What is Anne Sullivan doing today? Wedding, Ethnicity, Nationality

Known for movies

Short Info

Died	October 20, 1936, Forest Hills, New York City, New York, United States
Spouse	John Albert Macy
Fact	Her distant cousin is actress [error].

Anne Sullivan was born on April 14, 1866, in Feeding Hills, Massachusetts. Her parents, Thomas and Alice Sullivan, were both immigrants from Ireland. Anne was the youngest of six children and she had two sisters and three brothers. When Anne was five years old, she contracted trachoma, a disease that caused her to go blind. As a result, Anne was not able to attend school and she had to be educated at home.

Anne’s older sister, Margaret, died when Anne was nine years old. This had a profound effect on Anne and she became very withdrawn. When Anne was ten years old, her father died of a work-related injury. This left the family in financial difficulty and they were forced to move to a poorer area of town.

In 1877, Anne’s mother died of tuberculosis. This left Anne completely orphaned. Anne’s older brother, Jim, took charge of the family and he tried to get Anne into a school for the blind. However, the schools were full and Anne had to be content with learning Braille on her own.

In 1880, Anne’s brother Jim died suddenly. This left Anne completely alone in the world. Fortunately, Jim had been able to get Anne into the Perkins School for the Blind before he died. Anne began attending the school in 1881.

At Perkins, Anne met Helen Keller, a young girl who was also blind and deaf. Helen had been left deaf and blind after a bout of meningitis when she was eighteen months old. Anne became Helen’s teacher and she helped her to learn how to communicate with the world around her.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=caSU6YyJqZ0

Anne Sullivan remained Helen Keller’s teacher and companion for the rest of her life. She helped Helen to graduate from Radcliffe College in 1904. Anne also accompanied Helen on her many trips around the world.

In 1914, Anne Sullivan married John Macy, a professor at Harvard University. The couple had no children of their own but they helped to raise Helen Keller’s nephew, Peter Fagan.

Anne Sullivan Macy died on October 20, 1936, in Forest Hills, New York. She was buried next to her husband in the Sleepy Hollow Cemetery in New York.

General Info

Full Name	Anne Sullivan
Died	October 20, 1936, Forest Hills, New York City, New York, United States
Profession	Teacher
Education	Perkins School for the Blind
Nationality	American

Family

Spouse	John Albert Macy
Parents	Alice Cloesy Sullivan, Thomas Sullivan
Siblings	James Sullivan, Ellen Sullivan, Mary Sullivan

Social profile links

IMDB	http://imdb.com/name/nm0837955

Facts

#	Fact
1	Her distant cousin is actress [error].
2	1886 class valedictorian of the Perkins Institute for the Blind. That year, the Kellers had brought Helen to Alexander Graham Bell, who referred them to Michael Anagnos, director of Perkins. Anagnos sent Sullivan to the Keller home to work with Helen in March, 1887.
3	Her ashes were placed in the National Cathedral in Washington, DC after her funeral in New York, the first woman given this distinction.
4	She and her husband, editor of Helen's autobiography, had separated by 1914, but never officially divorced. Anne remained with Helen until her death.
5	Daughter of Irish immigrants, she and her brother were abandoned to an orphanage by their father after their mother died.
6	Teacher who worked with blind and deaf Helen Keller.
7	Pictured with Helen Keller on a 15¢ U.S. commemorative postage stamp, issued in their honor, 27 June 1980.