Heroes - Lives to Learn From
March
Compassion Faithfulness Mercy
March
Compassion Faithfulness Mercy
In this section, we spotlight those who have embodied the key virtues of compassion, faithfulness and mercy, but March is also Women's History Month. Check out our dedicated Women's History Month listings in the Holidays and More tab.
Anne Sullivan -- Faithfulness
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Anne Sullivan is renowned for her life-long instruction and companionship of Helen Keller. A model of faithfulness and compassion, Sullivan overcame many obstacles in her life in order to undertake this extraordinary task. Born into poverty, nearly blind herself, and a graduate of Perkins School for the Blind, Anne graduated valedictorian of her class. As a child, she endured three failed operations to restore her sight, but later operations improved her vision. She did not let her new abilities deter her from helping others who had suffered as she had. Just a year after her graduation from Perkins, Anne was hired as a teacher for seven-year-old Helen Keller, who was both blind and deaf. It was the beginning of an extraordinary forty-nine-year relationship, blossoming from teacher and governess to companion and friend. Annie taught Helen to read, speak, study, and ultimately attain a degree from Radcliffe College. She stood by her through life. Both women are stellar role models of the possible in life, but Annie Sullivan stands out for a degree of faithfulness in adversity that is truly remarkable. The following is from her Valedictory address at Perkins in 1886. (She met Keller in 1887).
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"Fellow graduates, Duty bids us go forth into active life. Let us go cheerfully, hopefully, and earnestly, and set ourselves to find our special part. When we have found it, willingly and faithfully perform it; for every obstacle we overcome, every success we achieve tends to bring man closer to God and make life more as He would have it." |
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Annie and Helen.
Deborah Hopkinson. Illustrated by Raul Colon. Schwartz & Wade, 2012. (1-5) Compassion, Faithfulness, Friendship Compassion meets backbone in this well told and richly illustrated picture book. As one who had suffered a painful eye disease in her youth, Annie Sullivan was eager to help Helen Keller escape the prison of her blindness and deafness. A graduate of Perkins School for the Blind, Annie reached out to a willful and unruly six-year old, Helen Keller. Her teaching involved some tough love. This is one of the great teacher-student friendship stories of all time. It also illustrates that sensing the needs of others and acting to end their distress doesn’t necessarily mean giving them everything they want. (Appropriate for March also because March 8, 1887 was the date Annie began teaching Helen.) |
Helen Keller's Teacher. Margaret Davidson. Scholastic, 1992. (4-6) Faithfulness, Courage, Perseverance
An extraordinary biography of Annie Sullivan's life, chronicling the many challenges that confronted her early on - poverty, an infirm mother, father who abandoned the family, brother who died of tuberculosis, and impaired sight. Annie manages to enroll in Perkins School for the Blind, is taught by Laura Bridgman, learns Braille and graduates at the top of her class. Having partially recovered her sight, Annie was somewhat daunted by the prospect of educating the willful Helen Keller, but persevered and became her life-long companion. This 160 page book could be read over several morning gatherings, or is fine supplementary reading for fourth to sixth graders. It is a classic. |
Helen’s Big World: The Life of Helen Keller. Doreen Rappaport.
Illustrated by Matt Tavares. Disney, Hyperion, 2012. (2-6) Lives to Learn From
Many know the story of Helen Keller, an American child stricken blind, deaf and mute by early childhood disease, but who, with the help of her teacher Anne Sullivan, triumphed over all three challenges. Few have told Keller's story as compellingly as Doreen Rappaport, or made it the visual delight provided by Matt Tavares. Rappaport’s graceful prose draws the reader forward (her text is interspersed with quotes from Keller’s own works.) Tavares’s illustrations make the book sing. The book’s format (almost Big Book in scale) make Helen’s Big World appear a pre-school child’s book. It is not. Because of the content (how Helen learned to read, speak, and write; the nature of her friendship with Anne), it will be cherished by second graders to sixth graders alike. Young readers will be awed by the persistence, and wonder of a child facing a dark and silent world, and the touching resolve of a dedicated teacher. A story of friendship, grit, and human resilience.
Illustrated by Matt Tavares. Disney, Hyperion, 2012. (2-6) Lives to Learn From
Many know the story of Helen Keller, an American child stricken blind, deaf and mute by early childhood disease, but who, with the help of her teacher Anne Sullivan, triumphed over all three challenges. Few have told Keller's story as compellingly as Doreen Rappaport, or made it the visual delight provided by Matt Tavares. Rappaport’s graceful prose draws the reader forward (her text is interspersed with quotes from Keller’s own works.) Tavares’s illustrations make the book sing. The book’s format (almost Big Book in scale) make Helen’s Big World appear a pre-school child’s book. It is not. Because of the content (how Helen learned to read, speak, and write; the nature of her friendship with Anne), it will be cherished by second graders to sixth graders alike. Young readers will be awed by the persistence, and wonder of a child facing a dark and silent world, and the touching resolve of a dedicated teacher. A story of friendship, grit, and human resilience.
Clara Barton (1821-1912)
Founder of the American Red Cross
“I have an almost complete disregard of precedent and a faith in the possibility of something better. It irritates me to be told how things have always been done. I defy the tyranny of precedent. I go for anything new that might improve the past.”Civil War nurse and founder of the American Red Cross, Clara Barton fully embodies this month’s focus on compassion, faithfulness, and mercy. Her depth of compassion for others, whether school children, battlefield wounded, or victims of hurricanes and other disasters has been unmatched. Her own code was uncompromising: “You must never so much as think whether you like it or not, whether it is bearable or not, you must never think of anything except the need and how to meet it.”
A painfully shy girl, Clara grew up in a large family and was schooled mainly by her brothers and sisters. She began her nursing career at home, when one of her brothers fell ill, and she nursed him back to health. For years she taught school, and actually founded two schools – one in North Oxford, Massachusetts, and a second in New Jersey. But she found her life’s work during the Civil War, when her path-breaking service to the wounded on the frontlines earned her the title, “Angel of the Battlefield.” She went on to found the American Red Cross, which unlike its European counterpart, aided in disaster relief as well. A spectacular children’s book on Clara Barton has yet to be written, but read more about the life of this amazing woman.
Founder of the American Red Cross
“I have an almost complete disregard of precedent and a faith in the possibility of something better. It irritates me to be told how things have always been done. I defy the tyranny of precedent. I go for anything new that might improve the past.”Civil War nurse and founder of the American Red Cross, Clara Barton fully embodies this month’s focus on compassion, faithfulness, and mercy. Her depth of compassion for others, whether school children, battlefield wounded, or victims of hurricanes and other disasters has been unmatched. Her own code was uncompromising: “You must never so much as think whether you like it or not, whether it is bearable or not, you must never think of anything except the need and how to meet it.”
A painfully shy girl, Clara grew up in a large family and was schooled mainly by her brothers and sisters. She began her nursing career at home, when one of her brothers fell ill, and she nursed him back to health. For years she taught school, and actually founded two schools – one in North Oxford, Massachusetts, and a second in New Jersey. But she found her life’s work during the Civil War, when her path-breaking service to the wounded on the frontlines earned her the title, “Angel of the Battlefield.” She went on to found the American Red Cross, which unlike its European counterpart, aided in disaster relief as well. A spectacular children’s book on Clara Barton has yet to be written, but read more about the life of this amazing woman.
Brave Clara Barton.
Frank Murphy. Illustrated by Sarah Green. Random House Books for Young Readers, 2018. (K-3) 
Who Was Clara Barton?
Stephanie Spinner. Illustrated by David Groff. Grossett and Dunlap, 2014. (Slender chapter book as possible read-aloud for 4-6) |
A Woman of Valor: Clara Barton. Stephen B. Oats.
Free Press, 1995 (Strong middle school readers and up) Chunky, definitive adult biography of this amazing woman. Vertical Divider
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