WOMEN IN HISTORY - ANNIE SULLIVAN
Helen Keller's teacher
DATE OF BIRTH
April 14, 1866
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PLACE OF BIRTH
Feeding Hills, Massachusetts
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DATE OF DEATH
October 20, 1936
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PLACE OF DEATH
Forest Hills, New York
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FAMILY BACKGROUND
Johanna (Anne) Sullivan Macy or Anne Mansfield Sullivan Macy was the daughter of Irish immigrant farmers Thomas Sullivan and Alice Cloesy; she had one brother, Jimmie, who was crippled from tuberculosis. Growing up, Anne was subject to poverty and physical abuse by her alcoholic father and at the age of five, trachoma struck Anne, leaving her almost blind. Two years later, her mother died and her father abandoned his children to an orphanage in Tewksbury where her brother died shortly thereafter.
ACCOMPLISHMENTS
Despite being left in a orphanage with no formal educational facilities, Anne Sullivan prospered. When the state board of charities chairman, Frank Sanborn visited the Tewksbury orphanage; Anne literally threw herself in front of him crying, "Mr. Sanborn, I want to go to school." After regaining her eyesight from a series of operations and graduating as class valedictorian in 1886 from the Perkins Institute for the Blind, she began teaching Helen Keller. When Miss Sullivan first arrived, Helen was seven years old and highly undisciplined. Miss Sullivan had to begin her teaching with lessons in obedience, followed by teachings of the manual and Braille alphabets. Sullivan attended classes with Keller and tutored her through the Perkins Institute, The Cambridge School for Young Ladies and Radcliffe College. All who came in contact with them were amazed at the ability of Miss Sullivan to reach Miss Keller and Miss Keller's heightened ability to grasp concepts unheard of by deaf and blind students before her. Alexander Graham Bell, Andrew Carnegie, Henry H. Rogers and John Spaulding were only a few of those who met them and supported them.
Throughout Helen's formal education and after, Miss Sullivan was often viewed with suspicion and speculation: many believed that Anne was trying to control Keller or use Keller. They did not trust the commitment that Anne Sullivan had to her student.
After Miss Keller's formal education, Anne Sullivan continued to assist Miss Keller by accompanying her on her travels and to various lecture tours. After Helen's graduation from Radcliffe, Anne married young Harvard instructor, John Albert Macy in 1905. The three lived together until 1912 when the Macy's separated.
Sullivan and Keller were constantly in demand to give lectures and to raise money for the American Foundation for the Blind. However, they often were too charitable and as a result had to supplement their income. The pair attempted to produce a movie, Deliverance, but it was unsuccessful; they experienced better success on the vaudeville circuit.
Eventually, Miss Sullivan's own eyesight failed her but toward the end of her life received recognition from Temple University, the Educational Institute of Scotland, and the Roosevelt Memorial foundation for her tireless teaching and commitment to Helen Keller.
Throughout Helen's formal education and after, Miss Sullivan was often viewed with suspicion and speculation: many believed that Anne was trying to control Keller or use Keller. They did not trust the commitment that Anne Sullivan had to her student.
After Miss Keller's formal education, Anne Sullivan continued to assist Miss Keller by accompanying her on her travels and to various lecture tours. After Helen's graduation from Radcliffe, Anne married young Harvard instructor, John Albert Macy in 1905. The three lived together until 1912 when the Macy's separated.
Sullivan and Keller were constantly in demand to give lectures and to raise money for the American Foundation for the Blind. However, they often were too charitable and as a result had to supplement their income. The pair attempted to produce a movie, Deliverance, but it was unsuccessful; they experienced better success on the vaudeville circuit.
Eventually, Miss Sullivan's own eyesight failed her but toward the end of her life received recognition from Temple University, the Educational Institute of Scotland, and the Roosevelt Memorial foundation for her tireless teaching and commitment to Helen Keller.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
- Brady, Nella, Anne Sulivan Macy. 1933
- Hickok, Lorena A., The Touch of Magic; the Story of Helen Keller's Great Teacher, Anne Sullivan Macy. New York: Dodd, Mead, 1961.
- Lash, Joseph P. Helen and Teacher: The Story of Helen Keller and Anne Sullivan Macy. 1980
- Selden, Bernice. The Story of Annie Sullivan, Helen Keller's Teacher. New York: Dell Pub., 1987.
- American Foundation for the Blind - Anne Sullivan Macy: Miracle Worker
- Her papers are held at the Perkins Institute for the Blind, Watertown, Mass; American Antiquarian Society, Worchester, Mass; and the Volta Bureau in Washington, D.C.
CITATION
This page may be cited as:
Women in History. Annie Sullivan biography. Last Updated: 2/27/2013. Women In History Ohio.
<http://www.womeninhistoryohio.com/annie-sullivan.html>
Women in History. Annie Sullivan biography. Last Updated: 2/27/2013. Women In History Ohio.
<http://www.womeninhistoryohio.com/annie-sullivan.html>
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