A Girl Named Helen

College Dreams

After studying in Boston, fourteen-year-old Helen went to a New York City school for deaf children. Of course, Anne went with her. Helen’s classes included lip reading, speech, math, French, and German. She went on field trips, too. Helen went to the Statue of Liberty where she climbed to the top!

Living in New York City expanded Helen’s world. She set a new goal for herself: to go to college. At that time, very few women went to college. And there had never been a deaf and blind woman to finish college. But that didn’t discourage Helen.

In 1896, she enrolled in the Cambridge School for Young Ladies. This school was for the hearing as well. Helen had to work extra hard to keep up with her studies, and all the studying made her weak and tired. Helen’s mother thought Anne was pushing her too hard, so maybe it was time to separate them. Anne and Helen were both very upset at that idea. In the end, Anne stayed.

At last, Helen’s dream was coming true. She was accepted to Radcliffe, a prestigious women’s college.

Radcliffe was hard. Anne went to classes with Helen and spelled into her hand as the teachers spoke. When she wasn’t studying, Helen wrote down stories of her life. An editor from a magazine offered Helen $3,000 to publish them, and she agreed. Eventually a teacher at Harvard, John Macy, offered to put the stories in a book. Helen’s book, The Story of My Life, was published in 1903.

In 1904, Helen graduated with honors. Newspapers around the world wrote about Helen Keller: the first blind and deaf person to graduate from an American College.