Portrait of Helen Keller
Winifred Holt created the bronze relief profile of Helen Keller in 1907. When Helen Keller touched it, she was so pleased that she wrote her signature with a tool in the clay. The signature appears on the bronze cast. The quote that is written on the plaque, "To be blind is to see the bright side of life," was a remark that Helen Keller made to Winifred Holt. Holt studied with noted artists such as Augustus Saint-Gaudens and exhibited at the National Sculpture Society and Architectural League in New York City and in Europe.
The portrait is an important addition to the Museum collection. Other artifacts in the museum exhibit devoted to Helen Keller are photographs, a volume of Keller's braille Bible, and a personal letter to an American Printing House employee.
Winifred Holt (1870-1945)
Winifred Holt and her sister, Edith Holt, were daughters of publisher Henry Holt. The Holt sisters founded The Lighthouse in 1905 at their home in New York City. The Lighthouse was incorporated in 1906 as the New York Association for the Blind. After World War I, Winifred Holt founded Lighthouses in Europe for the rehabilitation of blinded war veterans. She was awarded the Legion of Honor from France and received international and national recognition for her work to aid blind people. The organization is now known as Lighthouse International, and its mission is to serve people across the full continuum of vision impairment.
Helen Keller (1880-1968)
Helen Keller lost both her sight and hearing when she was very young. The story of how her teacher, Anne Sullivan, taught Helen to communicate using the manual alphabet is well known. She later learned to speak, and studied at the Perkins Institution in Boston. She graduated from Radcliffe College with honors in 1904. Helen Keller spent her life writing, lecturing, and working on behalf of blind and deaf-blind people.