Rosie Sultan has written a novel about Helen Keller, which explores an episode of her life when she formed a relationship with a young journalist, that was never allowed to blossom. The book is called Helen Keller in Love. Reading this reminded us that we have a Helen Keller ‘treasure’ – two letters that she wrote (the letters are typed) or had dictated, but that were signed by her. They were donated to the RNID (now Action on Hearing Loss) by Miss Ailsa McMahon who was head teacher at the short-lived Copnor Modern Girls’ School in Portsmouth (the school lasted from 1946-1968). The school had a Helen Keller house, and the pupils sent flowers to her. Miss McMahon wrote of Helen’s reply,  “What kindness and thoughtfulness on her part, especially when she was so busy”.

Helen Keller used a pencil to sign her name, and a ruler perhaps. Click onto the image for a larger size.

These two pictures are taken from a booklet for the Guild of St. John of Beverley. Helen Keller is so famous that she really needs no explanation. We have a couple of letters in our archives signed by her after she had been on a visit to England.

To the right are the Rev. W.H. Oxley and his friend Mr George  Stephenson. They were members of the Guild of St. John of Beverley. The Guild was founded in Yorkshire in 1896, using St.John of Beverley as its inspiration. It was reconstituted in 1915 with a southern branch that seems to have been run largely by the Rev. Oxley’s son Selwyn. Selwyn Oxley was a curious character. He dropped out of university due to illness that sound like it was psychological, and then a chance meeting on a train got him interested in mission work with Deaf people. Through the 19th century and early 20th century there was a close association between mission work and Deaf education. From his home in Victoria Rd the younger Oxley took to his mission with gusto, travelling around the country by motor car and horse drawn caravan, then stopping and discovering if there were any Deaf people in the district. Oxley Made a large collection of books relating to all aspects of hearing and deafness, and these books remain a key part of the library collection. Many of them have his spidery hadwriting inside the front cover and the Guild bookplate.  After his death the books were donated to the library by his wife who also wrote his biography. An collection of postcard sized photographs forms an important part of this donation, and these are available for researchers to use.

More on George Stephenson of Sheffield at a later date.

Helen Keller to the left, and Rev. Oxley with George Stephenson to the right.

Helen KELLER (1880-1968)

American deaf-blind writer and international icon

CROW, L. Helen Keller: rethinking the problematic icon. Disability and Society, 2000, 16(6), 845-859.

Selwyn OXLEY  (1890-1951)

16^th annual report of general honorary work done for the deaf…; by Selwyn Oxley.  The author, 1928. (Filed with Guild of St John of beverley annual reports)

Obituary. British Deaf Times, 1951, 49(565/568), 23.

Obituary. Teacher of the Deaf, 1951, 49, 81.

Selwyn Oxley and his library. Silent World, 1954, 8(8), 238-39.

Rev. W.H. OXLEY ( 1848 -1924)

Father of Selwyn Oxley.

Obituary. Ephphatha, 1924, 63, 845-46.

Guild of St. John of Beverley (1896-?

We have only a few annual reports but we do have minute books for some years in the 1920s and also various pamphlets and other records. It appears that some remnant of the Guild remains as a very small charity. I suspect that with the death of Selwyn Oxley and his wife its powerhouse was gone and it declined.