Text of the Helen Keller Letter

93 Seminole Avenue
Forest Hills, New York

November 20, 1931

Dear Miss Goldthwaite:

When I think how many hands have enriched my life, my heart sings with gratitude. Doubly thankful, I greet you whose friendly hand has been as a staff of hope to the blind of America.

The hand binds the sightless to the living world of men and women. It is the antenna with which the blind grasp activity, self-reliance and happiness. The photographs in the folder I am enclosing will show you impressively how important trained hands are to the blind. Only with skillful fingers can they live as human beings, working, playing and exploring the wonders of God's universe and creating joy in the dark.

With a prayer in my hands that this folder may find new friends to guide the blind, and with thanksgiving for those whose sympathetic hands have already been held out to us, I am

Sincerely yours,

Helen Keller