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Ivy Green: Birthplace of Helen Keller

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NiteOwlTX
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4 out of 5
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Ivy Green: Birthplace of Helen Keller

  • March 29, 2006
  • Rated 4 of 5 by NiteOwlTX from LaPlace, Louisiana
Ivy Green: Birthplace of Helen Keller

There are few stories that can inspire as much as that of Helen Keller. Helen Keller was born a healthy child in 1880. Before she turned 2-years-old she was hit with an illness that left her blind and deaf. Being both blind and deaf, the young Keller struggled for her first years until Anne Sullivan came to be her teacher.

It was at this home in Tuscumbia, that Keller's story first spiked as she learned to communicate. With Anne Sullivan pumping the well and tapping the letters W-A-T-E-R into her side, something clicked in Helen's 7-year-old mind and she began to understand language. Before that day ended she knew 30 words.

By the age of 10, she could read the "finger-tip language" and could write at an adult level. Of course, she went on to become the spokesperson for not only the blind and deaf, or the handicapped, but for all of America as an ambassador to the world.

While the plantation lands that surrounded the house have long since been sold off and developed by other families, the main house at Ivy Green is still in its original location. The house is decorated as it would have been during Helen's childhood. The pump where she learned her first word, as well as the nursery where she worked with Anne Sullivan is still an out-building to the main house. There is also a large collection of Keller artifacts and news clippings.

A guided tour takes you through the house and tells the Helen Keller story as well as some anecdotes about Helen as a child. The tour lasts about thirty minutes and it will take you another thirty minutes to see the out-buildings and the pumping station. Once a year, they host a play that documents Helen's childhood.

I recommend a trip to Ivy Green for anyone interested in history. I also recommend this attraction for all families, as Helen Keller is someone all children will have heard of. Finally, I would recommend this attraction to all those in the area, as this is one of the most inspiring stories in American history.

Website: www.helenkellerbirthplace.org

From journal The Shoals of Alabama

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