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Helen Keller and Polly Thompson
  • Caption: Helen Keller and Polly Thompson
  • Description: Keller, Helen. Original Photograph of Helen Keller and Polly Thomson, Inscribed by Keller and Signed by both. [NP but Westport, CT] 1944

    Photograph (black and white) of Helen Keller seated in the living room of her Westport, CT home with her companion Polly Thomson, seated on the floor in front of the fireplace with three of their dogs. Miss Keller is holding a small bit of a pine tree. Inscribed by Helen Keller in pencil on the bottom quart of the image: "to our 'Sweet Nancy' Hamilton / from whose laughter dark thoughts flee / leaving the heart warm and happy / Affectionately / Helen Keller / January 22nd, 1944." In addition, Polly Thomson has signed her name in pen next to the Keller signature. Photograph: 8 inches x 10 inches, mounted on gray mat board, fine. This is a particularly nice presentation as Nancy Hamilton (1908-1985) would become Helen Keller's biographer with her documentary produced in 1954, "The Unconquered." Hamilton wrote, produced, and directed "The Unconquered" which won the Academy Award for "Best Documentary" in 1956. The narration is spoken by Katherine Cornell and features newsreel clips and stills to document the early years of Miss Keller's life. The documentary also follows her on her normal everyday activities and workaday routines and features a special appearance by President Dwight D. Eisenhower. Nancy Hamilton also wrote lyrics for songs and is credited for the Screenplay Adaption of "DuBarry Was a Lady" and the Screenplay for "Fools for Scandal." Her achievement as writer/director/producer of the Academy Award winning documentary makes her a triple-threat pioneer film woman. Helen Keller's many accomplishments are well-known. Overcoming severe disabilities, she spent her entire life working for the betterment of others' lives, changing popular perceptions of what could be accomplished by the disabled. She supported equal rights for women, the woman's peace movement, abolition of child labor, Margaret Sanger's birth control movement, and - to the horror of her Alabama relatives - the NAACP! She was active in her advocacy of equal rights legislation for the disabled until the end of her life. 100 MOST INFLUENTIAL WOMEN, pp. 65-68. NAW THE MODERN PERIOD, pp. 389-393.
  • Actor/Actress/Director: Polly Thompson
  • Movie:
  • Id: 10915992
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