Helen Keller’s Birthplace, Ivy Green, Tuscumbia, Alabama/ The Miracle Worker

Helen was born here in 1880, in her family home built by her grandfather, David Keller. It originally had over 300 acres. She contracted what most doctors now think was Scarlet Fever when she was 19 months old. It left her blind and deaf. Family urged the Kellers to place Helen in an institution, as was the customary practice in that day. They never did. Helen was indulged and some would say, spoiled.
It was with the help of inventor Alexander Graham Bell and others from the Boston Perkins School for the blind that Anne Sullivan came into Helen’s life, and she never left.
This where it all happened- Ivy Green. It sits on what is left of the original property-ten acres, in Tuscumbia. Alabama. Most of the furnishings are original, as well as Helen’s clothing and personal objects. Also original is the water pump, where a miracle happened- Anne was able to make a breakthrough with Helen by signing “WATER” into Anne’s hand while pumping water into her other hand.
Please visit the birthplace if you are in the area! The tour guides are amazing! It’s located at 300 Commons St. W, Tuscumbia, Alabama 35674. They are open Monday through Saturday, 8:30 am to 4 pm.