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Newton Lower Falls,

March 29, 1890.

My dear Mr. Bell,

I am greatly obliged to you for allowing me to take the reports. Yours gives me great satisfaction. I think the remarks of Dr. G upon day-schools will have less influence now that you have spoken in their defense.

Mr. Chickering is much pleased with your publications. Did you intend to have him keep them; or do you wish them returned? I will take care that your reports are not injured and will return them soon.

I have a pleasant bit of information that I have been quite impatient to give to you, but until now have not found time to write. Last Wednesday, Helen Keller's teacher brought her to see me and told me that Helen had spelled to her a few days before, "I must speak." and that she had come to ask me to tell her how to teach her. It is not necessary to say that from that moment until she went away our thoughts were given to her. Her voice is sweet and natural, and her ability to produce the sounds of the elements of speech is quite equal to that of any deaf child. By allowing her to feel the position of my lips, tongue and teeth she gave the sounds represented by -phonetic symbols-, and combined them to pronounce the words water, arm, butter, mamma, papa. Before coming to see me she had attempted to say butter, mamma, papa. She caught the idea of prolonging a syllable to give the accent, very quickly; -- and so the words were almost echoes of my own voice. She is to come to me again on Monday and I hope to be able to help her teacher to do as good work in giving speech to the child as she has in giving written language. Perhaps you will remember that Miss Sullivan came to see our work before going out to Alabama to teach Helen. Is it not pleasant to have the work with this marvelously bright mind associated with a school that bears the name of Horace Mann? -- His labors were those of Dr. Howe are unitedly bearing fruits they would cordially approve. You shall hear more of our progress. Just now I am very busy.

Sincerely yes,

Sarah Fuller