Helen Keller 1880-1968, with eleanor roosevelt 1936. Helen Adams Keller; American author, political activist, and lecturer. She was the first deaf, blind person to earn a Bachelor of Arts degree. The story of how Kellers 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 widely known through the dramatic depictions of the play and film The Miracle Worker. Her birthday on June 27 is commemorated as Helen Keller Day in the U.S.