Helen Keller’s legacy as an educator and advocate for the disabled has been carried on through literature, movies, and theatrical productions. Now she will live forever in bronze.
Alabama unveiled a new bronze likeness of Keller, who was deaf and blind, as a 7-year-old girl at the U.S. Capitol this morning.
The statue of Keller is the first in the Capitol to feature a child, and a person with a disability. It depicts Keller by a water pump at her home in Tuscumbia, which is the moment she learned to connect symbols and meanings.
The new statue replaces the likeness of Jabez Curry, another Alabamian, since most states are only allowed to have more than two statues in the Capitol at one time. Curry, a former Confederate officer, educator, ambassador and preacher who was once well known for advocating for free public education, died in 1903. The likeness of Curry will be moved to Samford University in Birmingham, Ala.
Alabama Gov. Bob Riley said “This is not to diminish Mr. Curry at all, but I think Helen Keller probably is as recognizable nationally and internationally as anyone who has been born and raised in Alabama.”
Riley believes the statue of Keller will become one of the most recognizable statues in the collection.
The statue, which cost $325,000, is located in the Capitol’s new visitor center.
(Reported by Andrew Seaman)