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Miss Helen Adams Keller's First Year Of College Preparatory Work

From: Helen Keller Souvenir: No. 2, 1892-1899: Commemorating The Harvard Final Examination For Admission To Radcliffe College, June 29-30, 1899
Creator: Arthur Gilman (author)
Date: 1899
Publisher: Volta Bureau, Washington, D.C.
Source: Available at selected libraries


Introduction

Helen Keller remained in the public eye as she prepared for college. Alexander Graham Bell’s second Helen Keller Souvenir included this piece by the principal of the preparatory school that she attended, the Cambridge School for Young Ladies.

Although Gilman was initially skeptical about Keller’s intelligence and abilities, she soon won him over. Gilman personally interpreted the test papers for Keller, partly to prevent any insinuations that Sullivan had provided Keller with inappropriate aid.

After Keller passed these first nine exams, she moved on to coursework in seven other subjects in which she had little preparation: Greek, mathematics, physics, astronomy, among others. Gilman and Sullivan soon had a falling out over how fast Keller should complete her coursework and whether Keller’s heavy course load was damaging her health.


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REPRINT FROM THE AMERICAN ANNALS OF THE DEAF FOR NOVEMBER, 1897.

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The first year of college preparatory work done by Miss Helen Adams Keller closed in June, 1897. A brief review of it will be of interest to all who have at heart the mental cultivation of the deaf or the blind. In response to a request from the editor of the Century magazine, I prepared for him a statement in brief of the beginning of the year of which I purpose now to present a more complete summary. This was published in January, 1897.

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In September, 1896, Miss Keller entered the "Cambridge School" for girls, as a candidate for college preparation. She was accompanied by her teacher, Miss Annie M. Sullivan, the plan being to have both in every class, Miss Sullivan being the interpreter to Helen of the instruction of the respective teachers. For the first time in her life, Helen was to live in the constant society of seeing and hearing persons, and to be taught in classes of normal pupils, by instructors who had no experience in teaching the deaf or the blind. Her companionship, not alone in school-time but in the hours at home, was to be supplied by normal persons. I had, myself, no experience in work with any but the ordinary seeing and hearing pupils, and I was unable to converse with Helen, except so far as I did it by allowing her to talk with her mouth and to be embarrassed by the difficulty of taking my words from my lips with her fingers.

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Though Helen had not before been in a course preparatory to college, she had been taught much English, and it was evident that she needed little more instruction in that direction beyond the reading and critical study of the books specially assigned by the colleges for that purpose for the year 1897. She had also made good progress in French, and it was thought that some review, united with drill in reading French, would suffice to fit her for the examination in that language. Two years previous to her coming to Cambridge, Helen had received instruction in Latin, amounting, as Miss Sullivan estimated, to one-half of a year's drill in this School. This instruction proved to have been of the best quality, but it was felt that the lapse of time must have left the impressions somewhat dim in Miss Keller's mind. German was a subject in which Helen proved uncommonly facile, and we were sure that a good year's work would fit her for both the "elementary" and the "advanced" examinations. All the expectations formed at the beginning of the year were more than fulfilled, as we shall see.

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It was thought probable that at the end of the year Miss Keller would be able to pass the examinations set for her admission to Harvard College, in English, History, French, and Elementary and Advanced German, making "seven hours," according to the schedule of the College. This, if accomplished, would constitute the "preliminary examination," and she would be permitted to complete the work at some other time. The usual method of admission to Harvard College requires the candidate to pass in sixteen hours, twelve being called "elementary" and four "advanced." At least five hours must be passed at a time to make any record. To prepare for the seven hours proposed would require pretty hard study, but I was willing that Helen should try it, because she seemed to be so nearly fitted that it would be useless to postpone the work and thus, perhaps, add to the burden of the following year. Besides, these examinations once off, the way would be plain for more leisurely work in the years that were to follow. While preparation for these tests was going on, Helen was to study arithmetic, in order to be able to begin algebra the next year. Mathematics is not her favorite study, and though she does good work in arithmetic she does not excel there as she does in language-subjects.

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One of the questions that demanded attention at an early stage was, Who shall conduct the examinations? At Harvard, the candidates are numbered, and to those who determine the value of their work they are known by numbers only. It was, of course, impossible to conceal the fact that Helen's papers were written by her, because she was obliged to use a type-writer, and all other candidates would use pen or pencil. Some one would be obliged to serve as eyes for Miss Keller -- some one who could testify that she was the person who actually produced the written paper. Miss Sullivan, naturally, felt unwilling to act in this capacity. Any one able to use the manual alphabet might read the papers to her, but it was evident that much more than that was necessary. It finally became plain to all that I was the proper person. As a member of the corporation of Radcliffe College, familiar with Harvard examinations for many years, I should be at home in all details. I was, as has been said, unable to use the manual alphabet. It seemed improbable that I could master it sufficiently to be able to put Helen in the position of a seeing candidate, but I determined to make the effort. I could be satisfied with no mere practice; I wanted to do actual work with Helen. I therefore undertook to give her a portion of her work in English -- to read to her examination papers in French, German, etc., as might be necessary. At best it would be impossible for me, or, indeed, for any one, to release Helen from the handicap which embarrassed her, for all the other candidates were able to read and reread their papers, to read them in parts, and to read over all that they wrote as they progressed. It would not be practicable for Helen to have her examination in the room with the other candidates, because her type-writer would interrupt those around her. The whole embarrassment was overcome by a vote of the council, which placed me in charge of Helen's examination, gave me an allowance of time for my imperfect reading, and permitted me to select a quiet room for the ordeal. At about Christmas-tide I began to read Shakespeare and other authors to Helen, she constantly complimenting me upon the good rate of my progress!

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