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Helen Keller (1880)close

Helen Keller was born in Tuscumbia, Alabama, and was a normal child until she developed a fever at the age of 18 months. The fever made her both blind and deaf, and the hearing loss meant her speech was impaired as well. Helen became very frustrated with not being able to communicate, and her family hired Anne Sullivan to teach Helen to use sign language and read Braille. Helen went on to graduate from Radcliffe College with high honors in 1904, a time when most girls never went to college at all.

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