Keller went on to become a world-famous speaker and author. She is remembered as an advocate for people with disabilities amid numerous other causes. She was a suffragist, a pacifist, a Wilson opposer, a radical Socialist, and a birth control supporter. In 1915, Helen Keller and George Kessler founded the Helen Keller International organization. This organization is devoted to research in vision, health and nutrition. In 1920, she helped to found the American Civil Liberties Union. Keller and Sullivan traveled to over 39 countries, making several trips to Japan and becoming a favorite of the Japanese people. Keller met every US President from Grover Cleveland to Lyndon B. Johnson and was friends with many famous figures, including Alexander Graham Bell, Charlie Chaplin, and Mark Twain. Keller was a member of the Socialist Party and actively campaigned and wrote in support of the working classes from 1909 to 1921. She supported Socialist Party candidate Eugene V. Debs in each of his campaigns for the presidency.

Keller joined the Industrial Workers of the World in 1912 saying that parliamentary socialism was "sinking in the political bog." She wrote for the IWW between 1916 and 1918. In Why I Became an IWW, Keller explained that her motivation for activism came in part from her concern about blindness and other disabilities:

At the age of 22, Keller published her autobiography, The Story of My Life (1903), with help from Sullivan and Sullivan's husband, John Macy. It includes words that Keller wrote and the story of her life up to age 21, and was written during her time in college .Keller wrote The World I Live [continues]

Read full essay

Cite This Essay

APA

(2011, 06). Helen Keller.. StudyMode.com. Retrieved 06, 2011, from http://www.studymode.com/essays/Helen-Keller-712033.html

MLA

"Helen Keller." StudyMode.com. 06 2011. 06 2011 <http://www.studymode.com/essays/Helen-Keller-712033.html>.

CHICAGO

"Helen Keller.." StudyMode.com. 06, 2011. Accessed 06, 2011. http://www.studymode.com/essays/Helen-Keller-712033.html.