Letter from Michael Anagnos to Annie Sullivan, March 5, 1889 (p. 2 of 3)
Letter from Michael Anagnos to Annie Sullivan, March 5, 1889 (p. 2 of 3)
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Letter from Michael Anagnos to Annie Sullivan, March 5, 1889 (p. 2 of 3)
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... construct any unknown or uncommon conveyance for reaching Laura's mind. No, certainly he did not. Neither did Christopher Columbus form the Atlantic ocean or invent the sails of the ships which were fitted out for his perilous voyage in search of a vast continent. Both need existing means and common instrumentalities for the achievement of a new discovery. Both conceived an idea, and directed their efforts to its realization with unbounded faith and unbending determination. Both steered their energies to a definite aim, - one to prove that the inscription ne plus ultra applied to geographical matters was merely a myth indicative of ignorance as to the extent of the earth, and the other to tunnel the rock which formed the prison wall of a human mind, - and they met with a grand success. This parallel shows what is __ for Dr. Howe. No one thought that all educational problems were solved by him in Laura's case, and that he left nothing for others to do. Nor is there any doubt or dispute as to the fact that it is impossible to apply the same educational methods and processes to children of different temperaments and mental constitutions. In regard to the character of the publicity of Helen's case, of which you have spoken repeatedly with a certain degree of severity, I beg to differ from you. True, there are persons, who, prompted by mere curiosity, ask all sorts of questions in a thoughtless manner; but these, I am glad to say, are few as compared with the vast army of intelligent, thoughtful, considerate and well educated men and women, who are seeking information for higher and better purposes than the gratification of a morbid desire for novelty and excitement. When a man of deep learning and sound common sense tells me, that if he were rich, he would have one hundred thousand copies of the account of Helen's education printed at his...
