Helen Keller’s Voice, Captured on a Rare Recording, Rings Out Once More
‘We lay here the cornerstone of our house of hope,’ the deaf-blind pioneer declared nearly a century ago.
On December 5, 1934, the American Foundation for the Blind laid a time capsule into the cornerstone of its headquarters, then under construction. It was a historic event attended by a renowned deaf-blind advocate, Helen Keller; AFB’s founder, M.C. Migel; and an associate editor of the New York Times, John H. Finley. The capsule, welded shut in copper and buried, kept its contents a mystery for decades.
In 2021, the capsule was finally opened, revealing two silver disc records encased in clay jackets, along with backup acrylic copies, a record player, and a mirror etched with playback instructions. Covered in asbestos, and delicate due to its age, the records were sent to be properly preserved and digitized by archivists in the American Printing House, led by Justin Gardner. That’s where they stayed until Monday.
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