Johanna Mansfeild Sullivan Macy

Anne Sullivan (http://www.afb.org/braillebug/hkmediaviewer.asp?frameid=20)

My hero is Johanna (Anne) Mansfield Sullivan Macy. She was born on April 14th, 1866 in Feeding Hills, Massachusetts. She died on October 20th, 1936 in Forest Hills, New York. She is my hero because she helped a lot of people especially Helen Keller who was blind and deaf. Anne Sullivan helped her believe in herself.

Anne Sullivan’s childhood was very hard because she had an abusive father and her mother died when she was only 8. Her father could not take care of them when her mother died because he was an alcoholic farmhand so he left the children. Sullivan's little sister Mary moved to her aunt’s house, but Anne and Jimmie (her little brother) moved and lived with other relatives. They sent them to Tewksbury Almshouse. Anne and Jimmie could have been separated but they stuck together. Later, Jimmie grew very sick and got the same disease as his mother (tuberculosis). Jimmie died three months later.

Anne had not been feeling well since she was 3 years old. She felt that something was wrong with her eyes. The doctors soon found out that it was trachoma. Anne had 5 operations but they all failed. Later she went to Perkins Institution and Massachusetts School for the Blind. After that she got some of her eyesight back. In school she worked very hard to learn how to help blind people.

When Keller was six years old Sullivan started teaching her nouns, sign language, and other things that she needed to learn. On May 2, 1905, Anne Sullivan married an instructor and literacy critic, John Albert Macy. Sullivan, Macy, and Keller lived together. Both Sullivan and Macy helped Keller with her education. Then Sullivan and Macy's marriage started to fade away and they separated. Sullivan and Keller were like best friends that did everything together. They worked and lived together. In 1932 they were awarded honorary fellowships from the Educational Institute of Scotland and a degree from Temple University. In 1935 Anne Sullivan was completely blind. Later she died after a coma when she was 70. When Helen Keller died she was buried next to Sullivan in Washington National Cathedral.

Anne Sullivan is my hero because she helped someone that needed a lot of help. She helped Helen Keller who was blind and deaf. I think that Anne Sullivan is a strong, nice, caring, smart, and a heroic person. She inspires me to help others, care for others, and do well in school.