Anne Sullivan Medal

Around the world, Anne Sullivan is known by another name: the miracle worker. She was an American educator, activist, innovator, and woman of tenacity, intelligence and strength. Her lived experience of marginalization informed her life-long work as a champion for inclusion.

Anne Sullivan was born in 1866 in Massachusetts, the eldest child of recent immigrants. At age 5, she contracted trachoma, which caused her to lose much of her vision over the course of her life. By age 8, she had lost both her parents and younger brother, and was living in an overcrowded almshouse that was notorious for abuse and neglect. At 11, she had endured multiple unsuccessful eye surgeries, and was housed in a ward with single mothers and unmarried pregnant women.

In 1880, a state investigation of the almshouse brought 14 year old Anne the chance to ask for an education from Franklin Sanborn, a longtime friend of Samuel Gridley Howe, the founder of Perkins School for the Blind in Boston, the first school for the blind in the United States. By her own self-advocacy, despite no previous formal education, no family, and low vision, she became a student and eventually thrived at Perkins. Here she also met her friend and mentor Laura Bridgman, a fellow Perkins student who was the first deafblind person to complete an academic education. 

In 1886, Sullivan graduated as the school’s valedictorian. That summer, the Keller family contacted the school seeking a Perkins-trained teacher for their daughter, Helen. Sullivan immersed herself in Howe’s notes about teaching Laura Bridgman and other deafblind students before traveling to Alabama in March 1887 to see if the girl from the Keller family could learn. Thus began the life-long partnership of learning and teaching that gave the world Helen Keller, and forever showed the transformative power that Perkins-trained teachers can have in the world.

The child-centered teaching methods Anne Sullivan developed remain at the center of Perkins educational programs, which to date have reached children with disabilities in 100 countries around the globe. Anne Sullivan traveled the world with Helen Keller, became one of the world’s most influential advocates for civil liberties and inclusion of children and adults with disabilities, inspiring generations of educators and activists. Upon her death in 1936, Sullivan’s ashes were interred at the National Cathedral in Washington, D.C — the first woman to be recognized for her achievements in this way.

The Anne Sullivan Medal

In celebration of the transformative contributions of Anne Sullivan to generations of children and adults with deafblindness, the Anne Sullivan Medal is awarded by the Perkins School for the Blind to individuals or groups who have demonstrated outstanding leadership and service to the deafblind community worldwide.

The medal was first awarded in 1966 jointly by Perkins and The Industrial Home for the Blind in Brooklyn, New York to recognize “the daily, tireless effort that goes into the teaching of a deafblind child during both school and after-school hours.”

Award Criteria

The Anne Sullivan Medal is awarded to nominated individuals, groups, and/or organizations who exemplify outstanding leadership, commitment and service in breaking down barriers facing people who are deafblind, and building a world where every child can learn and belong. Past recipients include teachers, parents, caregivers, organizations and public figures.  

Criteria for individuals:

• Distinguished and meritorious achievements in enhancing opportunities for infants, children, youth, and adults who are deafblind to learn and belong
• Creation of innovative approaches to include people who are deafblind in community, education, health and other social services and programs
• Personification of commitment, honesty, integrity, and responsibility towards people who are deafblind and their families that inspires and motivates others to do the same.

Criteria for groups and foundations:

• Distinguished and meritorious achievements in enhancing inclusion of infants, children, youth, and adults who are deafblind in local, national or global programs aimed at promoting education, participation, and wellbeing.
• Significant long-term support for enhancing educational services directed toward people who are deafblind
• Extraordinary contribution to the field of deafblind education

Nomination and Award Process

The Anne Sullivan Medal is awarded by The Perkins School for the Blind. Starting in 2024, recipients will be identified through a nomination process. To nominate an individual, group or organization for the Anne Sullivan Medal, complete the application form.