Synopses & Reviews
Several decades after her death in 1968, Helen Keller remains one of the most widely recognized women of the twentieth century. But the fascinating story of her vivid political life—particularly her interest in radicalism and anti-capitalist activism—has been largely overwhelmed by the sentimentalized story of her as a young deaf-blind girl.
Keller had many lives indeed. Best known for her advocacy on behalf of the blind, she was also a member of the socialist party, an advocate of women's suffrage, a defender of the radical International Workers of the World, and a supporter of birth control—and she served as one of the nation's most effective but unofficial international ambassadors. In spite of all her political work, though, Keller rarely explored the political dimensions of disability, adopting beliefs that were often seen as conservative, patronizing, and occasionally repugnant. Under the wing of Alexander Graham Bell, a controversial figure in the deaf community who promoted lip-reading over sign language, Keller became a proponent of oralism, thereby alienating herself from others in the deaf community who believed that a rich deaf culture was possible through sign language. But only by distancing herself from the deaf community was she able to maintain a public image as a one-of-a-kind miracle.
Using analytic tools and new sources, Kim E. Nielsen's political biography of Helen Keller has many lives, teasing out the motivations for and implications of her political and personal revolutions to reveal a more complex and intriguing woman than the Helen Keller we thought we knew.
Review
"Constitutes an important contribution to both the bibliography on Helen Keller and the advancement of disability studies. . . . Nielsen draws on a diverse and revealing body of source materials to give shape and dimension to key topics and arguments. . . . Nielsen does a particularly effective job of giving voice to Keller by drawing on letters, writings, and the statements of others; the direct quotes from Keller that she includes—and there are a multitude—enliven the text and strengthen the reader's sense of Keller as an intellectual and a person as well as of the times which she lived. This sophisticated use of sources and quotes yields a strong, riveting narrative."-Sign Language Studies,
Review
"As a person who has labored through numerous thick volumes on the life of this remarkable deaf-blind woman, I am delighted with Nielsen's concise and refreshing scholarly work."-Journal of Deaf Studies and Deaf Education,
Review
"Radical Lives fills out an important dimension of our cultural memory of the adult Helen Keller."-Ms. Magazine,
Review
"Nielsen has compiled an outstanding collection, including many letters and photos that are being published for the first time. And even if you didn't grow up in Alabama, you may still marvel about how a little girl from Tuscumbia not only beat the odds but also blazed trails."-Dallas Morning News,
Review
"Stunning final chapter."-The Yale Review,
Review
“Children and Youth during the Civil War Era brings together thirteen excellent essays by both established and emerging scholars of children and the Civil War. Offering both breadth and depth and considering both images of childhood and children¹s own experiences, the essays address slavery, sectionalism, war, emancipation, reconstruction, and memory from multiple vantage points. A selection of documents further enrich this anthology, which represents the burgeoning field of childhood and youth in the Civil War era.”-Anya Jabour,author of Topsy-Turvy: How the Civil War Turned the World Upside Down for Southern Children
Review
“Children and Youth during the Civil War Era brings together thirteen excellent essays by both established and emerging scholars of children and the Civil War. Offering both breadth and depth and considering both images of childhood and children¹s own experiences, the essays address slavery, sectionalism, war, emancipation, reconstruction, and memory from multiple vantage points. A selection of documents further enrich this anthology, which represents the burgeoning field of childhood and youth in the Civil War era.”-Anya Jabour,author of Topsy-Turvy: How the Civil War Turned the World Upside Down for Southern Children
Review
"The anthology covers a wide range of subjects under the general rubric of children in the Civil War era. In so doing, it does much to address previous voids."-Wilma King,The North Carolina Historical Review
Review
"Many of the authors move beyond traditional historical sources to incorporate evidence from literature, visual art, and popular culture...highly recommended."-S. Ferentinos,CHOICE
Review
"This is a suggestive and moving volume...each essay seems rich with meaning."-Lyde Cullen Sizer,
Review
"The essays in this volume provide an engaging look at the history of youth during a pivotal era in our nation's history and should spark fruitful class discussions as well as further historical inquiry and research."-The Journal of American History,
Synopsis
The Civil War is a much plumbed area of scholarship, so much so that at times it seems there is no further work to be done in the field. However, the experience of children and youth during that tumultuous time remains a relatively unexplored facet of the conflict. Children and Youth during the Civil War Era seeks a deeper investigation into the historical record by and giving voice and context to their struggles and victories during this critical period in American history.
Prominent historians and rising scholars explore issues important to both the Civil War era and to the history of children and youth, including the experience of orphans, drummer boys, and young soldiers on the front lines, and even the impact of the war on the games children played in this collection. Each essay places the history of children and youth in the context of the sectional conflict, while in turn shedding new light on the sectional conflict by viewing it through the lens of children and youth. A much needed, multi-faceted historical account, Children and Youth during the Civil War Era touches on some of the most important historiographical issues with which historians of children and youth and of the Civil War home front have grappled over the last few years.
About the Author
James Marten is Professor and Chair of the History Department at Marquette University. He is author or editor of more than a dozen books including The Childrens Civil War and four NYU Press books: Children and War: A Historical Anthology; Children in Colonial America; Children and Youth in a New Nation; and Children and Youth during the Civil War Era.