Woman Who Faced Amazing Challenges & Succeeded

March 29 - Today's post contributed by Alyson Beecher

Woman Who Faced Amazing Challenges & Succeeded

by Alyson Beecher

If you were asked to name a woman in history who made a significant contribution and who also had a disability of some type, who would you name? Most people would probably name Helen Keller. However, I was curious about other women who had made or were making a difference and who also had some form of a disability. So, off to Google I went.

My simple search produced some familiar names and some names that were new to me. Helen Keller was obviously on the list but so was Harriet Tubman, and Frida Kahlo. Each of these women have numerous biographies written about them in both picture book and long-form. The famous photographer, Dorothea Lange is well known for her photography but lesser known for the limp she grew up with as a result of polio when she was a child. Wilma Mankiller, Principal Chief of the Cherokee Nation, has a chapter in a picture book celebrating famous woman and her work with the Cherokee Nation, but did you know she also served in this position while having a rare form of muscular dystrophy? Really, just a chapter in a picture book?

However, I learned about some other woman who had made notable contributions to their communities and countries and yet, little were written about them.  Jhamak Ghimire who has severe cerebral palsy and considered the “Helen Keller of Nepal” has nothing written about her in the United States, except for her own work of poetry. Judy Neumann, and Harilyn Rousso have had significant careers and lives advocating for individuals with disabilities and yet despite their life's work would not be easily recognized by most teachers and children.

After serving on the Schneider Family Book Award Jury (a children’s and young adult book award committee of the American Library Association) for the past few years, I have read a lot of books featuring individuals with special needs. However, in the category for young children, with the exception of books about Helen Keller, there were no books portraying the lives of any of these other amazing woman and the work that they have done while also living with additional challenges. Do we have a book gap? I would certainly say yes.

Though this is not a comprehensive list by any means, I would like to highlight the lives of just a few of the incredible woman who embody the spirit and essence that surrounds Women’s History Month and who are also powerful role models for our young readers who may be empowered to dream beyond their special needs because of these amazing women.

Moses: When Harriet Tubman Led Her People to Freedom by Carole Boston Weatherford; Illustrated by Kadir Nelson

Despite what I had read on Harriet Tubman in the past, it had primarily focused on her leadership and active role in assisting slaves to escape to freedom. Somehow, I had missed the fact that Tubman suffered from epilepsy along with severe headaches and narcolepsy as a result of a head injury she suffered when she was young at the hands of another slave’s overseer.

Frida by Jonah Winter; Illustrated by Ana Juan

Viva Frida by Yuyi Morales 

One of the things that have always struck me is how Frida Kahlo was able to utilize her pain and life experiences to produce so many amazing pieces of art. As a child, she contracted polio and was left with a limp, then at 18 she was in a serious bus accident, which left her in chronic pain. Kahlo lived a colorful live with her marriage to artist Diego Rivera and her political activism.

Dorothea Lange by Mike Venezia

As a child, Dorothea Lange contracted polio which left her with a limp due to a weakened right leg and foot. However, she did not let this or later health issues impede her work as a photographer and publisher. It was her goal to use her photography to bring attention to injustices, which she hoped would result in a change of action in people. Her depression era photography of rural hardship became her best known work.

Amelia to Zora: Twenty-six Women Who Changed the World by Cynthia Chin-Lee; Illustrated by Megan Halsey, Sean Addy 

Photo of Wilma Mankiller taken at the 2001 Cherokee National Holiday. Photo by Phil Konstantin

Wilma Mankiller was a lifetime activist and advocate for the rights of Native Americans and women. In 1985, she became the Principal Chief of the Cherokee Nation During her term as Principal Chief, she worked to improve health care, education and government for native americans. After a nearly fatal car crash, Mankiller was diagnosed with a form of muscular dystrophy.

Harilyn Rousso

Harilyn Rousso is not only a disability rights activist but also an activist for the rights of women with disabilities. Highly educated, Rousso has utilized her personal experiences, education, and passions to establish a number of organizations to address issues of gender and disability.

Judith Heumann, Photo from U.S. State Department

As a toddler, Judy Heumann developed polio which left her needing to use a wheelchair for the rest of her life. Heumann has spent her life advocating for the rights of those with disabilities. After college, she fought against New York State in court to be granted the right teach elementary school as an individual in a wheelchair. She later served as the Assistant Secretary of Special Education during the Clinton Administration. Currently, she works as an International Disability Rights Special Advisor advocating human rights legislation for children and adults with special needs.

"Jhamakawarded" by Madan Puraskar org . Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Jhamakawarded.jpg#/media/File:Jhamakawarded.jpg

Though Jhamak Ghimire may not be able to speak or use her hands due to cerebral palsy, she has still managed to write poetry and be recognized in her native land of Nepal as an award winning poet.

Helen’s Big World: The Life of Helen Keller by Doreen Rappaport; Illustrated by Matt Tavares

Of course, I couldn’t leave out Helen Keller. Likely of the most recognized influential women who also happened to have a disability, Keller showed that despite being both blind and deaf that you can learn and you can make a difference.

What strikes me about each of these women is how hard they must have worked. Each one of these women shows us what is possible despite our personal limitations. When I think of the headaches that Harriet Tubman experienced or the chronic pain of Frida Kahlo, I am in awe. Pain is hard and yet, neither of these women allowed it to stop them from accomplishing what they were meant to do.

Mankiller, Heumann, and Rousso dedicated their lives to advocating for others. When I look at the accomplishments of these women, I almost feel like an underachiever.  They have not allowed what might be seen by others as limitations to limit them.

Lange, Kahlo, and Ghimire have used their experiences to enhance their artistic expression. Ghimire is particularly inspiring in that her own country as well as her body would have left her without a voice and yet through her writing she has found that voice.

Next time, I find myself thinking I am unable to do something, I need to remind myself how much each of these women have contributed to their communities and even the world by what they were able to accomplish while facing incredible challenges.


Alyson Beecher is an educator, book geek and literacy advocate with over 20 years of experience in education.  Currently, she is the K-8 Literacy Specialist for the Pasadena Unified School District in Pasadena, CA.  Alyson has served as the Chair of the ALA 2015 Schneider Family Book Award Jury and was an Elementary/Middle Grade Nonfiction second round judge for the CYBILS. She can be found on twitter @alybee930 or through her blog www.kidlitfrenzy.com

Helen Keller Revisited--An Interview with Deborah Hopkinson and Doreen Rappaport

March 10 - Today's post provided by Mary Ann Scheuer

I have admired Helen Keller since I was a young girl. And so I was thrilled to read both Doreen Rappaport’s and Deborah Hopkinson’s new picture book biographies: Annie and Helen AND Helen's Big World. I especially love the way these two books complement each other, helping young readers get a fuller picture of this remarkable woman.

Annie and Helen

by Deborah Hopkinson

illustrated by Raul Colon

Schwartz & Wade, 2012

available at your local library

Helen’s Big World

by Doreen Rappaport

illustrated by Matt Tavares

Hyperion, 2012

available at your local library

I have invited Doreen and Deborah to each answer questions about their writing process. I so appreciate their thoughtful answers, as we get a glimpse into their journey writing these wonderful books.

Mary Ann Scheuer: What inspired you to write a biography about Helen Keller?

Deborah Hopkinson

Deborah Hopkinson: I was inspired to write about Annie Sullivan and Helen Keller after reading a newspaper article about a newly discovered early photograph of the two together.  I began researching Annie Sullivan first, since she spent part of her childhood in Tewksbury, Massachusetts, where I lived until I was four.  As the story developed, I found myself drawn to the first few months of Annie’s experience teaching Helen.

Doreen Rappaport

Doreen Rappaport: All of my books are about the same thing—empowerment.  Helen Keller’s life is the story of empowerment and possibility, a journey from powerlessness to power, from helplessness into helpfulness, from ignorance to knowledge.  When I have visited schools, children inevitably ask me, “When are you going to do a biography about Helen Keller?”  I realized that kids react emotionally to her struggles and conquering of her extraordinary disabilities. Her life confirms for them that even under the most difficult circumstances people can triumph.  I realized it was time to do a book on her.

MS: It's fascinating that your picture books on Helen Keller take such different approaches. How did you decide to focus and organize your work on Helen Keller? What prompted the way you organized/focused your stories?

Deborah Hopkinson: Although the moment at the water pump is now so well-known, actually it’s what happened in the months after that I found most fascinating.  It seemed natural to use the details in Annie Sullivan’s letters in my story.  I think we forget how young Annie herself was when she first took on this job – she was just twenty-one years old during that spring of 1887.

Annie’s own excitement and Helen’s amazing progress are palpable in her correspondence. Annie herself had a tremendously difficult and traumatic childhood, losing her mother, brother, and, for a time, her sight.  She had just graduated from the Perkins School for the Blind when she traveled to Alabama to take a job teaching Helen in 1887.

The centennial edition of Keller’s The Story of My Life includes Annie Sullivan’s letters to Mrs. Sophie Hopkins, her friend and former house mother at Perkins School for the Blind.  Once I read those, I knew that they would serve as the scaffolding for my book.

Doreen Rappaport: I love how Deborah concentrated on the relationship between Annie and Helen. She gave kids a close-up of great teaching and the equal responsibility of a student to empower him/herself. Of course I included their relationship in my book but as I was reading about her, I realized the scope of her latter accomplishments and thought it important for kids to learn about her adult life and work, and so I decided to cover her life from birth until death.  Helen Keller was controversial; she spoke up for what she believed in even when it was unpopular, and she connected with and promoted causes way beyond her commitment to bettering the life of other disabled people.

MS: What is something surprising that you discovered about Helen Keller during your research?

Deborah Hopkinson: I think I came away with a renewed appreciation of her incredible drive to learn. That she could go from not having language to being able to write a letter in four months is a testament to her dedication and brilliant mind.

Doreen Rappaport: I never knew she starred in a movie, which turned out to be a painful experience for her.  I never knew she was on the vaudeville circuit.  She needed money so she performed. She was criticized for it, but it gave her a sense of independence, and for someone who had to depend on others a lot of the time, this must have felt wonderful.  I found questions and answers from these vaudeville performances and realized she had a wonderful sense of humor. 

MS: What primary source was particularly useful for your research?

Deborah Hopkinson: Without a doubt, Annie’s letters themselves were my inspiration.  We see so clearly her excitement as her pupil blossoms and begins grasping language, making progress every day. 

It’s not very different from a parent exclaiming over the new words his or his toddler is learning.  In fact, we can give some credit to Helen’s little sister, Mildred, as the inspiration for Annie’s methods.  Annie realized that people talk naturally to a toddler, using full sentences, whether the child has learned each word or not.  And that’s exactly what she began to do as she taught Helen.  

Doreen Rappaport: Her many biographies and speeches were all valuable and seeing photographs of her and a clip from a movie that she is in, which you canfind on my website, also made me feel close to her feelings, struggles, and spirit.

MS: How do you try to share this sense of primary sources with children? (photographs, quotes, etc.)

Deborah Hopkinson: The book is actually organized into sections, or mini-chapters around quotations from Annie’s letters.  The story can be read without delving into them, but I think if it is shared with a child by a parent, the adult can point out how, in fact, we are telling two people’s stories here.  It meant almost as much to Annie to be successful as a teacher as it did for Helen to be able to enter this amazing new world of communication and language. 

I’m glad we were able to include those evocative historical photos as well. I am grateful to the staff at Perkins for reading the manuscript and making the available the photos on the endpapers.

Doreen Rappaport: My biography is punctuated with quotes from her autobiographies and letters, etc. because it gives children a chance to hear “her voice”. Including her words reinforces the importance of primary sources.  I also included letters she wrote as a young girl, and my wonderful illustrator, Matt Tavares, reproduced the Braille with its appropriate objects, showing how Helen learned to read Braille. 

Editor's Note:
Mary Ann Scheuer is the librarian at Emerson School, a public elementary K-5 school in Berkeley, CA. She created Great Kid Books, as a site to help parents find books for their children, ages 4 - 14. Mary Ann is also the Cybils Book App award coordinator, and the co-chair of author events at 2013 AASL National Conference. Come say hello on Twitter @MaryAnnScheuer!