Biography

Helen Keller was born on June 27, 1880 in a small country town in Alabama called Tuscumbia. Her father was Captain Arthur Henley Keller who served in the Confederate Army during the American Civil War and her mother was Kate Adams Keller who was twenty years younger than her husband. She was born with all abilities including sight and hearing. The family was tight on money, as Mr. Keller was the owner of a cotton plantation and the editor of a weekly newspaper.

In February 1882, Helen Keller fell very ill. What this illness actually was is still a mystery even to modern day scientists. The doctors of the time called in "brain fever". Helen was expected to die , but eventually the fever calmed down. Her mother started to notice that she wasnt responding to normal things that she usually would. She wouldnt come to the dinner bell. She wouldnt even look up when a dog was barking. She also wouldnt respond to her mother passing her hand in front of Helen's eyes. They soon concluded that Helen's fever left her deaf and blind.