Ask Keller

Are you curious about some aspect of Helen Keller's life, and haven't been able to find the answer to your question? Ask Keller Johnson-Thompson, Helen's great-grandniece. This monthly column features real questions from readers like you.

Helen Keller, Anne Sullivan, and her later companion, Polly Thomson, frequently visited Scotland. Between 1930 and 1935, they traveled to Scotland three times. The lengthiest visit lasted fourteen months. These trips provided much-needed privacy and a slower pace for all three of these women. They greatly enjoyed exploring the Scottish countryside, and felt welcome in the home of Polly's brother, Robert Thomson, who was a minister in the Church of Scotland. Of course, it was not all rest and relaxation for Helen Keller, as she also made formal visits during this time to many throughout Scotland and England. Among her hosts were Lord and Lady Aberdeen, The Duke and Duchess of Montrose, The Marchioness of Tweedale, and The National College of Teachers of the Deaf.

It was also to Scotland that Helen Keller traveled only days after her teacher, Anne Sullivan, passed away.

Ever since her fifth birthday, when Annie Sullivan was diagnosed with an eye disease called trachoma, she was terrified of losing her eyesight. Although as a student at the Perkins School for the Blind she had several operations that helped to restore her sight, she continued to suffer from eye disorders throughout her life. During her middle-age years, her eyesight deteriorated to the point where flickering candles and unshaded lamps caused excruciating pain. She could read only by wearing double-lensed telescopic glasses that weighed heavily on her face.

In 1929, Annie's right eye, which had developed a cataract, became so painful that her eye had to be removed. Her left eye then developed a cataract and her vision became very dim. By 1934, her sight had almost completely failed. Against the wishes of Dr. Conrad Berens, a New York eye surgeon, Annie had an operation on her left eye in May 1935 that left her only able to distinguish light and color. At the end of her life, she could perceive only gray shadows.