“When one door of happiness closes, another opens; but often we look so long at the closed door that we do not see the one which has been opened for us.”

–Helen Keller

Helen Keller was born on this day in 1880 in Tuscumbia, Alabama. She would have been 132.

When Keller was 19 months old she contracted an illness that left her deaf and blind. Although able to communicate with rudimentary “Home Signs” she was essentially isolated from the outside world until Anne Sullivan arrived at the Keller home. Sullivan taught Keller American Sign Language. Keller went on to become the first deaf blind person to earn a Bachelor of Arts degree. Eventually she learned to speak, could read Braille, and could communicate through sign language and by reading people’s lips with her hands.

She became a political activist and writer, advocating for people with disabilities.

Helen Keller (Photo credit: Wikipedia)