Helen Keller - Tewksbury, MA
Posted by: 
neoc1
N 42° 36.723 W 071° 14.043
19T E 316760 N 4720154
A sculpture outside the Tewksbury Town Hall captures the moment Helen Keller was taught her first word - water by her teacher Anne Sullivan.
Waymark Code: WM12K8V
Location: Massachusetts, United States
Date Posted: 06/09/2020
Views: 3
The sculpture "Water" is located on the north side of the town hall in Tewksbury, MA. Both a young Helen Keller and her teacher Anne Sullivan are sitting on the ground with their knees upright. Both are wearing long dresses. Anne's left hand is making the sign for "water" into Helen's right hand while Helen faces the sky.
"Water" is the creation of the Romanian-American sculptor Mico Kaufman. The rough bronze sculpture is 44" high by 5' 9" long. It rests on a polished granite base which is 1' by 8' 1" in. by 4' 5". On the base is inscribed: ANNE SULLIVAN, TEACHER AND HELEN KELLER. A small bronze plaque on the base gives the title "WATER" and the name of the artist MICO KAUFMAN SC. and the date 1985, the year the sculpture was created and dedicated.
The sculpture was a gift, from local citizens to the town of Tewksbury, commemorating the 250th anniversary of the incorporation of the town in 1764. A nearby plaque is inscribed:
ANNE SULLIVAN AND HELEN KELLER MEMORIAL SCULPTURE
COMMEMORATING THE 250TH ANNIVERSARY OF TEWKSBURY
MAJOR CONTRIBUTERS
followed by 24 double column rows of names.
Hellen Keller was on June 27, 1880 in Tuscumbia, Alabama. At the age of 19 months she contracted an illness, likely scarlet fever or meningitis, that left her her both deaf and blind. The family contacting Alexander Grahm Bell who recommenced them to contact the Perkins Institute for the Blind in Boston. There the school's director, asked Anne Sullivan, an alumnus of the school who was visually impaired from an untreated eye infection, to become Helen Keller's instructor.
Anne Sullivan's strategy was to teach Helen to communicate by spelling words into her hand. After many unsuccessful attempts Helen finally realized that the motions Anne made in her hand, while running water over her other hand, meant "water". This moment of insight is captured in the sculpture.
Helen went on to become the first deaf-blind person to earn a Bachelor of Arts degree and became a prolific author, lecturer and social activist. Anne and Helen became lifelong companions and collaborators. Their story is recounted in the 1962 Academy Award winning movie "The Miracle Worker".
During her life Helen Kellet published 12 books and wrote several articles. He most famous book was her biography The Story of My Life published in 1903.
Other books by Helen Keller include:
Three Days To See
The World I Live In
The Miracle Worker: Selected Works of Helen Keller
Light in my Darkness
Teacher: Anne Sullivan Macy
Optimism
To Love This Life: Quotations By Helen Keller
The World I Live In and Optimism: A Collection of Essays
The Story of my life; with her letters and a supplementary account of her education, including passages from the reports and letters of her teacher, Anne Mansfield Sullivan