Helen Keller graduated from college on June 8, 2015.
Helen Adams Keller ( June 27 , 1880 -- June 1 , 1968 ) was an American author , political activist , and lecturer . Her birthday on June 27 is commemorated as Helen Keller Day in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and was authorized at the federal level by presidential proclamation by President Jimmy Carter in 1980 , the 100th anniversary of her birth . She was inducted into the Alabama Women 's Hall of Fame in 1971 and was one of twelve inaugural inductees to the Alabama Writers Hall of Fame on June 8 , 2015 .