A photo of a young Helen Keller and her teacher, Anne Sullivan has recently been uncovered. The photo dates back to July 1888, when Helen Keller was 8 years old, and is said to be the earliest photo of Helen Keller and Anne Sullivan taken together, and the only photo of Helen Keller holding her beloved doll. 'Doll' is the first word that Anne Sullivan spelled for Helen Keller after they met in 1887.
Over the past century, the photo has belonged to the family of Thaxter Spencer. Spencer's mother, Hope Thaxter Parks, often stayed at the Elijah Cobb House on Cape Cod during the summers when she was a child. Parks, who was four years younger than Keller, had played with Helen Keller when Keller's family also vacationed in Massachusetts.
Spencer does not know who had taken the photo of Helen Keller and Anne Sullivan.
The 1888 photo of Helen Keller is currently with the New England Historic Genealogical Society in Boston.