Autographs
Outstanding Letter of Appeal Signed “Helen Keller” Who Requests Help for Those Blinded During the Korean War
HELEN KELLER (1880-1968). American Author, Political Activist and Lecturer, who Campaigned for and Championed Women's Suffrage and Workers' Rights.
October 27, 1954-Dated, Typed Letter Signed, “Helen Keller,” in pencil on official American Foundation for Overseas Blind, Inc. letterhead, New York, one page, measuring 11” x 8.5”, Choice Near Mint. Her letter is addressed to a “Mr. Luhrs,” contains an appeal for funds for her efforts to assist the blind overseas. Helen Keller writes, in part:

“We who love peace must recognize our eternal indebtedness to the gallant people of South Korea for their bitter sacrifices during the war so recently ended. My mind turns particularly to the plight of the blind men, women and little children in that unhappy land, and my heart is heavy at the knowledge of the cruel privations they must suffer. You have doubtless read of Korea’s countless war casualties, its ten million refugees and the destruction of seventy-five percent of all its buildings. Yet the most poignant aspect of the total disaster is the tragic fate of so many of Korea’s children -- their eyes blinded by war, their only school and training center at Seoul laid in ruins, their sole braille printing machine demolished... I have asked the American Foundation for Overseas Blind to launch... a crusade to aid Korea’s blind youngsters. The Foundation has already established a fine school and training center for them outside Pusan... Yet Korean government records list a total of 50,000 sightless children. To provide for their education and training many new centers must be created and the few existing facilities enlarged....”

Lightly stapled to the verso of this letter is a 3.5” x 4.25” printed fold-out brochure for Keller’s foundation bearing a portrait of three children on the cover and numerous images of Keller’s work around the world. This letter is offered together a self-addressed stamped envelope, measuring 5.5” x 4.5”, for a donation addressed to “MISS HELEN KELLER 15 West 16th Street, New York 11, N.Y.” (3 items).
Helen Adams Keller (1880-1968) was an American author, political activist and lecturer. She was the first deafblind person to earn a Bachelor of Arts degree. The story of how Keller's teacher, Anne Sullivan, broke through the isolation imposed by a near complete lack of language, allowing the girl to blossom as she learned to communicate, has become known worldwide through the dramatic depictions of the play and film The Miracle Worker.

A prolific author, Keller was well traveled, and was outspoken in her opposition to war. A member of the Socialist Party USA and the Wobblies, she campaigned for women's suffrage, workers' rights.