Thanks John ----- Original Message ----- From: "John O'Brien" <JohnOBrien@kc.rr.com> To: <MOJACKSO-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Thursday, March 10, 2005 7:15 PM Subject: [MOJACKSO] Miss Helen KELLER - visit to Kansas City, MO - 12 February 1915 > "The Kansas City Times" (Missouri) Saturday, February 13, 1915 > > 'GOD IS LOVE' - Miss KELLER > > There is no darkness so deep but > that the sunlight of faith can find > its hear. --- Helen Keller at the > Grand Avenue Temple last night. > > Color to Miss Helen KELLER, who can neither see nor hear, > is a blending of poetic ideas and symbols, she told an audience > that packed the Grand Avenue Temple to its doors last night. > Red to her, she said, means warmth and strength. > > Miss KELLER's definition of her conception of color came in a > reply to one of a score of questions asked of her at the conclusion > of her lecture on "Happiness," the first entertainment of the Temple > lyceum course. As each question was asked it was repeated by > Mrs. Anne S. MACY, Miss KELLER's lifelong teacher and > companion, Miss KELLER reading the query with her hand on > Mrs. MACY's lips. And the answers that came readily from Miss > KELLER's lips gave those who heard her a glimpse of the brilliancy > of that mind which has conquered darkness and silence. > > LOVING THE ONLY HAPPINESS. > > "What is your conception of God?" was the first question. > > "Love," was Miss KELLER's reply, who a few moments before had > said in the course of her lecture: > > "Loving is the only real happiness. I was blind, now I see. I was > deaf, now I hear. I was dumb, now I speak. Without my teacher, I > should be nothing. Loving is the only way I have of telling that I am > happy." > > MEN SHOULDN'T VOTE FOR WOMEN. > > "Are you a suffragette," was another question. > > "Yes," replied Miss KELLER. > > "And do you really think women know enough to vote?" she was > asked again. > > "I don't think the men know enough to vote for them. Women must > pay taxes and I do not believe in taxation without representation. We > once fought a great war on that very issue." > > FLASH OF WIT WON APPLAUSE. > > In reply to another question, Miss KELLER said her favorite author was > Whitman --- and Mark Twain. Could she 'hear' the applause that greeted > her? > > "Yes, indeed. I hear it with my feet," Miss KELLER answered. > > She had 'heard,' or felt, as well the deep notes and rhythm of the temple > organ during a recital given by Powell WEAVER before the lecture. > > "Does it tire you to talk?" she was asked. > > "Oh, no," said Miss KELLER, "no more than any other woman," and then > as laughter swept through the audience she said she could 'feel' the > laughter, for "it is in the air all about me." > > "Can you distinguish light from darkness," Mrs. MACY repeated to > Miss KELLER. > > "No," was the reply, "but I can distinguish day from night because of the > difference in the atmosphere." > > EDUCATION MADE HER RADIANT. > > Before Miss KELLER was introduced to the audience to tell her story of > happiness, Mrs. MACY told the story of Miss KELLER's life --- of how > she was transformed from a terrible self-willed, untaught child, and of > how she keeps in touch with the world about her. > > Miss KELLER was not quite 7 years old when Mrs. MACY, then Miss > SULLIVAN, went to her. She had been blind and deaf from her nineteenth > month, the result of an illness. Within a few months the child, under her > teacher's guidance, had become 'a radiant child,' as Mrs. MACY expressed > the transformation last night. > > DID IMPOSSIBLE IN LEARNING TO TALK. > > "Language grew with her expanding faculties," continued Mrs. MACY. > "By the fourth month she was writing childish letters, and in six months > she was reading stories in raised print books and acting out the stories. > She learned so rapidly that it was a question of whether the teacher led > the pupil or the pupil drove the teacher. And I had to educate myself to > keep up with her." > > For the first three years Miss KELLER spelled on her fingers. Then she > insisted she could be taught to speak, and although this seemed > impossible, > she did learn to talk. "But it has taken Helen KELLER more than twenty > years to learn to speak well enough to ask you to come and hear her," said > the teacher. > > "And tonight you are a witness to a modern miracle," continued Mrs. MACY; > "a witness to what has been called 'the greatest individual achievement in > the > whole history of education.' " > > "MY HAPPINESS DEEP AND REAL" > > "I cannot see your faces nor hear the sound of your voices, but it makes > me > happy to be here tonight," said Miss KELLER after she had been guided to > the platform. > > "I like to go among people and to tell them that I am happy," she > continued. > "My happiness is deep and real. We win happiness by loving." > > MANY SUCCESSFUL BUT NOT HAPPY. > > "I am not afraid of the darkness, because there is a great light in my > soul. > The sun does not go out under the cloud. It is only hidden for the time." > > "Happiness does not mean possessing. Many are successful but not happy. > They achieve something splendid and are applauded, but it is not > happiness. > Love is the only happiness --- the love that means brotherhood and > service. > Love and happiness should endure forever. The world shall be saved by the > love that is in it, as I was saved by the love that was in the heart of > another." > > > ====================================================== > > > > ==== MOJACKSO Mailing List ==== > If you wish to unsubscribe from the Jackson Co., MO Mailing List, send > only the word > UNSUBSCRIBE to MOJACKSO-l-request@rootsweb.com or if you are on the > Digest list to > MOJACKSO-d-request@rootsweb.com > > ============================== > Census images 1901, 1891, 1881 and 1871, plus so much more. > Ancestry.com's United Kingdom & Ireland Collection. Learn more: > http://www.ancestry.com/s13968/rd.ashx > >