“Warmth of Enlightenment” is a white marble statue of Helen Keller and Anne Sullivan that stands in the garden of Ivy Green, the birthplace and childhood home of Heller Keller, which nowadays is a museum dedicated to her life story and achievements.
Keller (1880-1968) was a regular toddler living with her family in their homestead, Ivy Green; at 19 months of age, an illness left her deaf and blind, bringing uncertainty to her future. She lived in the darkness, able only to communicate with her family in basic terms.
At 7, following her mother’s request, the Perkins Institute for the Blind sent her to one of its teachers, 20-year-old Anne Sullivan. A month after her arrival, the breakthrough happened when Sullivan taught Keller to communicate and changed her life.
With Sullivan by her side, Keller continued acquiring formal education and later graduated from Radcliffe College with a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1904, the first deaf-blind person. Keller became a world-famous author and lecturer. She traveled the world advocating for better lives for people with disabilities, promoting equal rights for people with disabilities, and inspiring everyone with her life story. She was also a suffragist, pacifist, socialist, birth control supporter, and civil rights activist.
In 1925, Keller addressed the Lions at the Lions Clubs International Convention, asking them to dedicate their work to help prevent blindness and serve the light for the blinds. Since then, Lions worldwide have been committed to Keller’s request, assisting hundreds of millions with vision-related work.
In 2012, the Tuscumbia Lions Club decided to celebrate and commemorate its 100th anniversary with a statue of Keller and Sullivan. With the help of other Lions Clubs and public fundraisers, they commissioned the Sylacauga sculptor Craigger Browne to design and sculpt it. Browne used a 24,000 pounds block of Sylacauga marble and worked tirelessly on the project for more than two years.
On September 9th, 2017, it was dedicated on the grounds of Ivy Green in the presence of Lions Clubs members from all over the country.
Most of Keller’s statues honor her legacy, inspiration, and activism work; however, this statue also pays tribute to her teacher, Anne Sullivan; without her, Keller would have probably never been able to find the light out of the darkness and into greatness.
The statue, made from Alabama marble, depicts the magical moment that changed Keller’s life when Sullivan spelled the word water in 7-year-old Keller’s palm while the other palm felt the running water. At this moment, Keller realized the relationship between the written word water and the concept of water, and her options for communicating with the world opened up and changed the course of her life.
There are other statues of Keller commissioned by the Lions Clubs; one stands in Canada, and another in Japan.
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