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Dr. Frank Mayfield was touring Tewksbury Institute when, on his way out,
he accidentally collided with an elderly floor maid. To cover the
awkward moment Dr. Mayfield started asking questions, "How long
have you
worked here?"
"I've worked here almost
since the place opened," the maid replied.
"What can
you tell me about the history of this place?" he asked.
"I don't think I can tell
you anything, but I could show you something." With that, she took
his hand and led him down to the basement under the oldest section of
the building. She pointed to one of what looked like small prison cells,
their iron bars rusted with age, and said, "That's the cage where
they used to keep Annie."
"Who's Annie?" the
doctor asked.
"Annie was a young girl who
was brought in here because she was incorrigible which means nobody
could do anything with her. She'd bite and scream and throw her food at
people. The doctors and nurses couldn't even examine her or anything.
I'd see them trying with her spitting and scratching at them.
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I
was only a few years younger than her myself and I used to think, 'I
sure would hate to be locked up in a cage like that.' I wanted to help
her, but I didn't have any idea what I could do. I mean, if the doctors
and nurses couldn't help her, what could someone like me do?
"I didn't
know what else to do, so I just baked her some brownies one night after work.
The next day
I brought them in. I walked carefully to her cage and said, 'Annie I
baked these brownies just for you. I'll put them right here on the floor
and you can come and get them if you want.' Then I got out of there just
as fast as I could because I was afraid she might throw them at me.
But she didn't. She actually took the brownies and ate them.
"After that, she was just a little bit nicer to me when I was
around. And sometimes I'd talk to her. Once, I even got her laughing.
One of the nurses noticed this and she told the doctor. They asked me if
I'd help them with Annie. I said I would if I could. So that's how it
came about that every time they wanted to see Annie or examine her, I
went into the cage first and explained and calmed her down and held her
hand, which is how they discovered that Annie was almost blind."
After they'd been working with her for about a year--and it was tough
sledding with Annie--the Perkins Institute for the Blind opened its doors. They were able to help her and she went on to
study and became a teacher herself.
Annie came back to the Tewksbury Institute to visit, and to see what she
could do to help out. At first, the director didn't say anything and
then he thought about a letter he'd just received. A man had written to
him about his daughter. She was absolutely unruly-- almost like an
animal. He'd been told she was blind and deaf as well as deranged, he
was at his wit's end, but he didn't want to put her in an asylum. So he
wrote here to ask if we knew of anyone--any teacher--who would come to
his house and work with his daughter. And that is how Annie
Sullivan became the lifelong companion of Helen
Keller.
When Helen Keller received the Nobel Prize, she was asked who had the
greatest impact on her life and she said, "Annie Sullivan."
But Annie said, "No, Helen.
The woman who had the greatest influence on both our lives was a floor
maid at the Tewksbury Institute."
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