Upon her birth in Tuscumbia, Alabama, in 1880, Helen Keller couldn’t have received two crueler blows of fate. She was struck by a serious illness as a baby and ended up blind and deaf as a result. However, Keller did not allow these handicaps to wreck her life. By the time she was seven, she – thanks to her incredible teacher, Anne Sullivan – could speak, sign read, and write. Keller even graduated from college! Afterward, she authored numerous books and also represented those who were considered less privileged than Helen in the realm of disability rights. She is widely recognized as an inspiration to many across the world.
Like so many other Southerners, Helen Keller showed that grit and kindness make mountains move. Here’s a look at 10 other Southern icons who once called the South their home. Throughout their lives, they made the world a better place.
Featured Image Credit: Wikimedia Commons.
Martin Luther King Jr.
From: Atlanta, Georgia
Martin Luther King Jr, one of the leaders of the Civil Rights Movement, is the iconic representative of the 20th-century nonviolent tradition. An advocate of social change in the United States and worldwide, King’s social justice commitment opened new possibilities for civil rights movements across the globe.
Maya Angelou
From: St. Louis, Missouri, and later Stamps, Arkansas
Angelou’s powerful prose – the social commentary and poetry – galvanized readers across the world through its intimate, open treatment of identity, racism, and resilience. The autobiography I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings (1969) was among the first literary treatments of Black womanhood (which is still one of the best sellers).
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Jimmy Carter
From: Plains, Georgia
This ex-US president’s efforts for humanity, including his charity work for Habitat for Humanity and his world peace programs, have won him a Nobel Peace Prize. Hundreds of millions abroad benefited from his commitment to diplomacy.
Elvis Presley
From: Tupelo, Mississippi
Heir to the throne of all that is called Rock and Roll, Elvis Presley’s music rapidly burst through cultural boundaries to become widely recognized internationally as a defining example of music genres; his style and sex appeal changed popular music to the mainstream it is today and dominated several decades.
Harper Lee
From: Monroeville, Alabama
Lee wrote the American classic To Kill a Mockingbird (1960), addressing issues of social justice, most notably racism, in a way that readers of all ages and levels of knowledge could embrace: it remains a model of literature and education, shaping many a reader’s thinking about justice, compassion and human rights.
Rosa Parks
From: Tuskegee, Alabama
A leader of the civil rights movement, Parks started a revolution when she refused to give up her seat on a bus in Montgomery and thus catalyzed a history-changing current of peaceful protest that would become the basis of the civil rights movement (and subsequent civil rights movements around the world).
Oprah Winfrey
Kosciusko, Mississippi
Winfrey has truly changed television using her talk show, and her media empire and risen to international fame as a person of influence while focusing on personal development, social issues and charity. Winfrey also has been and continues to be a leader in philanthropy and impact in areas such as education and poverty reduction.
William Faulkner
Oxford, Mississippi
William Faulkner’s explorations of the human condition in novels such as The Sound and the Fury (1929) and As I Lay Dying (1930) created a new aesthetic for American literature and formed the basis for a whole school of literary commentary influenced by his psychological storytelling. His novels have been an inspiration for writers around the world.
Hank Williams
Mount Olive, Alabama
Although less famous than Elvis Presley, the so-called King of rock ‘n’ roll, Hank Williams is now generally seen as one of the greatest country music singers and songwriters of all time. Hank Williams also adapted country music to make it more visceral and more able to handle universal themes such as love, loss, and more.
Dolly Parton
Sevier County, Tennessee
The ‘Queen of Country’ Dolly Parton has given away millions of books through her Dollywood Foundation, which oversees her Imagination Library, a program available in the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia, and beyond. Her focus on literacy for children and healthcare for older individuals from rural backgrounds has grown into one of the hallmarks of Parton’s legacy.
Disclaimer: This list is solely the author’s opinion based on research and publicly available information.
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