keller placed a plague in Braille and English at Radcliffe College, next to a small fountain, that reads, "In Memory of Annie Sullivan, teacher extraordinary."

In 1985, the Town of Tewksbury installed a memorial, created by sculptor Mico Kaufman, in front of the Town Hall. In 1992, a variation of the statue, along with a stone marker, was installed in Agawam, where Anne was born.

On June 8, 1992 a bronze statue was dedicated in Anne Sullivan Park in Agawam, Massachusetts, where she was born.

For more information on Anne Sullivan, read an excellent biography from the Perkins School for the Blind, which also maintains the Helen Keller and Anne Sullivan Collections of papers and correspondence. Each year, the Perkins School issues the Anne Sullivan Medal, recognizing those who have "exemplified outstanding commitment, innovation, and advocacy in their efforts to break down barriers and create a world where every child can learn and belong."

For more about women in Boston, visit the Women's Heritage Trail.

For more information on Irish heritage in Massachusetts, visit IrishHeritageTrail.com.

Research + Text by Michael Quinlin

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