Annie+Sullivan

Annie’s family consisted of; her mother (Alice) who died of tuberculosis, her father (Thomas) who was a drunk and her brother(Jimmie) who had tuberculosis in his hip. When Annie’s mother died, she and Jimmie had to move to a poorhouse in Tewksbury. Jimmie died a while after arriving in Tewksbury. Annie felt more alone then ever.
 * Annie Sullivan ** grew up in Feeding Hills, Massachusetts. She was born on April 14, 1866. Her baptized name was Joanna, but from the start people called her Annie.

Shortly after Jimmie had died, a new priest arrived to take mass every Sundays and confessions on Saturdays. His name was Father Barbara and he had a friend that was a doctor. He thought that his friend might be able to cure Annie’s eyes to help her to see. Sadly, after many operations, he couldn’t fix Annie’s eyes. So back she went to the poorhouse.

In 1880 Frank B. Sanborn inspected Tewksbury. When he was leaving, Annie shouted out to him”Mr Sanborn! I want to go to school!” A few days later, Annie left Tewksbury to become a charity pupil at Perkins Institution for the Blind in Boston.

On leaving day, Annie was given lots of advice. The last piece of advice was ”Stay away from here. Don’t let anyone take you back.” Annie remembered this piece of advice best. Annie soon learned to read and write in Braille.

Then vacation arrived. No one knew where to send Annie because she was a charity pupil. The only thing to do was to get her a summer job. Annie became a maid. While she was working, she made a friend. He forced her to go to see his friend who was a doctor. After a few operations, Annie could see! She was half-blind and her eyes could never be fully fixed. But she was glad to see at all.

Annie finished school and found a job as a governess to Hellen Keller, a deaf-mute and blind girl. In 1887, Annie went to live with the Keller family.

Annie educated Hellen well and one of the best days with Hellen was when she finally connected Hell with the outside world. Annie died on October 19, 1936. Hellen felt lost without Annie, but, even though there were days when Hellen wanted to give up and be waited on, she knew that Annie wouldn’t be happy with her. Annie thought she had failed when she died, but she had made Hellen’s life better. So Annie had succeeded. Hellen Keller was the second deaf and blind person in the world to say words using her mouth because of Annie. Annie never gave up on herself or anyone. That is why Annie Sullivan is my hero.