Where Miracles Happen

Where Miracles Happen

The modest white house seems typical of many found throughout the South, with its inviting front porch, beautiful interior, and lovely grounds. But those physical attributes hint nothing at the miracle that took place here more than a century ago.

Walk around to the back lawn, though, and there sits the evidence—the black water pump where blind and deaf Helen Keller first understood the concept of language in 1887. It was here that Keller’s teacher, Annie Sullivan, signed the word W-A-T-E-R into the 7-year-old girl’s hand while cool water from the pump flowed over her other hand. The idea finally clicked, and Keller signed the word back. By the end of the day, she had learned 30 words.

The pump is just one of the historical features found at Ivy Green, Helen Keller’s birthplace in Tuscumbia, Ala. (pop. 7,856). The home includes a museum filled with Keller documents and artifacts (including her complete collection of Braille books), original furnishings and photographs, an adjoining cottage where Sullivan and Keller lived for two weeks in isolation from the rest of the family, a carriage house, landscaped grounds, and an outdoor theater. William Gibson’s world-famous play, The Miracle Worker, is performed by local actors there each Saturday and Sunday evening throughout late June and July.

For Keller Johnson, Helen Keller’s great-great-niece, Ivy Green’s appeal comes from that sense of living history.

“Ivy Green is not just an old house,” Johnson says. “You can actually come here and see the water pump. There aren’t many historical sites where you can see history so vividly.”

Johnson, a lifelong resident of Tuscumbia, serves as the vice president of the Helen Keller Foundation, which supports laboratory and clinical research to advance vision and hearing worldwide and holds programs of public education on Helen Keller’s legacy. She also works with the American Foundation for the Blind.

Johnson says she often walks the grounds of Ivy Green and visualizes how life must have been for Keller and her sister—Johnson’s great-great-grandmother, Mildred. “You can just imagine Helen and Mildred playing in these big trees, much like sisters would do today,” she says. “Anyone who has read Helen’s biography or other books about her can do the same thing. They can see the stories come to life here at Ivy Green.”

Before Annie Sullivan came to teach Keller, the child’s life was out of control. She felt helpless and hopeless, as did her parents. But that day at the water pump indeed changed her life. In six months, Keller knew 625 words; by the time she was 16, she spoke well enough to attend preparatory school.

“This young girl from Tuscumbia not only learned how to read, using her hands, but she went on to learn speech, attend school, and eventually graduate from Radcliffe College,” says Sue Pilkilton, Ivy Green director.

Keller embarked on a career that educated and inspired millions. She lectured in more than 25 countries on five continents, wrote five books, and brought new courage to blind and sighted people alike. (Visit www.helenkellerfoundation.org for more information.)

Johnson has devoted her life to carrying on her ancestor’s legacy by educating children across Alabama about disability issues. Part of that education comes from the annual Helen Keller Festival—held each year on the last weekend in June—where kids can learn Braille and sign language. Highlights of the festival include a juried arts and crafts show, parade, athletic events, and street concerts by national and local musicians.

Residents of Tuscumbia, an inviting and intimate town in northwest Alabama, are proud of its designation as home of America’s “First Lady of Courage.” Helen Keller’s presence, in fact, pervades the town.

“Tuscumbia is one of those small towns that thrives on its past, but is not stuck in the past,” Johnson says. “We are proud of Helen Keller and what she means to our town. We also, though, continue to thrive and grow.”

Pilkilton says the town and the many Helen Keller sites at Ivy Green continue to draw visitors from around the world. Those visitors, she says, leave the town with a better sense of who Keller was and are inspired by her accomplishments.

Cheryl Sloan Wray is a writer based in Hueytown, Ala.

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