Helen Keller - 1950's Documentary, Part 1. (Clip)

Mornings at our cannery begin around five. For Helen, they begin as they end, with the Bible. Holly, meanwhile, has brought up the breakfast. Sometimes, something is missing from the train. And it is Helen who goes downstairs to fetch it. Holly knows that it pleases Helen to wait upon her when she can. Everywhere else, except in her own familiar house, it is Helen who must be waited upon by Polly. Here, where every table, every chair, every dish in the cupboard is her intimate friend, Helen can move freely and independently. Though in this quiet house, Polly need not speak aloud to Helen, she usually does. It helps to drive back the silence. First concern of the day is always the weather. To know how to dress for the morning walk with her dog, Etty. Clear, but cold. With her braille thermometer, she is right. In her dressing, Helen is completely independent. She knows her clothes, and where to find them. Even to a stray belt. Every morning, Helen goes for a walk along a thousand-foot handrail built by a loving friend to guide her. A thousand feet, there she is alone and free. The walk seldom varies, but for Helen, it is always full of small, unexpected events. Helen is known for her love for dogs. It is known from childhood that those with sight cannot realize that one does not need eyes to see the world. The patch of herbs that was here last summer is gone. By eight o'clock, Helen and Polly have made their beds. Polly has finished the household tasks, and their business of the day begins. Even at home, they carry the responsibilities and obligations of public figures. Their desk is never clear. The mail piles up while they are away, and every morning more comes in. The bulky packages are books in braille. They must wait. The letters will be gone through after Polly finishes spelling out the morning headlines. Helen is emphatic about keeping in touch with world events, but the mail looms large. A few of the letters are personal ones from friends, but most of them are requests for something. From New Zealand. Would you kindly send a message to the Royal Blind Institute on the occasion of the... From Massachusetts. I have written a pamphlet on teaching the deaf. Please read it and let me have your comment. From India. I am going slowly blind. The United States is a cure. Can you help me? From New York. I have chosen you as the subject of my term paper. Would you write me a long letter telling me all about yourself? After the mail, Helen goes to her own study to work. There are reports to be made out, speeches and articles to be prepared. So far as possible, she does her own research. She locates her reference books by the braille lettering along the edge. In her work, she will not indulge herself because she is handicapped. Everyone has his own handicaps, Helen says. It just happens to be the handicap of the blind that they cannot see. The deaf that they cannot hear.