Anne Sullivan

This Article is about of the teacher of Helen Keller. For others see Ann Sullivan(disambiguation)

Thomas & Alice Sullivan (Parents)
Helen Keller (June 27, 1880 – June 1, 1968)(Friend)
James (Jimmie) Sullivan (Brother)

**Johanna** "**Anne**" **Mansfield Sullivan Macy**, better known as **Anne Sullivan**, was an American teacher, best known for being the instructor and lifelong companion of Helen Keller. She contracted trachoma, a highly contagious eye disease, when she was eight to ten years old which left her blind and without reading or writing skills. She received her education as a student of the Perkins School for the Blind where upon graduation she became a teacher to Keller when she was 20.

## *Early Years* & *Childhood*

Anne Mansifield Sullivan was born on April 8, 1866, in Feeding Hills, Agawam, Massachusetts. According to her baptismal certificate, her name at birth was Johanna Mansfield Sullivan; however, she was called Anne or Annie from birth.[3] She was the oldest child of Thomas and Alice (Cloesy) Sullivan. Her parents were illiterate, unskilled, and impoverished immigrants who came to the United States in 1860 from County Limerick, Ireland, during the Great Potato Famine.[4] When she was only eight years old she contracted a bacterial eye disease known astrachoma, which created painful infections and over time made her nearly blind.[2] When she was eight, her mother died and her father abandoned the children two years later for fear he could not raise them on his own. She and her younger brother, James ("Jimmie"), were sent to an overcrowded almshouse in Tewksbury, Massachusetts (today part of Tewksbury Hospital). Jimmie suffered from a debilitating hip ailment and died three months into their stay. Sullivan remained at the Tewksbury house for four years after his death, where she had eye operations that offered some short-term relief for her eye pain but ultimately proved ineffective.

## *Education*

*Sullivan lost her sight at a young age and therefore had no skills in reading, writing, or sewing and the only work she could find was as a housemaid; however, this position was unsuccessful. Another blind resident staying at the Tewksbury almshouse told her of schools for the blind. During an 1880 inspection of the almshouse, she convinced inspector Franklin Benjamin Sanborn to allow her to leave and enroll in the Perkins School for the Blind in Boston, where she began her studies on October 7, 1880. Although her rough manners made her first years at Perkins humiliating for her, she managed to connect with a few teachers and made progress with her learning. While there, she befriended and learned the manual alphabet from Laura Bridgman, a graduate of Perkins and the first blind and deaf person to be educated there. Also while there, she had a series of eye operations that significantly improved her vision. In June 1886, she graduated from there at age 20 as thevaledictorian of her class. She stated "Fellow-graduates: duty bids us go forth into active life. Let us go cheerfully, hopefully, and earnestly, and set ourselves to find our especial part. When we have found it, willingly and faithfully perform it."*

## Career

The summer following Sullivan's graduation, the director of the Perkins Institution, Michael Anagnos, was contacted by Arthur Keller, who was in search of a teacher for his 7-year-old blind and deaf daughter, Helen.[2] Anagnos immediately recommended Sullivan for this position and she began her work on March 3, 1887 at the Kellers' home in Tuscumbia, Alabama. As soon as she arrived there, she argued with Helen's parents about the Civil War and over the fact that they used to own slaves. However she also quickly connected with Helen. It was the beginning of a 49-year relationship: Sullivan evolved from teacher to governess and finally to companion and friend.
Sullivan's curriculum involved a strict schedule with constant introduction of new vocabulary words; however, Sullivan quickly changed her teachings after seeing they did not suit Keller. Instead, she began to teach her vocabulary based on her own interests, where she spelled each word out into Keller's palm; within six months this method proved to be working when Keller had learned 575 words, some multiplication tables, as well as the Braille system.[2] Sullivan strongly encouraged Hellen's parents to send her to the Perkins School where she could have an appropriate education. When they agreed, Sullivan took Keller to Boston in 1888 and stayed with her there. Sullivan continued to teach her bright protégée, who soon became famous for her remarkable progress. With the help of Anagnos, Keller became a public symbol for the school, helping to increase its funding and donations and making it the most famous and sought-after school for the blind in the country. However, an accusation of plagiarism against Keller greatly upset Sullivan: she left and never returned, but did remain influential to the school.[2] Sullivan remained a close companion to Keller and continued to assist in her education, which ultimately included a degree from Radcliffe College.

## *Personal Life*

On May 3, 1905, Sullivan married Harvard University instructor and literary critic, John Albert Macy (1877–1932), who had helped Keller with her publications.[8] He moved in with them, and they lived together. However, within a few years, the marriage began to disintegrate. By 1914 they separated, though he is listed as living as a "lodger" with them in the 1920 U.S. Census.[9] They never officially divorced. As the years progressed after their separation, he appears to have faded from her life. She never remarried.

## *Awards*

*In 1932 Keller and Sullivan were each awarded honorary fellowships from the Educational Institute of Scotland. They also were awarded honorary degrees from Temple University.[10] In 1955 Sullivan was awarded an honorary degree from Harvard University,[8] and in 1956 the director's cottage at the Perkins School was named the Keller-Macy Cottage.*

Sullivan as well had an award named after her as **the Anne Sullivan award** that honors educators that go beyond the required to help a person with disability.