Helen Keller's birthplace, was named Ivy Green because of all the ivy wrapped around the trees. It is located in Tuscumbia, Alabama about an hour from Red Bay. Helen Keller was born on June 27, 1880 and died June 1, 1968.
In the entryway, there are pictures of Helen's parents. Both college educated, which was a rare thing for a women in the late 1800's.
The main house is of Virginia-cottage construction, with four large rooms on the first floor bisected by a wide hall. Upstairs there are three rooms connected by a hall.
This is the dining room, where Helen used to eat with her hands. Her teacher Anne Sullivan saw that, that was stopped in no short order.
The living room, notice all the rooms have individual fireplaces.
The parlor, where some of Helen's dresses are on display. We were told that 85% of the furnishings in this home are original to the house.
Upstairs, bedrooms and a sewing rooms.
This was the master bedroom.
The quilt on this bed was made by Helen's aunt and is over a hundred years old.
You may have noticed there was no kitchen in the main house. The kitchen and the cooks bedroom were in an out building.
This is the water pump where Helen Keller learned her first word, "water."
Originally an office where plantation books were kept, the cottage was built in the yard near the main house. Later a dressing room and porch was added. Anne and Helen lived here because Helen's parents catered to her every whim. We would say today that they were enablers. So Anne had Helen driven a hundred miles and then returned to the cottage to make her think that she was living far away from her parents.
Helen died and 1968 and is buried in the National Cathedral's Cemetery in Washington D. C. You have to be asked to be buried there and she agreed only if her teacher Anne and her secretary Polly could be buried with her. The three are buried together there.
P.S. Pralines wanted me to let you know that Helen had a Sheltie.
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