Helen Keller Unveiled in Capitol

Helen Keller Statue Unveiled in the Capitol Rotunda

AAPD Celebrates Installation of Helen Keller Statue in US Capitol Building

A dedication ceremony for the memorial statue of Helen Keller was held in the U.S. Capitol Rotunda on Wednesday October 7.  Helen Keller is famous as the first deaf-blind person to earn a Bachelor of Arts  (Radcliffe, 1904), was world famous as a speaker, writer and political activist, and is a symbol and icon for people with disabilities.

 

Many AAPD board and staff attended the event including Andrew Imparato, President & CEO, AAPD Board Members Meredith Ryan-Reid, Kelby Brick, Bobby Coward and Wendy Elliiott-Vandivier, and staffer Jenifer Simpson.  The statue is the first child to be depicted in The National Statuary Hall and the first well-known person with a disability.

Speakers at the event included Congressional Representatives Nancy Pelosi (CA), John Boehner (OH) and Steny Hoyer (MD), in addition to Senators Mitch McConnell (KY) and Harry Reid (NV).  Additional remarks were made by Carl Augusto, President & CEO of AFB, and Governor Bob Riley of Alabama.

Every speaker lauded Helen Keller's lifetime achievements as a “change agent” including stating she is now "among the immortals" now that her statue is added to the National Statuary Collection.  Several speakers quoted Keller's statement: "Never bend your head. Always hold it high. Look the world straight in the face" and referred to her as "a true American hero."

Representatives from many disability organizations attended including Dan Arabie, President of the American Association for Deaf-Blind, Melanie Brunson, Executive Director of the American Council of the Blind, Carl Augusto, President & CEO of the American Foundation for the Blind, and Kelly Buckland, Executive Director of the National Council on Independent Living.  Other groups represented included the National Association of the Deaf, AG Bell Association for the Deaf & Hard of Hearing, and the Helen Keller National Center.  Over 400 people attended the dedication event in the historic & spectacular U.S. Capitol Rotunda.

More on Helen Keller at http://www.afb.org/Section.asp?SectionID=1

More on the US National statuary collection at http://www.aoc.gov/cc/art/nsh/index.cfm

More on the Capitol Rotunda at http://www.aoc.gov/cc/capitol/rotunda.cfm

Comments

[Angela Braden]

Fabulous!!!!