From Washington, D.C., Annie and Helen made their way by train to Boston. At Perkins, Helen met the now middle-aged Laura Bridgman. The meeting was a disappointment, however. Laura thought that Helen was too much of a tomboy. Helen sat on the floor. Laura did not approve of that. When Helen left, she bent to kiss Laura good-bye and stepped on Laura’s toes. Laura cried out in pain. Helen felt like a clumsy schoolgirl.
Some people thought that Helen was too loud and laughed too much. But Annie did not agree. She knew that Helen was full of life. Annie wanted Helen to grab hold of life and not wait quietly for things to happen.
Helen spoke at the Perkins commencement. This was an important event. The Boston newspapers ran stories about the school and the children who graduated from it. Important and rich people came to this event. The governor of Massachusetts was there. The band played. Ten boys showed how well they could do arithmetic. Then came Helen.
Helen had been sitting patiently on the platform waiting for her turn. She smiled and glowed as she waited. She could feel the crowd’s energy. Proudly Helen spelled a poem about birds into Annie’s hand. Annie spoke the words as Helen spelled. The audience was spellbound.
When the school closed for the summer, Annie and Helen went to Cape Cod. For the first time, Helen went swimming in the ocean. She loved the feel of the cold salt water on her face. Cape Cod was to become Helen’s most favorite place.
One day, when Helen was swimming, the strong waves pulled her under. She fought her way to the surface, swallowing water as she struggled. The waves tossed her onto the sand. Helen lay there in terror, not sure what had happened. Annie ran to her and hugged and comforted her.
Helen had courage. Two days later, she was back in the ocean, swimming. Helen had only one question. Who, she wanted to know, had filled the ocean with salt!
After Annie and Helen went home to Alabama, lessons and learning again filled their days.
As time passed, Annie thought about leaving Alabama. The local people stared at Annie and Helen when they went into town. Annie believed that Helen could learn more by living in the city.
So Annie asked the Kellers to let them both live at Perkins. Reluctantly, they agreed. They knew it was best for Helen.
In October, Annie and Helen returned to Perkins. Helen was not enrolled there. She was a guest. But she dove right into the schoolwork. She studied geography, botany (the study of plants), zoology (the study of animals), and arithmetic. Arithmetic was her least favorite subject.
Helen’s time at Perkins passed quickly. Poetry became her passion. One time Helen visited Oliver Wendell Holmes, the great New England writer. Later, she read his poems to the blind children at Perkins. Helen sent him a letter. She told Holmes that she was sorry he had no little children to play with, but that he seemed happy with his many books. She went on to tell him what she was learning and asked if her little sister could meet him when she visited Helen. Holmes loved her letter. He published it in an important magazine called The Atlantic Monthly. After this honor, Helen began to take her writing more seriously.
In the spring of 1890, a teacher named Mary Swift Lamson returned to Perkins from Norway. While in Norway, she had heard about a deaf-blind girl who had learned to speak. Helen seized upon the idea. Learning to speak became Helen’s dream. Annie tried to be realistic with Helen, for she did not want her to be disappointed. If a person cannot see people’s faces, it is extremely hard—almost impossible—to learn to speak. But Helen would not give up.
Annie did not stand in Helen’s way. She found a teacher for Helen. Helen had to touch her teacher’s mouth as it moved when she spoke. Helen had to learn how lips and tongue moved to make words. At the end of the first lesson, Helen could say the letters i, m, p, q, s, and t. Helen had visions of going home and talking with her family. Helen practiced continually with Annie. But her voice was never clear. It was something that would bother Helen the rest of her life. She felt that not being able to speak clearly made her different.
Now eleven, Helen wrote a story she called “The Frost King.” She gave the story to Mr. Anagnos for his birthday. It was a lovely story, full of images and color. It was published in The Mentor, the Perkins alumni magazine, in January 1892. People praised the wonderful story.
However, Helen had not created the story. A newspaper printed Helen’s story side by side with a story by someone called “The Frost Fairies.” Helen’s story was exactly the same. Helen was crushed. Annie said that she had never read the story to Helen. No one ever remembered reading the story to Helen. But a copy of the book was in the house where Annie and Helen had stayed on Cape Cod. Somehow, Helen must have heard the story and forgotten it.
Helen was shattered. She hadn’t been trying to trick anyone! She went to the Perkins School to defend herself. She appeared alone before a group of eight teachers and school officers. Half of the group was blind and half was sighted. Alone in a hot, stuffy room without Annie, Helen shook with fear. It was like she was on trial for her life. Later, Helen wrote, “The blood pressed about my thumping heart, and I could scarcely speak. …”
The group showed no mercy. Again and again, they kept asking, “Who read you that story?”
Helen could not answer that question. She had no memory of it. In the end, most of the group believed Helen. Mr. Anagnos thought that it had all been a horrible mistake. But he felt he could no longer trust Helen or Annie. Their friendship with Mr. Anagnos ended. Helen’s time at Perkins was over. Even worse, Helen was never again sure of her writing. Was she writing from her heart and mind or repeating something that she had heard? This fear stayed with Helen every time she picked up a pen.
Helen and Annie returned to Alabama. Helen was ill most of that summer. She no longer woke up hungry to learn. Helen retreated into herself. But gradually her spirits grew stronger. Now she had to make a decision. Was her education at an end? Or could she find another school? |