The "miracle worker" and the transcendentalist : Annie Sullivan, Franklin Sanborn, and the education of Helen Keller / David Wagner.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Wagner, David.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Sullivan, Annie, 1866-1936.

Sullivan, Annie.

Keller, Helen, 1880-1968.

Keller, Helen.

Sanborn, F. B. (Franklin Benjamin), 1831-1917.

Sanborn, F. B.

Deafblind people--Education--United States--History--19th century.

Deafblind people.

Women--United States--Social conditions--19th century.

Women.

Transcendentalism (New England).

Ethnic relations.

History.

Social conditions.

Deafblind people--Education.

United States--Ethnic relations--History--19th century.

United States.

United States--Social conditions--19th century.

Physical Description:

viii, 171 pages : illustrations ; 24 cm

Place of Publication:

Boulder, CO : Paradigm Publishers, [2012]

Summary:

While the story of Annie Sullivan's education of the blind and deaf Helen Keller is celebrated in dramatic works such as The Miracle Worker, few are now aware that Sullivan's education of Keller was a subject of great controversy at the time, with many refusing to believe that the lower-class Sullivan was capable of recreating the work of the famed Samuel Gridley Howe, who was known for his work with the deaf. Among these people was the transcendentalist Franklin Benjamin Sanborn, who together with Howe's widow, Julia Ward Howe, sought to discredit Sullivan's work with Keller. By examining the relationship of Sanborn (and Howe) to Sullivan and Keller, Wagner (sociology, U. of Southern Maine) shows how the controversy over Keller's education was in part a battle about social class, ethnicity, gender, and disability, while also seeking to place the lives of his subjects in their proper historical context. Annotation ©2012 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Contents:

Prologue: Sanborn's younger days 1831-1865

The post Civil War North: triumphant for some

"Mr. Sanborn, Mr. Sanborn, I want to go to school"

Yankee administrators and Irish populism

Keller and Sullivan: world fame and local hostility 1887-1892

The attack on Keller and Sullivan in the early twentieth century

Progressivism and radicalism in the 1910s

Generations, class, ethnicity, gender, and disability in the conflict

Epilogue: Keller and Sullivan Macy's later years, 1917-1968.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9781594519369

1594519366

OCLC:

682894244