Lions Club “Knights of the Blind”

Helen Keller (June 27, 1880 – June 1, 1968) was a woman of astounding intelligence, unwavering determination, unbelievable courage and insurmountable achievement.  She dedicated her entire life to the betterment of others, helping people see the potential in their own lives, as well as the lives of people around them. She became the first blind-deaf person to effectively communicate with the sighted and hearing world.  In so doing, she became an international celebrity from the age of eight, even before the era of mass communications.

Helen Adams Keller was born to Arthur H. Keller and Kate Adams Keller in the small, north Alabama town of Tuscumbia.  When she was only 19 months old, she contracted a fever that would leave her both deaf and blind.  At almost seven years of age, her mother and father took her to see the famous inventor, Dr. Alexander Graham Bell, who advised them to hire a governess for the child. Following Dr. Bell’s advice they hired Anne Sullivan who taught Keller language, including reading and writing. With the help of her beloved teacher, Helen quickly and eagerly learned to read and write.  After attending high school at the Perkins School for the Blind in Boston, Massachusetts, Keller attended Radcliffe College of Harvard University and became the first deaf-blind person in the United States to earn a Bachelor of Arts degree. She graduated Cum Laude in 1904. After graduation, she began her life’s work of helping blind and deaf-blind people, publishing 14 books and producing numerous articles. [Helen Keller Foundation]

Helen Keller addressed Lions at the International Convention in Cedar Point, Ohio, USA in 1925 and famously challenged Lions to become “knights of the blind in the crusade against darkness.” This began a century-long mission impacting hundreds of millions of lives through vision-related work serving and advocating for the blind and visually impaired. Nearly a century later, this long-standing mission continues unhindered.