Today I will continue my series on Evangelical women who lived in the second half of 1800 and felt called to ministry despite the opposition of men, this time sharing the story of a woman named Helen Keller. She lived from 1880 - 1968. Her parents were Arthur H. Keller, a farmer and a newspaper editor, and Katherine Adams Keller. They lived in Tuscombia, Alabama.
Several months before Helen's second birthday, a serious illness left her deaf and blind. She had no formal education, and since she could not speak, she developed a system for communicating with her family by feeling their facial expressions.
Recognising her daughter's intelligence, Helen's mother sought help from experts including inventor Alexander Graham Bell, who had become involved with deaf children. Ultimately she was referred to Anne Sullivan, a graduate of the Perkins School for the Blind, who became Helen's lifelong teacher and mentor. Although Helen initially resisted her, Anne persevered.
