KELLER, Helen Adams (1880-1968) and Michael ANAGNOS (1837-1906 ). A small archive of materials related to Keller and Anagnos, including:

KELLER. Braille letter signed (“Helen A. Keller”) to “Mon Tres Cher Ami,” [Michael Anagnos], transcribed in pencil in another hand. Tuscumbia, AL, 17 February 1889. 3pp. on 3 leaves. Due to the rain preventing her travel to church, Keller wrote to Anagnos and retold a story shared with her by Anne Sullivan regarding a hen and her 11 chicks, and looking forward to the next time she can see him. -- KELLER. Braille letter signed (“Helen Adams Keller“) to Michael Anagnos, with transcription in another hand. Tuscumbia, AL, 25 March 1889. 8pp. on 8 leaves. -- KELLER. Autograph letter signed ("Helene Keller") to [Michael Anagnos]. N.p., n.d. 3pp. on 3 leaves. Regarding her upcoming trip to the Hot Springs, getting a St. Bernard dog from Chicago-based Dr. Champlin, and writing 7 lines in French. -- KELLER. Braille document “The Frost King” signed (“Helen Keller”), transcribed in another hand. N.p., n.d. [ca 1891]. 10pp. In the fall of 1891, 11-year-old Keller wrote this short tale of fiction regarding how the fairies were instrumental in the changing colors of leaves in the fall and sent it to Anagnos as a birthday present. Anagnos published it in the Perkins alumni newsletter, which sparked scandal with Keller being accused of plagiarism and Anne Sullivan seen as an accomplice in fraud. This controversy ended Keller and Sullivan’s relationship with Anagnos. -- KELLER. A portrait photograph of Keller standing and touching the face of a grandfather clock. 4 May 1918. SIGNED BY KELLER: “Sincerely your friend Helen Keller May 4 1819.” -- And 19 others including signed letters and postcards from Keller to Anagnos. [With:] 6 Letters from others to Anagnos, including E. Guilbeau, Wilhelm Jerusalem, Mary Myers, Anne Sullivan, and J.H. Meijer.

Together, 30 items, various sizes, condition varies but is generally very good (most with some minor soiling and light creasing, a few with short tears and some with repairs). Complete list available upon request.

Anagnos was the second director of the Perkins Institution for the Blind, now known as Perkins School for the Blind in Watertown, Massachusetts. Founded in 1829, Perkins is the first school for the blind, visually impaired, and deafblind in the United States intent on fostering education, literacy, and independence for people with various degrees of vision loss or impairment. After Alexander Graham Bell advised Keller’s parents to contact Perkins, Anagnos sent Anne Sullivan to assist Helen, starting off a 50-year-long relationship. Later, Keller attended Perkins as a student beginning in May 1888 and became the first deafblind person to earn a Bachelor of Arts Degree in the U.S. when she graduated from Radcliffe College of Harvard University in 1904.

From Hadley, formerly known as Hadley School for the Blind