Remarkable

"Helen Keller with Anne Sullivan in July 1888" by Family member of Thaxter P. Spencer, now part of the R. Stanton Avery Special Collections, at the New England Historic Genealogical Society. See Press Release [1] for more information. - New England Historic Genealogical Society. Licensed under Public Domain via Commons - https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Helen_Keller_with_Anne_Sullivan_in_July_1888.jpg#/media/File:Helen_Keller_with_Anne_Sullivan_in_July_1888.jpg

WHAT A WOMAN: It wasn't planned, but we ended up talking about Helen Keller at length today. I have a friend who is deaf, and today she posted a wonderful old 1930's newsreel featuring Keller and her lifelong teacher Anne Sullivan. The women were demonstrating how Keller learned to talk - a remarkable feat for a woman who had been blind and deaf since age 18 months. https://youtu.be/Gv1uLfF35Uw

I was rather horrified to learn that neither CJ nor Annabelle had heard of Helen Keller before today. My bad. So, we fixed that. 

We watched another short, biographical video about Keller. It's rather melancholy as she shares her "acute disappointment in not being able to speak normally." 

Frankly, I think most would think it amazing she could speak *at all,* but clearly Keller had high expectations for herself. No doubt that's one of the reasons she was able to accomplish so much. (Keller was the first blind and deaf person to earn a bachelor's degree.)
https://youtu.be/8ch_H8pt9M8


We also watched a short video about Helen Keller's engagement. Years and years ago, I read Keller's autobiography, "The Story of My Life," and remembered this happy-and-sad chapter in her life. Her own family basically kidnapped her and forbid her to marry the love of her life, Peter Fagan, a 29-year-old Boston Herald reporter. 

Hopefully, I can get the kids to read Keller's autobiography. And we should see if we can track down a copy of the film "The Miracle Worker," from 1962. 

MAKING NORTH AMERICA: This evening we watched NOVA, which is basically guaranteed to be good stuff. Tonight's topic" "Making North America."

Tonight was the first of three parts of the show, which is described like this on the PBS Web site:  "Mighty, elemental forces molded North America—fiery eruptions, titanic floods, the grinding of great ice sheets, and massive impacts from space all shaped our homeland. The epic three-part series unfolds in a forgotten world that existed long before our own, crossed by long-lost mountain ranges, deserts the size of Africa, and vast inland seas."
https://youtu.be/Wmqb7bCv5tI

Awesome. :)