Welcome to the History Chicks, where any resemblance to a boring old history lesson is purely coincidental.

And here's your 30-second summary.

A bright girl born into a bright southern post-Civil War world loses her sight, loses her hearing, and loses her mind.

Only to discover that her fate was in her hands.

She goes on to lead a life as a writer, speaker, humanitarian, and champion for the disabled.

The End.

Let's talk about Helen Keller.

She was born in 1880.

So let's just drop her into history.

That year the Panama Canal was begun.

Thomas Edison patented the electric incandescent lamp.

And a few months later, the first town was completely lit by incandescent light.

And that was Wabash Indiana.

Our friend Laura Ingalls Wilder was 13 and she was suffering through the long winder and a smett.

That year also novelist George Elliott and Gustav Floubert died.

And on June 27th, Helen Adams Keller is born to Captain Arthur and Kate Adams Keller at Ivy Green at Tuscumbia, Alabama.

Our subject today is Helen Keller.

It's 15 years out from the Civil War and she is in the South.

Her father was actually served in the Confederate Army.

He was a captain in the Confederate Army.

Plus his name Captain Arthur.

Captain and Mrs.

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