[00:00:02] Douglas Edwards: [bangs gavel] This is my first time to use a gavel. I hope you'll forgive it, but, uh, we have a rather lengthy program, and, uh, before we get into it, may I say I'm deeply grateful to the American Foundation for Overseas Blind for the privilege of serving as the master of ceremonies, for the privilege of this tribute to one of the truly great human beings of this or any other age. For more than 50 years, Helen Keller has stood as a beacon to all mankind, to people of goodwill, regardless of race, creed, or national origin.

In the minds of millions around the world, she is an ever-constant symbol of hope, of courage, of personal triumph over adversity, and of the promise of America. Helen Keller's inspiration, by no means, extends to the physically handicapped only. For among our honored guests, this evening is one who knows this firsthand and one who has seen the dramatic impact of the life and works of Helen Keller bless the handicapped and the non-handicapped alike. It gives me very great pleasure to introduce the president of the American Foundation for Overseas Blind, Mr. William Ziegler Jr.
[pause 00:01:19]
[applause]
[coughing]

[00:01:31] William Ziegler Jr.: Ms. Keller, Mrs. Roosevelt, Your Excellencies. Mr. Edwards, ladies, and gentlemen, on behalf of the Board of Directors and the staff of the American Foundation for Overseas Blind, it gives me sincere pleasure to welcome you. We are here to pay tribute to Helen Keller, whose work and whose life have been an inspiration to both the sightless and the seeing throughout the world. There is an inscription carved on a wall of the Helen Keller Room of the foundation. It reads, "While they said it could not be done, it was done."

Those words typify Ms. Keller and her philosophy. Many times over the years, Helen Keller with her faithful and devoted friend, Ms. Polly Thomson, have left the comfort of their home to carry to more than 25 nations on five continents her message of hope and encouragement. It is with great reluctance that the foundation asked Helen Keller to embark upon this, her most arduous journey, in which she will travel more than 40,000 miles. Yet, as the foundation this year celebrates its 40th anniversary, it somehow seemed fitting that it should be so.

For only Helen Keller can inspire the free peoples of the Far East to wholeheartedly join AFOB in its bold new program of relief, education, and rehabilitation. For what she has so unselfishly done in the past and for what, at the age of 74, she now undertakes, we all owe Helen Keller our deepest gratitude and appreciation.
[pause 00:03:34]
[applause]

[00:03:46] Douglas Edwards: Thank you, Mr. Ziegler. Sitting just down the table from us is the-the gracious gentleman I had the pleasure of meeting during the premiere of Helen Keller's film biography. The gentleman has traveled here from Alabama to represent Helen Keller's home state and to join us in wishing her good luck. We hope that, uh, his honor won't be too angry with us if we call for a few words from the mayor of the great city of Birmingham, Alabama, the Honorable James W. Morgan.
[applause]

[00:04:15] Douglas Edwards: Mayor Jimmy is on now.

[00:04:21] Mayor James W. Morgan: Ms. Keller, Mrs. Roosevelt, and our distinguished guests and friends, [clears throat] I'm very grateful to have the opportunity to join with you tonight in paying tribute to this remarkable lady. She comes from my home state, and I bring you greetings, her especially, and to you, uh, from our state to this grand state of New York. The other night at a party, I met some friends that, uh, whose parents were neighbors of Ms. Keller way back yonder when she was a little girl. Her determination then, uh, was just like it was in later years, has been- has been exemplified by her life.

Her determination to overcome handicaps, her determination, to, uh, just do many, many good things. They tell me that when she was a little girl, that she was determined to play just the same as other children. To romp, and play, and laugh, and have a big time just like the rest of the children. She'd run and bump into a fence, bounce back and pick herself up and go forward again, just hollering and laughing. And she laughs all the time. She's a remarkable lady, and I'm very proud that she comes from the state of Alabama. Thank you so much.
[applause]

[00:05:50] Douglas Edwards: Also among us, this evening is a person deserving of far greater recognition than time will permit. She is chairman of the Committee of Sponsors for our meeting tonight, whose 50 members gave unstintingly of their good names and their efforts, and her name is Mrs. Irving Ives. Mrs. Ives, would you stand, please?
[applause]

[00:06:17] Douglas Edwards: It's perhaps a measure of the stature Helen Keller has reached in world society that as she prepares for this arduous mission of goodwill, she's become the recipient of expressions of warmth and godspeed from the most distinguished leaders of the free world. With your permission, I should like, later on, to read some of these. But first, we're honored in having among us tonight two persons who have known and loved Helen Keller, who have been particularly touched by her great spirit, and who have interrupted busy schedules to share their messages with her in person.

I have the honor to present Mr. Guthrie McClintic, the distinguished man of the theater, who will speak in behalf of himself, and Mrs. McCintic, who is the beloved first lady of the stage, also known to all of us as Ms. Katharine Cornell. Mr. McClintic.
[applause]

[00:07:13] Mr. Guthrie McClintic: Ms. Keller, Mrs. Roosevelt, Your Excellencies, about 400 years ago, there was a man named Ponce de León who went in search of the fountain of youth. I believe that search was fruitless. It remained for several hundred years later for Captain Keller's little girl named Helen to discover the spirit and the fountain of youth, as I'm sure all of you realized when you're in her radiant presence. [background noise] Um, also like another stubborn, youthful number that refused to grow up, Peter Pan. She also flies. Not like Peter did, on his own propulsion, but I'm sure Helen could if she put her mind to it.
[laughter] She is shortly to fly and has flown to the far corners of the world to give understanding, compassion, and light to those whose problems she understands best. I'm really kind of nervous standing up here in the presence of two first ladies. First, our beloved Eleanor Roosevelt and, secondly, the perennial first lady, since the day she graduated from Radcliffe, I was about to say Vassar, College, cum laude, many years ago. I also bear to you, dear Helen, a message from someone else who has sometimes been called a first lady, and that is Katharine Cornell.

She wants to say that in all the years that she's been on the road, and she, unfortunately, can't be here tonight because she's playing in Washington, but in all the years she's been on the road, she thinks the nicest pickup she ever made was the day she barged in on you on a train en route from Boston to New York and introduced herself. And those years to her have been a privilege to have your friendship and your understanding. And she joins with me, as I sure- I'm sure all these people do, in saying, bon voyage, dear Helen Keller. God bless you.
[applause]

[00:09:38] Douglas Edwards: Major M.C Miguel has long been acknowledged as the dean of work for the blind, both at home and abroad, and he needs no introduction to this audience. His association with Helen Keller and the firm friendship that has grown between them goes back many, many years. I know that no tribute to Ms. Keller would be complete without a word from him. Major M.C. Miguel.
[pause 00:10:01]
[applause]

[00:10:12] Major M.C. Miguel: I just wanna say, uh, two words. I think the very fact that Helen ha- is willing and wants to proceed as she does, is in itself a fact that we must be convinced is a wo- a wonderful effort. And, uh, I think she tries to do everything humanly possible in love, uh, for others. She feels that she, uh, she feels she has an impact that she can't resist. And with that reason, she is going forward. I might say that we have amongst us the three friends of Helen who have decided to keep an eye on Helen. And in doing so, we have endeavored to keep Helen in restraint, but we find it's almost impossible.

We find that Helen decides she's gonna do certain things, and she goes ahead and does it, and that's what's happening on this- on this particular, uh, uh, trip. She-she has decided that she wants to, uh, do this, uh, job, and she's, uh, proceeding, and, uh, that's the way Helen do-does everything. So we have to bow, uh, bow to her and-and say, "All right. Helen, you can go ahead."
[clearing throat]

[00:12:06] Major M.C. Miguel: So I would say to her, God bless you, Helen. We-we wish you everything wonderful. We would hope you re-return safely to us, and-and, uh, and that, that's all we can say. So-so God-God bless-bless Ms. Helen.
[applause]

[00:12:31] Douglas Edwards: Thank you, Major Miguel. On the 27th of June, Helen Keller will have lived for 75 years. For most of those years, she's been a legend, not an aloof, unapproachable legend, but a very warm and human one. She's known many people in those years, and none has failed to be deeply touched by her life. Some of these people are with us this evening, and while it's not possible to hear from each of them, it seems to me they should be recognized at least by name. And perhaps so that we may move along more quickly, you will reserve, uh, the well-deserved applause for them until later.

Mr. And Mrs. James S. Adams, Dr. Conrad Barons, Ms. Nancy Hamilton, producer of the wonderful film biography of Helen Keller, Mr. C. Leonard Pfeiffer, Mr. and Mrs. J. Truman Bidwell, Mr. and Mrs. Stewart Grumman. The executive and field directors of the American Foundation for Overseas Blind, Mr. M. Robert Barnett and Mr. Eric T. Bolter, who are here at the head table, and of course, the Board of Directors of the American Foundation for Overseas Blind, who each day battle the problems which Helen Keller has made her life's work. Mr. Eustace Seligman, Mr. Alexander M. Laughlin, Mr. Jansen Noyes Jr., Princess Margaret Draper Boncompagni, and Mr. Joseph Clunk. Mr. Peter T. Salmon and Mr. Frank K. Sanders. And I think now is the time for them.
[applause]

[00:14:05] Douglas Edwards: We're also honored this evening by the presence of the Honorable [unintelligible 00:14:08], Consul General of Japan and New York, Judge Mariano de Leon of the Philippines delegation to the United Nations, Mr. R. K. Kapoor and Mr. M.S. Sundaram of the Government of India, the Honorable Joseph Cavallaro, president of the New York City Board of Higher Education, the Honorable Joseph D. McGoldrick, rent administrator of the State of New York. Dr. Benjamin Rosenkranz, president of the New York State Optometric Association, Ms. Margaret, uh, Mary Margaret McBride, the columnist, radio star, television star.

Mr. Dirk [unintelligible 00:14:41] of KLM, Royal Dutch Airlines, who recently showed its respect for Helen Keller's accomplishments by christening an airplane in her name.

Mr. Selig of the Federation of Jewish Philanthropies, uh, which recently named Helen Keller its Woman of the Years. Ms. Julia Henderson, director of the United Nations Bureau of Social Affairs, Mr. Solomon V. Arnaldo, director of the New York Office of UNESCO, Ms. Marion McVeigh of the Office of Vocational Rehabilitation, Mr. Ellsworth Bunker, president of the American National Red Cross, Mr. Leslie Paffrath of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.

Mr. Donald Wilson of the International Society for the Welfare of Cripples. We're very happy to see such a fine turnout from the social work agencies, many of them from out of state. We'll mention some of those out-of-state names. Mr. Albert N. Sherberg of the Connecticut Board of Education of the Blind, Mr. Edward Waterhouse of Perkins Institution, Mr. Eber Palmer, superintendent of the New York State School for the Blind, and Mr. Fred L. Sparks Jr., Superintendent of the New York State School for the Deaf, and Ms. Margaret Anne McGuire of the New York State Commission for the Blind. Yes.
[applause]

[00:16:04] Douglas Edwards: This is a book that will come as a complete, and we hope, a very pleasant surprise to the wonderful lady on my left. The messages of admiration and goodwill of which I spoke before, time obviously won't permit the reading of all of them, for there are more than 40 between the covers of this book. To scan the list briefly, President Eisenhower, Vice President Nixon, John Foster Dulles, Mrs. Oveta Culp Hobby, Henry Cabot Lodge, Chief Justice Warren, Herbert Hoover, Dr. Ralph Bunche, Norman Vincent Peale, Justices Douglas and Burton.
The AFVL and the CIO, Rotary and Lions Clubs, the Republican and Democratic parties, Arthur Godfrey, many others.

[00:16:49] ?Polly Thomson: I'm flattered.

[00:16:49] Douglas Edwards: President Eisenhower wrote, "As you undertake another Goodwill tour abroad, I extend congratulations on your unique contribution to understanding among the peoples of the world." Former President Herbert Hoover said, "I hope you, the most courageous woman on earth, will have comfort and success on your forthcoming journey." Said Vice President Nixon, "Helen Keller's accomplishments have brought hope to the handicapped and inspiration to all." "She is indeed our ambassador of goodwill," said Henry Cabot Lodge, America's ambassador to the United Nations and the uniquely great lady of our time."

"I never ceased to marvel," wrote Dr. Ralph Bunche, "at your complete dedication to humanitarian service and the annals of courage, goodwill, and compassion for your fellow men. Your name will be eternally writ large." "No one could be more effective as an ambassador of goodwill to peoples whose understanding and friendship our country seeks earnestly to win," wrote Mrs. Oveta Culp Hobby, the secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare. And Chief Justice Warren said, "I know of no one who would better represent our people and offer more inspiration for a richer life, not only to the handicapped but to everyone who learns your story."
Senator Margaret Chase Smith writes, "I am indeed happy to join with your many other friends in wishing you a most pleasant and successful trip to the far East. You've been an inspiration to the handicapped of this country, and very few people have been able to inspire, as you have, the many less fortunate in other lands. Again, best wishes, and we are waiting to welcome you home, where we know you will continue to champion the cause of the deaf and the blind of the world." Senator John Sparkman of Alabama says, "Helen Keller's birthplace--"

Uh, well, of course, Alabama is Helen Keller's birthplace. He calls her an inspiration to millions all over the world. And Alabama Senator Lister Hill says, "By her faith, she lifted high a great light of hope of understanding, and of peace." The governor of Connecticut, Abraham Ribicoff, where Helen Keller now makes her home and where I am, a not-too-distant neighbor, said-said Governor Ribicoff, "We are proud that you are a resident of our wonderful state, and we trust after your lengthy journey to [unintelligible 00:19:06] the physically handicapped in many other lands, that you'll return to enjoy many more years of a fruitful life."

From Alabama, Governor James Folsom writes, "We in Alabama are extremely happy to call you our own. You have been our greatest citizen and the one who's come forth into the world to do great and noble things. Your contributions to humanity will live in the pages of history as long as mankind holds high respect for human dignity. We love you here in Alabama, and we want you to know that our thoughts and our fondest wishes go with you as you embark on your goodwill tour. May God bless you and shed his warm hand of protection upon you as you go forth on your journey."

From Governor Folsom. And here is a wire from Ramon Magsaysay, president of the Philippines. It reads, "We in the Philippines await your visit, and we wish you Godspeed as you leave New York for your journey. You've given inspiration to the world by your example of fortitude in the face of a physical handicap, and your story will forever remain a triumph for man's indomitable spirit. My cordial good wishes and bon voyage." "May you continue, as in the past," writes Arthur Hays Sulzberger, publisher of the New York Times, "to create light and hope for the darkened of the world.

And by your example, bring better vision to some of us who see only with our eyes." Among the most meaningful messages is one from Chester Bowles, former United States ambassador to India. He says, "I realize how difficult it is to make a trip of this kind, and I think all of us in this country thank you from the bottom of our hearts for your willingness to undertake it. Moreover, we know how much it will mean to the cause of peace throughout the world. And for this reason, especially, we're deeply grateful to you for what you're doing." And finally, this brief and beautiful word from Mr. Adlai Stevenson.

"I'm happy to hear that you're about to embark on a world tour, for I know wherever you go, you bring light, and hope, and renewed affirmation of the beauty and dignity of the human spirit. Have a pleasant journey, but hurry back, for we in this country need your great heart as much as do our friends abroad."
[applause]

[00:21:34] Douglas Edwards: The journey of which Governor Stevenson wrote begins just three days from today when Helen Keller and her faithful companion, Ms. Polly Thomson, leave International Airport. After brief stops in Scotland and England, they'll be on their way to India, Pakistan, Burma, the Philippines, and Japan. What will her visit mean to the people of these great nations? For the answer, let us call upon the distinguished diplomatic representatives present here tonight, who have incidentally permitted us to dispense with diplomatic protocol so that their words might be heard in the order in which Ms. Keller will be visiting their countries. And so it is my pleasure to present His Excellency, G.L Mehta, Ambassador of India, to the United States.
[pause 00:22:19]
[applause]

[00:22:30] G.L. Mehta: Ms. Keller, Mrs. Roosevelt, Your Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen, I'm grateful to the American Foundation for Overseas Blind for inviting me to this function here this evening. Helen Keller has long been recognized not only as a heroic person cast in a superhuman mold, not merely as one who overcame, through incredible courage, the triple handicap of sight, hearing, and speech, but also as a messenger of hope and goodwill to men and women everywhere. She has been an inspiring example of what a human being can accomplish through perseverance and faith and an unconquerable desire to seek and not to yield.

Her forthcoming visit to India has, therefore, created widespread interest in my country. And our Prime Minister, Mr. Nehru, has sent through me a message which I am privileged to read on this occasion. "I am happy to learn that Ms. Helen Keller is coming to India. We have all heard of the noble work she has been doing in the United States and elsewhere. And her presence in India will not only be welcome to us but will bring relief and solace to many in this country. I hope I shall have the opportunity of meeting her when she comes to India."

Ladies and gentlemen, it is not necessary for me to tell you that however great Helen Keller's achievement in the sphere of education for the handicapped and in restoring to the blind the dignity of normal individuals, it is not in these spheres alone that her greatness can be properly measured. It has been aptly remarked that she has led the blind as well as the seeing to a new vision of life, a vision which embraces a more equitable distribution of material goods so that there is food for the hungry, homes for the homeless, education for the ignorant, health for the diseased, and peace for all mankind.

She has endeavored to realize this vision because she believes in the unfolding of a divine purpose, which manifests itself through sorrow and pain, to ultimate perfection. Her faith has not been a string of dogmas and beliefs but the very substance that has wrought her life. It is of an order that moves mountains, or she herself, as she herself has put it, fate has its master in the faith of those who surmount it, and limitation has its limits for those who, though disillusioned, live greatly. True faith is not a fruit of security. It is the ability to blend mortal fragility into the inner strength of the spirit.

This vision has enabled Helen Keller to see the light of a brighter day, even in the midst of darkness and gloom. This reliance on spirit, on an infinite sixth sense, which, beyond the limitations of the puny five, sees, hears, feels all in one. This belief in the unity of life, this awareness that we are, all of us, blind and deaf to eternal things, has sustained Helen Keller through a long and arduous life. These beliefs, may I say, have also been traditionally reflected in the philosophy of India and the East. And so I sincerely hope she will find a kinship of spirit when she visits my country as well as others in that vast region.

This spirit cannot be described better than in Milton's lines. "He that has light within his own clear breast may sit in the center and enjoy a bright day, but he that hides the dark soul and foul thoughts benighted walks under the midday sun." Helen Keller will also find that we have a tremendous problem in respect of our blind, who numbers 2 million or nearly 1/5 of the world's total. The incidence of 500 out of 100,000 individuals in India is, with the possible exception of Egypt, unfortunately, the highest in the world. The earliest homes for the blind were established in India in the reign of Emperor Ashok in the 3rd century Before Christ.

We had blind poets and singers-singers who are famous throughout the ages, but in modern times, the first school for the visually handicapped in India dates from 1887. We have now 50 such schools, mostly of the elementary kind, where instruction is provided freely. Recently, a large-scale blind welfare center has been established at Dehradun in North India, comprising a kindergarten school for blind babies, and elementary and secondary school for blind boys and girls, a training center for the adult blind, a sheltered workshop, a teacher's training department, a central braille press, and a braille circulating library.

Training used to be free at the center, and the government are providing board, and lodging, and clothes to the students. Voluntary effort in India, as elsewhere, has played an important part in educating the blind. While government at the center in the states have given financial and other aid to charitable organizations. Now, happily, the emphasis are shifting from charity to a recognition of the right of the handicapped individual to live and enjoy life like other normal citizens. This right involves a corresponding obligation on the part of society.

Councils of blindness are being established in various states and at the center, not merely to provide education but also to create opportunities for rehabilitation and, as far as possible, to eradicate the causes which lead to blindness. In addition to these measures, the government of India remit customs duties on apparatus and appliances imported by recognized public institutions for the blind and permit travel on Indian railways of the blind students with a sighted companion for the payment of a single fair. Reduced postal rates for braille literature- reduced postal rates for braille literature have been in existence for a long time.
The Ministry of Education at New Delhi also awards to blind students 30 scholarships a year for higher education and advanced professional training. Perhaps you will be interested to know that we have a member of parliament who has a foreign degree and is totally blind. I suppose it is well known that India has been playing an important part in the evolution of a uniform braille script for the world. It was at the suggestion of the Indian delegation in 1949 that UNESCO undertook the study, and a substantial measure of international uniformity has been achieved as a result of various conferences.

In accordance with UNESCO's recommendations, we have evolved a common braille code for the principal Indian languages, which in itself is no small achievement. Fortunately, this c-code can also be used in our neighboring countries. The Central Braille Press at Dehradun has already produced a number of braille books in Hindi, which is our national language, and some regional languages. And it is now experimenting with the production of special games for the blind. This brief statement, ladies and gentlemen, is not made with any feeling of pride in our present achievement because we know how insignificant it is in relation to the magnitude of the problem.

But I mentioned this to show you that we are acutely conscious of the vital importance of the problem and the enormous task that lie ahead. The social welfare board, which government have established under their five-year plan of economic and social development, especially concerned with the work of rehabilitating the he-handicapped, preventing blindness, is an integral part of a program of social reconstruction. You are going to India, Ms. Keller, at a time when there's a great famine there to improve the lot of the common people. The lot of those whom nature and social environment have not treated too kindly.

Your guidance and advice will be highly appreciated and welcomed by educationists and social workers, by government, and by voluntary agencies. And your mere presence, symbolic of man's triumph over fate, will be a source of profound inspiration to all those to whom wisdom at one entrance has been quite shut out. I hope you and Ms. Polly Thomson will enjoy your visit, which I am sure will be both pleasant and useful to you and to my countrymen. Our best wishes are with you.
[pause 00:30:50]
[applause]

[00:31:02] Douglas Edwards: Thank you, Ambassador Mehta. Helen Keller leaves New Delhi on April 28th after spending more than a month in India and travels to Lahore and Karachi in Pakistan. For the meaning of Helen Keller's journey to that nation, we call now upon its ambassador to the United States, His Excellency Syed Amjad Ali.
[applause]

[00:31:32] Syed Amjad Ali: Ms. Keller, Mrs. Roosevelt, Your Excellencies, ladies, and gentlemen, [clears throat] I did have a written script, but after listening to the words, and there's-those were beautiful words, of the messages which have been showered on Ms. Keller,-
[coughing]

[00:32:05] Syed Amjad Ali: -I thought that any text which I have prepared wouldn't be adequate and would not portray Ms. Keller's achievements or her greatness. And that's why I thought that in the few words which I have to say, I would say them without a text. It's a great privilege, a great honor to be associated with my colleagues and others who are here to pay our homage and our tribute to Ms. Keller. What she has done for those who are less fortunate, handicapped has already been very admirably expressed by Mr. Edwards and by the messages which you have heard.

I'd only say this, that as my distinguished colleague, Ambassador Mehta, has said, the East is unfortunate in this respect that where we take the lead in poverty, misery, distress, we also, unfortunately, take the lead in those who are afflicted. So Ms. Keller's visit to those areas would be like a beacon, a light which would be drawing near and which would lighten the soul of those who cannot see with their eyes. In this age and at present, unfortunately, we are going through the stresses and strains of the political upheavals.

And at this time, it gives one a great deal of strength to feel that there are people like Ms. Keller, who, through their fortitude, their courage, give courage to those who have little, which has God- which God has given them to seek courage. And I would also go on to say that in this marvelous age of ours where we have produced nuclear power, we have produced great industries, we have produced great buildings like the Empire State Building, there's a greater marvel. And that greater marvel-marvel is a personality like Ms. Helen Keller.

I will end by wishing her a bon voyage and recite a verse from a Persian poet who wrote about a beautiful lady [foreign language] "You are ethereal as a fairy, supple as a whip, fresh as the petal of a rose, whatever I- whatever beautiful I see in this world, I see s-something prettier than that in you." I thank you.
[pause 00:36:04]
[applause]

[00:36:16] Douglas Edwards: Thank you, Mr. Ambassador. From Karachi, a brief hop to Rangoon, and here with us this evening, His Excellency James Barrington, Burmese ambassador to the United States and the United Nations.
[pause 00:36:28]
[applause]

[00:36:45] James Barrington: Ms. Keller, Mr. Ziegler, Mr. Edwards, ladies and gentlemen, I feel honored and privileged to be here this evening in this distinguished company to do honor to one of the great women of our time. When the historian of the future comes to write the history of the first half of the 20th century, he or she will, I think, characterize it as the era of the awakening of the human conscience. I do not need to dwell on this point. Whenever we look around today, we see evidence of it in the new attitudes towards colonialism, towards racial equality, towards underprivilege.

The American Foundation for Overseas Blind, as I see it, deals with the problem, which is, in a very special sense, one of underprivilege. The outstanding contribution made by Dr. Keller towards meeting this problem is so well known that it would be quite superfluous for me to recount it. Suffice it to say that for millions of blind all over the world, Ms. Keller has become a symbol of hope, of courage, of patience, and of determination. But it is not only for those who are physically blind that Ms. Keller has become a symbol. Today, the world stands at the crossroads.

The advances of modern science have so outstripped the imagination that it is impossible for anyone today to see the future with any clarity. In that sense, all mankind is blind. We are, all of us, groping into the future, uncertain and even fearful of what it will bring. Never in the history of the human race has mankind stood in greater need of hope, of courage, of patience, and of determination. It is against this background that I like to view Ms. Keller's life and example. In the current atmosphere of doubt, sometimes bordering on despair, it stands out like a shining beacon, radiating hope and encouragement to all mankind.

So much for mankind in general, but a perusal of the list of countries which Ms. Keller will be visiting brings another thought to my mind. Most of these countries are inhabited by people who are underprivileged in another sense. They are representative of roughly two-thirds of the world's population, which lives in want, ignorance, and disease. They are living in, but are not of, the 20th century. They have yet to make the transition, but the going is hard, the obstacles and handicaps enormous. To these millions also, Ms. Keller's success in overcoming her grave handicaps will be a source of profound encouragement and hope.
It is with these thoughts that I join with-with you today in wishing our guest of honor Godspeed on her self-imposed mission. On the eve of her journey, I would like to assure her of every assistance at my command to make her visit to my country a notable success.
[applause]

[00:40:22] Douglas Edwards: Ms. Keller will fly from Rangoon on May 19th, put down briefly at Hong Kong, then on to Manila. Gives me now great pleasure to introduce the Ambassador of the Philippines to the United Nations, his Excellency, Felixberto Serrano.
[applause]

[00:40:46] Felixberto Serrano: Ms. Keller, Mrs. Roosevelt, your Excellencies, ladies, and gentlemen, it is a privilege to be able to say a few words about Ms. Helen Keller and the eve of her departure for the East and what I know to be a new era of mercy and goodwill. We who are familiar with her life and work have every reason to feel confident that she will succeed in this fresh endeavor, as she had invariably succeeded in the past.

In visiting the East today, Ms. Keller will come upon a section of the world in particular need of the hearing [unintelligible 00:41:33] which the example of her life affords. For the East is a figurative stricken area rocked by doubts beset by hostile forces, still uncertain of direction and living in an atmosphere of uneasy peace. Ms. Keller will therefore find in that region a reflection to some extent of her own years of difficulties. And the example of her life will be a message of hope to its teaming millions.

It is curious, my friends, but most comforting to note that in this world, those who have so little have often the most to give. We know the adverse circumstances under which Ms. Keller started life, born with all God's gifts to mortals, she lost sight, hearing, and speech after a severe and cruel illness. Just at the times as she was beginning to awaken to the world, she lost those wide windows through which she could grasp an easy life.

And yet the wonderful thing, or if you might permit me to say, the miraculous thing, is that lacking in this faculties, she should yet give us the clearest account of the meaning of life. Kindliness in charity, humor, and warmth, simple dignity, and quiet courage, these are the potent weapons with which Ms. Keller sought to achieve the conquest of an unfriendly environment.

For us, therefore, and for all time to come, I dare say Ms. Keller will remain the unforgettable symbol of the triumph of the spirit of a mother. The symbol of the triumph of will of our circumstance. In any age, Ms. Keller's life will have its inestimable value. But I believe that it has particular relevance today. We who live in the 20th century will not fail to know that the civilization we have is essential material 'cause the manifold blessings of this kind of civilization are not to be discounted because the degree of our material civilization represents the measure of our victory in our endless struggle for mastery of our nature.

We have come, so to speak, a long way indeed. I say we have come a long way, but this victory has not failed to exact its terrible curse in the progressive atrophy of the spirit, which seems evident everywhere in the world today. And so I say that if Ms. Keller's life meant nothing else, it is enough if it will serve to recall to us the fundamental fact that the triumph of civilization and the crucible of human values will depend essentially on how mankind can effectively harness its spiritual resources.

Because it is only the strength of our moral convictions and the intensity of our will to make these convictions prevail, that, in my opinion, serve as the only means by which we can be saved from the destruction posed by our age. Permit me, therefore, ladies and gentlemen, to take this opportunity to welcome Ms. Keller in advance of her arrival to my country, Philippines.

And at this juncture, I cannot fail to note some kind of analogy, however imperfect, between the life of Ms. Keller and that of my country. You will note that my country is a relatively young nation, although it has 400 years of recorded history. I say young because over two-thirds of that recorded history has been years of severe handicaps, no less crippling than those which afflicted Ms. Keller.

But like Ms. Keller, my country fought heroically against these handicaps, and she emerged triumphant. She now bears the scars of a friction in complex. She's stronger now because of that. If only for this kindred history between Ms. Keller and my country, the Philippines will find our honored guest most welcome indeed and her arrival to our shores. Thank you.
[applause]

[00:47:14] Douglas Edwards: And thank you, Ambassador Serrano. After a week in the Philippines, Helen and Polly fly to Japan, the final stop on their 40,000-mile journey. Here they'll be very familiar with visitors, and their arrival in Tokyo on May 27th will be almost like a homecoming. So may I now present the Japanese Ambassador to the United States, His Excellency Sadao Iguchi.
[applause]

[00:47:44] Sadao Iguchi: Ms. Keller, Ms. Roosevelt, Excellencies, ladies, and gentlemen, I am very much honored to join with you this evening to bid Godspeed to Ms. Keller in her journey to the far East. Ms. Keller deserves our highest tribute for her inspiring contributions to the cause of humanity. By the example of her life, her life of unparalleled courage, she has caused countless miracles, as you all know. She has enabled those who cannot see to see, those who cannot hear to hear, those who cannot speak to speak. And perhaps her greatest miracle, I think, she has given the rest of us humility and a desire to use our faculties for the greater good of mankind.

We of Japan have a special reason to welcome Ms. Keller. She visited us for the first time in 1937. We found her so inspiring, so willing to help us, and so confident of our ability to help ourselves, that we found the will and the means to take great strides in the rehabilitation of the blind in Japan. By the time she returned to Japan for her second visit in 1948, we were able to invite her to officiate at the opening of The Helen Keller Association for the Blind, now housed in its modern building in Tokyo.
In the years since then, we have made still more progress with Ms. Keller's example and spirit constantly in our minds. One of those most influenced was Japan's leader in work for the blind, Mr. Takeo Yuwahashi. Ms. Keller's friendship and her ideas burned in this great and good man in Japan.

When he died a few months ago, he had completed several lifetimes of heroic work and monumental achievements. In Japan today, I understand there are over 100 government and private institutions whose purpose is to give guidance and occupational training to the handicapped. Two braille libraries have been set up. Also, medical care has been provided for. Under the basic laws adopted in 1950, the physically handicapped in Japan have priority consideration in setting up a business or financing it. They have special privileges on railroads and special exemptions or reductions in taxes.

But most important goal, they can learn, and they can be useful through such organizations of the Helen Keller Association, Helen Keller House, and The Helen Keller Institute. I am informed by an official of the American Foundation for the Overseas Blind here that Japan today occupies a leading position in the far East in work for the blind. I am also told that Japan demonstrates in this field probably better than any other nation in the world, what Ms. Keller's inspiration can mean. When I heard those words, it was with great pride, but I speak them now only with the utmost gratitude for the person who made them possible.

It is my firm belief, Ms. Keller, that on this your third visit to Japan, you will give fresh inspiration to our people to further the work which was started largely as a result of your previous visit. You will receive, I assure you, the welcome of our grateful people who love you and respect you with all their hearts. I hope that your journey to Japan and the other countries in the far East will be enjoyable and fruitful. Through your great and noble work, you give us something which all of us need today, a deeper realization of the oneness of humanity. And now, Ms. Keller, we bid you Godspeed on this noble mission.
[applause]

[00:53:07] Douglas Edwards: Thank you, sir. According to Dr. Gallup, 9 of any 10 people questioned will rate Helen Keller and Mrs. Franklin D Roosevelt among the 10 most outstanding women of all time. So it's fitting that Mrs. Roosevelt, a seasoned world traveler in her own right, should be with us this evening. Her attainments are known to everybody, and her role as America's emissary of peace and goodwill continues to win for our country the respect and friendship of countless millions. For Eleanor Roosevelt to wish to call Helen Keller the Goodwill Ambassador to the world makes the tribute all a more meaningful. It's my extreme pleasure to introduce Mrs. Franklin Delano Roosevelt.
[applause]

[00:54:04] Mrs. Franklin Delano Roosevelt: Mr. Chairman, Ms. Keller, your Excellencies, ladies, and gentlemen. This is a very memorable evening. I think all of us here will remember that we have already taken a little of this journey with Ms. Keller in the very lovely speeches that have been made welcoming her and bidding her Godspeed on her journey. I have been thinking as I listened how very few of us realize that most of us go through life with a handicap, just a little blind and a little deaf, not really being fully able to hear and to understand those with whom we live, not even at home.

Do we always understand? And in this time when it is so important that we understand the peoples of the world, I think we should be very conscious that we all of us have to work to overcome the handicap that each and every one of us labors under to some extent. This is one handicap that you, Helen Keller, do not labor under because you feel everywhere you go, you feel the beauty of your surroundings, and somehow you understand the needs of people, the sufferings that they've gone through, and what you can give them. And I think that is the greatest gift that has come to you through your own courage and your own ability to rise above your handicaps.

I'm sure that Alabama is very proud of her daughter, and I'm sure that Connecticut is very glad that she can claim you now as a resident. But I think that everywhere in the world, you are a little bit a resident. Nowhere will you find yourself not understood and not able to understand because your great gift and the one that all of us who know you, I think, feel, is that gift of being able to be a part of humanity. For you, all people are a part of your family. I have thought that I would like to tell you a little story tonight because when it happened to me, I thought of you.

Some years ago, I was in Finland, and I'd heard a great deal about a very remarkable doctor who had built a children's hospital in Helsinki during the war. Now, it's very remarkable to have been able to build a children's hospital in Helsinki when war was going on because to get supplies for building must have been an almost insurmountable difficulty. But to have the courage to undertake the finding of people to do the work seemed to me even more remarkable. And everyone I spoke to said the same thing, "Oh, yes, it's a marvelous children's hospital, and he's the most wonderful doctor."

And I built up in my mind, but when I went to the hospital, I would find a very outstanding, strong personality, a big man, very impressive. I arrived at the gate of the hospital, and the doctor met me, and he was about so high and a cripple. And as we went about the hospital, and I think every step was painful, but he went everywhere with me. As we went about, I asked him, "How could you find the materials to build this hospital during the war?" And his answer was, "I found them." And then I said, "But how did you find the men to build the hospital?" Every man in Finland was in the army. And he said, "I went into the military hospitals, and wherever I found a man who'd lost an arm or a leg or an eye and could not go back into the army, I fitted the job to the man, and cripples built this hospital."
And then I asked him the final question, "How did you have the courage when you did not know whether, at the end of the war, there would be a Finland to put so much of yourself into building this hospital?" And he said, "Madam, one must live. One must do the best one can every day of one's life, and one must have faith that in so doing one will be blessed."
And as he said it, I thought of you because I think that that is what makes you our very best ambassador of goodwill. You always do your very best. Nothing daunts you. You are ready to meet whatever you have to do.
I remember in our own country what you meant to the soldiers when you visited them. And you have always gone to help those whom you could help by your mere presence and by your message which you bring wherever you go. I can only say tonight that I think every one of us is grateful to the American Foundation for Overseas Blind, not only for the work they do all over the world, not only for the fact that they send supplies and encourage nations to better care and training, but I think we are all grateful that they are sending you on this mission. We're grateful to you for being willing to go because it might well be that you would think it was too difficult a journey to undertake.

I think I know a little about these journeys. They are wearing journeys. They require a great deal of health and strength. One is always grateful for the kindness which each nation extends, but sometimes we here in our country give our guests almost more than they can accomplish when they are our guests, and other governments have the same way of arranging itineraries. And I think you will find that as you go along, your itinerary may at times be a little hard [chuckles], and you may find that you have almost more to do than you can do.

I would recommend that if there comes a time when you feel that you cannot meet any more people, that you cannot bear another dinner or reception or institution or even carry a message of goodwill, that you simply take two or three days and just go sightseeing. Go to the Taj Mahal, if you are in India, it will give you peace and joy. [laughs] Take a flight along the Himalayan Mountains, you will get strength again. But don't try to do this without some days of rest every now and then because that is essential to your doing the very remarkable work which I know you are going to do.

And so, in closing, I want to wish you God's blessing on everything you do. You know that you take with you the good wishes of all your fellow countrymen. And you know also that you go to people who will welcome you everywhere because they know, as we know, that a-a real goodwill ambassador must love people all over the world, and we are sending you because we know that is what you do. You love people, and in return, they will love you.
[applause]

[01:06:20] Douglas Edwards: Thank you very much, Mrs. Roosevelt. And now, ladies and gentlemen, Ms. Helen Keller.
[applause]

[01:06:52] Polly Thomson: I think I better repeat for Helen in case you do not all understand what she says. All right, Helen, you carry on.
[01:07:02] Helen Keller: Mrs. Roosevelt, Your Excellencies, Douglas Edwards, and friends, your tributes are most touching and eloquent, and I thank you for them warmly. Your gracious words, Mrs. Roosevelt, are sweet and a great honor to me. They are so precious because all these years, being among my dearest friends. And besides, there is the affectionate admiration I have felt for you and your splendid service to mankind. Truly some of the courage I get will come from the tender words you have said about my loving the people of all countries and their loving me.

And then the other beautiful compliments Your Excellencies have paid me, it is wonderful to see from your speeches how the East and the West are drawing closer together To work for the peace and the betterment of the world. That is why I am especially grateful for the encouragement and goodwill with which you're bidding me on my mission to the handicapped. I believe I'm just one of the numberless instruments in God's hand for carrying out his plan of good. And what thought can be more precious to me than that has guided me in my share of the work for his disabled children?

And what humility, as well as joy, that he has permitted me to be part of worldwide movement for their welfare. If I only fulfill my mission with both good intent and good effect in helping to eliminate blindness and deafness from the Earth, my heart will sing with joy that is heaven indeed. I thank you.
[applause]

[01:13:07] Douglas Edwards: Ladies and gentlemen, just one final word in wishing Helen Keller Godspeed on behalf of every one of us here. As much as any person of our age, Helen Keller is a symbol of the goodness and the selflessness that persists in our troubled world, the spirit that much surely conquer evil. Our world is a better one for your having lived in it, dear Helen. Our country a more righteous one for allegiance to it. And all our lives immeasurably richer and more meaningful for having come close to us
[applause]
[audience murmurs]
[01:14:01] [END OF AUDIO]

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