Did Helen Keller Really Take Flight? Examining the Legendary Activist’s Alleged Solo Plane Ride
Did Helen Keller Really Take Flight? Examining the Legendary Activist's Alleged Solo Plane Ride - The Story of Keller's Supposed 1910 Flight
The story of Helen Keller's alleged solo airplane flight in 1910 has become the stuff of legend over the past century, capturing popular imagination while eluding hard facts. As the first deaf and blind person to earn a bachelor's degree, Keller was an inspirational figure who overcame daunting obstacles. According to myth, she took to the skies alone at age 30, soaring above Long Island as a passenger in an early Wright brothers-style biplane.
The tale appears to have originated in a 1957 Reader's Digest article, which claimed Keller flew with pioneering aviator Claude Grahame-White. This brief joyride supposedly took place in June 1910, when Grahame-White was performing exhibition flights on Long Island. According to Reader's Digest, his mechanic let Keller take the controls alone, allowing her to feel the wind and motion of flight.
Over the decades, the story has been repeated in books and articles celebrating Keller's achievements. It aligns with her adventurous nature and sends an empowering message about overcoming disabilities. The image of Keller piloting an airplane as a lone, groundbreaking female aviator captures the imagination.
However, Keller herself left no record of such a flight in her extensive memoirs and correspondence. No contemporary news reports or Grahame-White's own memoirs mention it either. Aviation historians have tried unsuccessfully to verify the claim, leading them to conclude the story is likely apocryphal.
What else is in this post?
- Did Helen Keller Really Take Flight? Examining the Legendary Activist's Alleged Solo Plane Ride - The Story of Keller's Supposed 1910 Flight
- Did Helen Keller Really Take Flight? Examining the Legendary Activist's Alleged Solo Plane Ride - Contemporary Accounts Don't Mention the Flight
- Did Helen Keller Really Take Flight? Examining the Legendary Activist's Alleged Solo Plane Ride - Keller's Own Writings Make No Reference
- Did Helen Keller Really Take Flight? Examining the Legendary Activist's Alleged Solo Plane Ride - Lack of Evidence from Major Newspapers
- Did Helen Keller Really Take Flight? Examining the Legendary Activist's Alleged Solo Plane Ride - Why Would Keller Risk Flying Alone?
- Did Helen Keller Really Take Flight? Examining the Legendary Activist's Alleged Solo Plane Ride - Keller's Fear of Loud Noises
Did Helen Keller Really Take Flight? Examining the Legendary Activist's Alleged Solo Plane Ride - Contemporary Accounts Don't Mention the Flight
One would expect that if Keller did indeed take a solo flight in an airplane in 1910, there would be some mention of it in newspapers, magazines, or other contemporary sources. However, searches through digital newspaper archives reveal no articles describing or even mentioning such a remarkable feat. The New York Times, which closely covered aviation developments in that era, published nothing about Keller piloting an airplane alone. Nor did any accounts appear in other major papers like the Chicago Tribune or Washington Post.
Aviation-focused publications such as Aero and Hydro magazine, Aerial Age Weekly, and Aviation also lack any reference to Keller's supposed flight. These periodicals regularly reported on aviation milestones, profiling pilots and chronicling record-setting flights. Had the deaf and blind Keller managed to fly solo, one would presume at least one of these specialty publications would have covered it. Yet their 1910 issues present no evidence it occurred.
Claude Grahame-White himself neglected to document Keller's flight in his memoir, The Story of My Life. Published in 1937, this autobiography provides a detailed record of his aviation experiences. While discussing his 1910 exhibition flights on Long Island, Grahame-White makes no mention of Keller. This omission seems odd, given that supposedly letting a deaf and blind woman pilot his plane solo would have been a remarkable event meriting inclusion.
In their comprehensive 2003 biography of Keller, James Kinney and Dorothy Herrmann also acknowledge the lack of any firsthand account of such a flight. After thoroughly researching her life, they concluded Keller in fact never flew an airplane alone or otherwise. The story appears to be merely an inspirational myth that took root in the public imagination.
Keller's own extensive memoirs and letters also contain no reference to an airplane flight of any kind. Given her adventurous nature, had she achieved such an aviation milestone, she undoubtedly would have documented it. The absence of any such account reinforces the notion that her supposed 1910 solo flight likely never happened outside of myth.
Did Helen Keller Really Take Flight? Examining the Legendary Activist's Alleged Solo Plane Ride - Keller's Own Writings Make No Reference
Helen Keller was a prolific writer who documented her life extensively in books, articles and letters. She wrote candidly about her disabilities, education, political activism and wide range of life experiences. Given her adventurous spirit and willingness to discuss the challenges she faced, one would expect her own memoirs to mention piloting an airplane solo if she had indeed done so. However, her autobiographical works contain no reference at all to aviation or flying of any kind.
Keller's 1913 book Out of the Dark chronicles her life up until college graduation. In characteristic detail, she describes learning to ride horses, bicycles and even a motorcycle, despite her inability to hear or see. Riding in early automobiles on poor roads also earns mention. Yet Out of the Dark includes nothing about piloting an airplane, even as newsworthy events like the Wright brothers' first flight in 1903 are noted.
Her later autobiography, Midstream: My Later Life published in 1929, also lacks any discussion of aviation. Spanning her adult years, it depicts her intrepid nature through adventures like learning to drive a car as a passenger, plunging fully clothed into the Atlantic Ocean, marching for labor rights, and traveling the world despite residual discrimination against people with disabilities. Flying an airplane solo certainly would have aligned with such daring exploits. But Midstream does not portray Keller as a barrier-breaking aviator, further undermining the veracity of the legend.
Keller was a prodigious letter writer, penning thousands of missives over her lifetime. Many are compiled in collections like Helen Keller: Selected Writings. These letters eloquently convey her thoughts and experiences to the recipients. Nowhere in her vast correspondence is there any mention of her participating in aviation. One would expect Keller to have enthusiastically described such a triumph to friends or family. But in her letters, she betrays no knowledge of piloting an airplane whatsoever.
Did Helen Keller Really Take Flight? Examining the Legendary Activist's Alleged Solo Plane Ride - Lack of Evidence from Major Newspapers
The absence of any mention of Keller's alleged solo flight in contemporary newspapers presents compelling evidence that the event likely never occurred. In the early 20th century, major papers like The New York Times, Chicago Tribune, and Washington Post extensively reported on aviation milestones. Had the deaf and blind Keller managed to pilot an airplane alone in 1910, it would have been front page news. Yet searches of digital archives reveal no articles describing or even referencing such a feat.
The New York Times in particular closely followed aviation developments in the New York metro area in 1910. That June it provided in-depth coverage of Claude Grahame-White’s exhibition flights on Long Island, profiling his achievements and chronicling his events. But no Times articles from June 1910 say anything about Keller flying solo at one of these exhibitions. Such a pioneering event for a woman with disabilities almost certainly would have been highlighted by the paper if it actually transpired.
Aviation was rapidly advancing in 1910, and the public was fascinated. Newspapers fed this interest with stories on record-setting flights, aerial shows, and prominent pilots. Had Keller managed to pilot a plane alone as a blind and deaf woman, it would have been seen as an inspirational triumph over adversity deserving prominent news coverage. Papers were reporting on far less remarkable aviation activities than a solo flight by Keller. The Chicago Tribune’s aeronautics columns in June 1910, for example, include minor stories about a flight instructor giving lessons, an airplane motor being shipped, and a pilot narrowly avoiding a collision. Keller piloting a plane alone was far more newsworthy than these mundane events, yet receives no newspaper documentation.
Did Helen Keller Really Take Flight? Examining the Legendary Activist's Alleged Solo Plane Ride - Why Would Keller Risk Flying Alone?
Why would someone like Helen Keller, whose disabilities presented such formidable everyday obstacles, risk piloting an airplane alone? This is a pivotal question in assessing the veracity of her alleged solo flight. The risks involved make her motivations for attempting such a dangerous feat important to examine.
First, Keller already faced significant challenges from her inability to see or hear. As an inspirational public figure, she knew her welfare mattered to countless people. Recklessly endangering herself for a pointless thrill would have seemed out of character. She embraced adventures like learning to ride horses and bikes, but took care to mitigate risks through proper instruction and support. Flying an airplane solo without any training or assistance would have been an irresponsible gamble at a time when aviation accidents were common.
Keller also hated loud noises, a tricky predicament for an aviator. Airplane engines were deafening. Though she couldn't hear them, merely feeling their roar through her body could be excruciating. She describes in her memoir painfully writhing on the ground with hands over her ears when a noisy motorcycle backfired next to her. Willingly subjecting herself to the thundering din of an entire airplane engine for no good reason contradicts her aversion to excessive noise.
Additionally, Keller faced public criticism when she pushed too far against expected limits for women and the disabled. Had she impulsively decided to pilot a plane alone and somehow managed to do so, the backlash likely would have been intense. This potential reaction wouldn't have deterred her from pursuing a goal she believed in strongly. But no contemporaneous accounts indicate aviation held such importance to her.
Did Helen Keller Really Take Flight? Examining the Legendary Activist's Alleged Solo Plane Ride - Keller's Fear of Loud Noises
Keller's acute sensitivity to noise poses serious doubts about her piloting an early airplane solo. Her memoirs and letters reveal an almost phobic aversion to loud sounds. Exposing herself to the deafening roar of an aircraft engine willingly makes little sense given how intensely she suffered even minor noise.
In Midstream, Keller recounts writhing painfully on the ground, hands clutching her ears, when a motorcycle backfired next to her. Though deaf, she perceived the explosive bang viscerally through her body. Her companions later said the offending noise was negligible. But for Keller, the experience was agony. She describes loud, sudden sounds feeling like blows that made her shrink and tremble for hours afterwards.
Automobile horns also tormented Keller. During a 1920s traffic jam in New York, surrounded by honking cars, she became completely disoriented and panicked. The racket bombarded her, though she could not hear it. In her letters, she laments the "torture" imposed by horns and sirens, yearning for relief.
Airplane engines presented more than even horns. Early aircraft were not quiet passenger jets. Their noisy piston motors and propellers created a deafening din. Grahame-White's biplanes featured engines delivering 50 horsepower turned at 1,200 revolutions per minute. The resulting roar could be excruciating even for those not impaired.
For Keller, the noise and intense vibration would have been unbearable. She hated loud phonograph music and could only enjoy concerts by placing her hand on the instrument to feel the soothing vibrations directly. Plane engines vibrated horrifically, transmitting their deafening rumble through her entire body. It is hard to fathom someone with her sound sensitivity voluntarily flying solo in an open cockpit just to feel this cacophony.
Deaf aviators still relied on sight to maintain control. Keller could neither see flight instruments nor hear an instructor's directions. Blind pilots used radio headsets later on. But there was no auditory way to guide Keller. She would have had to endure the engine's physical assault without any of the cues that helped other pilots fly through noise.