Anne Sullivan (1866-1936) was a trailblazer in the field of education. She is best known for her work with Helen Keller, a blind and deaf child she taught to communicate. Her teaching of Helen Keller changed the manner in which children with disabilities were educated. She was kind and compassionate and never believed anyone was a hopeless case. Sullivan's story lives on through film and theatrical productions. Her work with Keller was immortalized in the play The Miracle Worker, which was later turned into the 1962 film starring Patty Duke as Keller and Anne Bancroft as Sullivan. For those of you tuning in for the first time, welcome! Here’s the deal: Every weekday, we highlight the stories of iconic women in history you may not know about, but definitely should. We’re talking about women from around the world and throughout history. Each month is themed. This month we’re going back to school, highlighting educators and intellectuals.
This month, we're going back to school with stories of the most influential women educators in history.
History classes can get a bad wrap, and sometimes for good reason. When we were students, we couldn’t help wondering... where were all the ladies at? Why were so many incredible stories missing from the typical curriculum? Enter, Encyclopedia Womannica. On this Wonder Media Network podcast we explore the lives of inspiring women in history you may not know about, but definitely should.
Every weekday, listeners explore the trials, tragedies, and triumphs of groundbreaking women throughout history who have dramatically shaped the world around us. In each 5 minute episode, we’ll dive into the story behind one woman listeners may or may not know -- but definitely should. These diverse women from across space and time are grouped into easily accessible and engaging monthly themes like Educators, Villains, Indigenous Storytellers, Activists, and many more. Encyclopedia Womannica is hosted by WMN co-founder and award-winning journalist Jenny Kaplan. The bite-sized episodes pack painstakingly researched content into fun, entertaining, and addictive daily adventures.
Encyclopedia Womannica was created by Liz Kaplan and Jenny Kaplan, executive produced by Jenny Kaplan, and produced by Liz Smith, Grace Lynch, Maddy Foley, Brittany Martinez, Edie Allard, Lindsey Kratochwill, Sundus Hassan, Adesuwa Agbonile, Carmen Borca-Carrillo, Taylor Williamson, and Ale Tejada. Special thanks to Shira Atkins.
We are offering free ad space on Wonder Media Network shows to organizations working towards social justice. For more information, please email Jenny at pod@wondermedianetwork.com.
Follow Wonder Media Network:
Hello, from Wonder Media Network I’m Jenny Kaplan and this is Womanica.
Today, we’re talking about a teacher who forever changed the way educators work with students with disabilities. She’s maybe best known for her friendship and lifelong companionship with her student, Helen Keller. Please welcome Anne Sullivan.
Anne was born Johanna [Jo-HANNAH] Mansfield Sullivan on April 14, 1866, in Feeding Hills, Massachusetts. Her parents, Alice and Thomas, emigrated from Ireland during the Great Famine. Anne was one of five children, but only she and her brother, Jimmie, survived infancy. Even then, both of the siblings had health struggles. When she was five, Anne contracted trachoma, an eye disease that damaged her sight for the rest of her life.
When Anne was eight, her mother died of tuberculosis. Anne and Jimmie were left in the care of their father, Thomas. This situation lasted two years before Thomas, an abusive alcoholic, left the children at a home for the poor called the Tewksbury Almshouse.
The almshouse was dirty, overcrowded, and inhospitable for two young children. Jimmie died just a few months after arriving. The conditions at Tewksbury were so awful, the Massachusetts Board of State Charities launched a series of investigations into the building. Anne found out the lead inspector was also the founder of a nearby school, Perkins School for the Blind. Anne asked to transfer to Perkins, and in 1880, she enrolled.
At Perkins, Anne found herself out of place. She was dedicated to her learning, but she had a short temper and little schooling compared to her classmates. She also underwent multiple eye surgeries to improve her vision, none of which succeeded.
Still, she excelled. Anne graduated from Perkins as valedictorian. She developed a friendship with the school’s director, who helped her find a job after graduation. He had heard of a family looking for a governess for their 6-year-old daughter, who was deaf and blind. Her name was Helen Keller.
When she arrived in Tuscumbia [tuh-SCUM-bee-uh], Alabama, Anne and Helen didn’t get off to a running start. Helen also had a short temper, and was notoriously hard to teach. Anne was a young teacher, just beginning her career at 20 years old. She soon realized her curriculum as it stood would not be very helpful to Helen.
Anne got permission from Helen’s parents to live alone with her in a nearby cottage. This distance allowed Anne to work with Helen one-on-one. It also allowed them to work outside. Anne realized Helen could learn by using her senses of smell, touch, and taste to connect the vocabulary she was learning to the world around her. Anne used a grooved board to help Helen learn how to write, and finger-spelling to help her associate those written words to objects and sensations.
Within six months, Helen had learned nearly 600 words, most of her multiplication tables, and how to read Braille. Anne eventually convinced Helen’s parents to send her to the Perkins School, where they continued working together. The Perkins director was so impressed by the pair’s progress that they wrote a series of reports on them. Helen and Anne became well-known celebrities. They had so much support, in fact, that when Helen’s parents could no longer afford her schooling, the cost was picked up by none other than millionaire Andrew Carnegie.
Anne helped Helen continue her studies. In 1900, Helen received her degree from Radcliffe. With it, she became the first deaf-blind person to graduate from college.
Anne and Helen were inseparable. In 1905, Anne married a Harvard University instructor named John A. Macy. When the new couple moved into a Massachusetts farmhouse, Helen came with them. John even helped edit Helen’s autobiography, which Anne and Helen had been writing for years. But around 1913, John and Anne’s relationship ended when John moved to Europe. The two never officially divorced.
Anne continued to accompany Helen on speaking engagements and was her lifelong companion. But in the 1910s, despite their fame, the pair found it hard to stay afloat financially. Anne played herself in the first film adaptation of her life, but the movie was a box office failure.
By the 1920s, Anne’s eye condition had deteriorated. She had her right eye removed to improve her health.
Anne died on October 20, 1936, in Forest Hills, New York. Helen sat by her in her final moments. Her ashes were placed at the National Cathedral in Washington, D.C.
All month, we’re honoring champions of education. For more on why we’re doing what we’re doing, check out our newsletter, Womannica Weekly. Follow us on Facebook and Instagram, @encyclopediawomannica and follow me directly on twitter @jennymkaplan.
Special thanks to Liz Kaplan, my favorite sister and co-creator.
Talk to you tomorrow!