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During the summer of 1987,
I was working in the northern Alabama town of Tuscumbia when I came
upon a very old house. As I approached the house from the side, it
was obvious that it must have been at least 100 years old; in fact,
it looked so out of place that I asked one of the neighbors if
anyone still lived in "that old house."
Many of the old homesteads in the Deep South have a name. This
one was known as Ivy Green, and it was famous because of the girl
who lived there -- Helen Keller. You can tour the Keller home and
even see the water pump in the backyard where Helen learned her
first word, "water," by its spelling.
There are two things that Tuscumbia, Ala., is known for. Besides
Helen Keller, the other one -- and I'm not making this up -- is the
world's only coon dog cemetery. Since you already know most of the
story about Helen Keller, let's talk for a minute about the coon dog
cemetery.
This part of the story comes from firsthand knowledge. When I
drove out to the coon dog cemetery one day, I saw tombstones and
memorials such as, "To my beloved dog, Butch." As you drive in at
the main entrance to the cemetery (actually, there's only one
entrance), you will see a statue of a coon dog with its front paws
placed against a tree in which a raccoon is hiding.
Now, back to our story.
In 1880, Helen Keller was born as a healthy baby, but at 19
months she contracted an illness that left her blind and deaf. In
1887, the Kellers' doctor referred them to a Scottish immigrant who
taught speech to the deaf in Boston. He was also a pretty successful
inventor; in fact, he invented a product in 1876 that is still
widely used today. By the way, this man's wife, the former Mabel
Hubbard, was deaf too.
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It was his father-in-law who delivered the patent application to
the U.S. patent office, arriving a mere two hours before another
inventor arrived to take out a patent on a different version of the
same product. The first inventor (the one who would later meet with
Helen Keller) actually used some of the second inventor's technology
in his patent application, but hardly anyone has ever heard of the
second inventor. The case went all the way to the Supreme Court,
which ruled in favor of the first inventor.
When the Keller family contacted the man, he recommended that
Helen meet with Anne Sullivan, the lady who would become Helen
Keller's teacher. Ms. Sullivan was partially blind herself.
Who was the inventor who introduced Helen Keller to Anne Sullivan
and whose invention in 1876 is still widely used today?
Alexander Graham Bell!
[Paul Niemann]
Paul Niemann may be reached at niemann7@aol.com. You can learn
more about Invention Mysteries by visiting the official
Invention Mysteries website.
Copyright Paul Niemann 2006
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