The name Helen Keller has had special meaning for millions of people in all parts of the world. She could not see or hear. Yet Helen Keller was able to do so much with her days and years. Her success gave others hope. Helen Keller was born June 27, 1880 in a small town in northern Alabama. Her father Arthur Keller was a captain in the army of the South during the American Civil War. Her mother was his second wife. She was much younger than her husband. Helen was their first child. Until she was a year and one half old Helen Keller was just like any other child. She was very active. She began walking and talking early. Then 19 months after she was born, Helen became very sick. It was a strange sickness that made her completely blind and deaf. The doctor could not do anything for her. Her bright happy