The ashes of Mrs. Anne Sullivan Macy, celebrated teacher of Helen Keller, were enshrined at Washington Cathedral yesterday afternoon. A brief but deeply impressive service of committal was conducted in the Chapel of St. Joseph of Arimathea, with Right Rev. James E. Freeman, Bishop of Washington, officiating. Miss Keller herself brought the remains of her guide and friend to the Capital. During the ceremony she sat with bowed head in the first row of chairs in the chapel while her secretary, Miss Polly Thompson, "translated" to her the words spoken and the hymns sung in the service. Her flowers - clusters of Autumn blossoms and golden forest leaves - were banked around the urn. "The Cathedral in the Nation's Capital," Bishop Freeman declared in his eulogy, "honors itself in giving sepulture to Mrs. Macy. Among the great teachers of all time she occupies a commanding and conspicuous place."
Samuel P. Hayes Research Library, Perkins School for the Blind, Watertown, MA
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Notes:
Newspaper clipping from the Evening Star, Washington D. C. on November 3, 1936. Headline: Helen Keller Attends Rites for Teacher- Bishop Eulogizes Mrs. Anne S. Macy- Ashes of Teacher of Helen Keller Are Enshrined at Cathedral. Large photograph of Helen Keller, Polly Thomson and Bishop Freeman.
