# Was Helen Keller a virgin when she died? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 5, 2018, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-helen-keller-a-virgin-when-she-died/820815 "2018-09-05T17:59:44Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Shut\_Up\_Lutz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/65b543/32.png) [@Shut\_Up\_Lutz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shut_Up_Lutz)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2018, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-helen-keller-a-virgin-when-she-died/820815/1 "2018-09-05T17:59:44Z")
The most famous blind deaf mute in the history of the universe, for what that’s worth (wow you get to meet the President and paw his face with your hands) but I digress. I know Annie Sullivan taught her to “communicate” beyond the grunts she used to make, but I have never heard or read or seen anything about Keller ever having any boyfriend/girlfriend intimate physical relationships. So, was Helen Keller a virgin when she died? ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2018, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-helen-keller-a-virgin-when-she-died/820815/2 "2018-09-05T18:12:28Z")
She definitely had a lover, one Peter Fagan, a reporter for the _Boston Herald_, and spent time with him. It’s unknown whether they had sex, because, one, such things Were Not Discussed back then in general, and, two, her family treated her like disabled people are often treated to this day: Like a plaster saint, a figure to be put on a shelf and admired but who must never have a fully normal, human existence. Her family did, in fact, get between her and Fagan. Anyway, here’s a farrago of links I found on the subject: > **[Helen Keller In Love - Deep South Magazine](https://deepsouthmag.com/2012/04/26/helen-keller-in-love/)** > > Thanks to Sultan's excellent storytelling ability and her ability to embellish the facts when necessary, the love story captured in this book, which hits shelves May 1, rivals that of the best romance novels. When Helen is in her thirties and her... > **[Three Big Ableist Myths About the Life of Helen Keller](https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/three-big-ableist-myths-about-life-helen-keller-180963793/)** > > The simple story that's usually told about her today reflects cultural biases that have nothing to do with her actual life > **[Hellen Keller: yearning for an ordinary life](https://www.baltimoresun.com/news/bs-xpm-1998-08-09-1998221032-story.html)** > **[Helen Keller and Peter Fagan](http://davehingsburger.blogspot.com/2012/03/helen-keller-and-peter-fagan.html)** > > (Description of the video: Various photographs of Helen Keller are interspersed with clips from television programmes showing her... ---
**Author:** ![Sarabellum](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sarabellum/32/3492_2.png) [@Sarabellum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sarabellum)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2018, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-helen-keller-a-virgin-when-she-died/820815/3 "2018-09-05T18:14:43Z")
She was briefly courting or maybe engaged to a man, but I think maybe he was a fame seeker/gold digger type. Her inner circle deemed him unsuitable for whatever reason and they broke up. I would presume she died a virgin, judging by the standards of the times. ---
**Author:** ![engineer\_comp\_geek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/engineer_comp_geek/32/504_2.png) [@engineer\_comp\_geek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/engineer_comp_geek)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2018, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-helen-keller-a-virgin-when-she-died/820815/4 "2018-09-05T18:16:07Z")
Maybe. Maybe not. It’s not proven one way or the other. But there is the definite possibility that she was not a virgin when she died. > [@](#): > > This one’s a bit tricky, and is one that many people might not like to think about. But the fact is, Helen Keller was a beautiful, passionate woman. It is not widely known that at the age of thirty six Helen Keller fell in love with her personal secretary, Peter Fagan, filled out an application for a marriage license together and—almost eloped—before her mother got wind of it and physically and violently forced him to “run for the hills” so to speak. Georgina Kleege, a lecturer at UC Berkeley, speculates in her very thought-provoking novel, Blind Rage, that the love affair went well beyond simple hand holding and—there is no delicate way of putting this—might have resulted in the loss of Helen’s virginity. Helen herself said that the single biggest regret of her life was that she never experienced the joy of marriage. From here: [http://blog.larryknipfing.com/2012/05/helen-kellers-secret-life/](http://blog.larryknipfing.com/2012/05/helen-kellers-secret-life/) You can google Helen Keller and Peter Fagan for more details. Edit: Damn ninjas. ---
**Author:** ![Si\_Amigo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/si_amigo/32/2877_2.png) [@Si\_Amigo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Si_Amigo)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2018, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-helen-keller-a-virgin-when-she-died/820815/5 "2018-09-05T18:24:16Z")
Given that she often times physically explored other people with hers hands there is a good chance that she did have sexual experiences. Perhaps she and Peter Fagan experimented with each other as couples do, still that doesn’t mean she wasn’t still a virgin upon her death. We most likely will never know the extend of her sexual experience, but the family seemed to be quite upset with the nature of their attraction to each other. ---
**Author:** ![Shut\_Up\_Lutz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/65b543/32.png) [@Shut\_Up\_Lutz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shut_Up_Lutz)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2018, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-helen-keller-a-virgin-when-she-died/820815/6 "2018-09-05T18:42:40Z")
Very interesting and informative, thanks to y’all for the info. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2018, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-helen-keller-a-virgin-when-she-died/820815/7 "2018-09-05T20:45:00Z")
> [@Derleth](#): > > her family treated her like disabled people are often treated to this day: Like a plaster saint, a figure to be put on a shelf and admired but who must never have a fully normal, human existence. Another factor, specific to Keller, was that a lot of people didn’t want to hear what Keller was saying. They wanted to admire her as a symbol of how people could overcome diversity - and that remains the image people have of Keller today. What gets swept under the rug is Keller’s political views; she was a [radical socialist](https://isreview.org/issue/96/politics-helen-keller). ---
**Author:** ![Skinnybones\_Lampshade](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skinnybones_lampshade/32/2872_2.png) [@Skinnybones\_Lampshade](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skinnybones_Lampshade)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2018, 2:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-helen-keller-a-virgin-when-she-died/820815/8 "2018-09-07T02:29:51Z")
I might have been interested in this thread if I hadn’t been stopped dead by revulsion upon reading: “(wow you get to meet the President and paw his face with your hands)”. OP, I hope that neither you nor anybody in your family has a disability, but you are extraordinarily nasty in this description. ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2018, 8:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-helen-keller-a-virgin-when-she-died/820815/9 "2018-09-07T08:33:20Z")
Contrary to the OP, Keller was not mute. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2018, 12:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-helen-keller-a-virgin-when-she-died/820815/10 "2018-09-07T12:49:22Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > Another factor, specific to Keller, was that a lot of people didn’t want to hear what Keller was saying. They wanted to admire her as a symbol of how people could overcome **diversity** - and that remains the image people have of Keller today. What gets swept under the rug is Keller’s political views; she was a [radical socialist](https://isreview.org/issue/96/politics-helen-keller). Overcome **adversity** , I think you meant to say… ---
**Author:** ![md2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/73ab20/32.png) [@md2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/md2000)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2018, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-helen-keller-a-virgin-when-she-died/820815/11 "2018-09-07T14:56:07Z")
> [@kaylasdad99](#): > > Overcome **adversity** , I think you meant to say… You could overcome diversity by being incapable of recognizing visible (or audible) minorities, I would think. ---
**Author:** ![Mumberthax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ea5d25/32.png) [@Mumberthax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mumberthax)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2018, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-helen-keller-a-virgin-when-she-died/820815/12 "2018-09-09T18:55:55Z")
Well, damn. Talk about a totally random question. I never really stopped to consider that - and I’m gonna keep it that way. Why can’t we talk about stuff like “who was Carly Simon referring to in her song _You’re So Vain_” or “when does a building become a built”. Those were at least fun. We can even discuss the bizarre lyrics to _MacArthur’s Park_ if anyone’s up for it. But this? Helen Keller’s naughty bits? As I said…damn. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2018, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-helen-keller-a-virgin-when-she-died/820815/13 "2018-09-09T19:20:53Z")
FWIW, Mumberthax, the OP of this thread was banned yesterday, for trolling, and general asshattery. ---
**Author:** ![pool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pool/32/4152_2.png) [@pool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pool)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2018, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-helen-keller-a-virgin-when-she-died/820815/14 "2018-09-09T19:39:37Z")
That would really suck if you were deaf and blind and you’re Mother drove your chance at love away. Especially given the time period and lack of technology it’s not like there were a lot of ways for a deaf and blind person to try and get in touch with somebody, you’d be totally at the mercy of whomever was helping you with daily living. It would be such a mindfuck for a typical person to imagine living through one day like that, reminds me of Johnny Got His Gun a little bit, but I guess she wasn’t quite that bad off. ---
**Author:** ![Mumberthax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ea5d25/32.png) [@Mumberthax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mumberthax)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2018, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-helen-keller-a-virgin-when-she-died/820815/15 "2018-09-09T21:53:30Z")
> [@kenobi\_65](#): > > FWIW, Mumberthax, the OP of this thread was banned yesterday, for trolling, and general asshattery. Oh, THAT figures. A troll. Well, after reading over SUL’s posts, I can see why. Now let’s move on to nicer things. I’ll put up some stuff after supper. Then we’ll see where that goes.