Sue Pilkilton
Position: Executive director, the Helen Keller Birthplace, Tuscumbia.
About Sue: A Tuscumbia native, Sue has worked at the Helen Keller Birthplace for 55 years. She was instrumental having the Helen Keller Foundation start Camp Courage, a special camp for deaf/blind children in Alabama. She has served as chairman of the board of Camp Courage and Colbert County Tourism, and been a member of the boards of the Alabama Mountain Lakes Association, Alabama Travel Council, Helen Keller Festival and the Helen Keller Library. She and her husband David have two daughters, Kelley and Leslie, and four grandchildren, Katie Beth, Garrett, Fisher and Millie.
Honors: In 2013 she was Grand Marshal of the Helen Keller Festival, and in 2019 was elected the first woman president in the 145-year history of the Tuscumbia Kiwanis Club, which named her Citizen of the Year in 2018 and Kiwanian of the Year in 2024. In 2014 she was inducted into the Alabama Mountain Lakes Tourism Hall of Fame, and in 2020, the Alabama Tourism Hall
of Fame. In 2024, she was named Alabama State Tourism Executive of the Year.
How did you come to be executive director at the Helen Keller Birthplace?
I fell in love with the story of Helen Keller at the age of 14 when I studied “The Miracle Worker” in English class at Deshler High School, just three blocks from the birthplace. My teacher challenged the class to visit the birthplace after reading “The Miracle Worker” and she would give us extra credit, so I did. That summer I was offered a job in the gift shop, later becoming a hostess on the weekend through my high school years. After graduation, I became a hostess full time and later became assistant to the director. In 1981, the Helen Keller Board asked me to become executive director.
Why is it important for people to visit Ivy Green and to see “The Miracle Worker”?
Each year thousands of people from around the world travel to Tuscumbia to visit the birthplace and learn about America’s First Lady of Courage, Helen Keller. It is very important to keep history alive and to let everyone know that if a deaf/blind person can accomplish what she did through hard work and determination, anything is possible. Helen became the first deaf/blind person to graduate from college.
What is the typical reaction from people who visit?
We are now going into our 64th year of putting on “The Miracle Worker” on the grounds of Helen’s birthplace. Each season as I look over the crowd at the final pump scene, I notice so many of our guests have tears flowing down their faces. I must say I cry every Friday and Saturday along with them. Anyone can put on the play, but I think the reason we have been so successful is our play is performed on the grounds where “the miracle” took place. I often say that you don’t see the play, you experience it. We are very proud that we are the Official Outdoor Drama for the State of Alabama and I have been told that we are the longest running outdoor theater in the U.S. Even during covid we had the play!
After 55 years, what inspires you to go to work every day?
I believe that success is measured not just by accomplishments but by our impact on others and the legacy we leave behind. In the words of Ms. Keller: “What we have once enjoyed we can never lose, all that we love deeply becomes a part of us.” The joy I have of going to work every day is knowing that someone’s life will be touched by Ms. Keller’s story. God put me there for a reason and I thank him every day for allowing me to be able to work in a place that I dearly love and believe in.
“The Miracle Worker” showtimes are Friday and Saturday nights through July 19, with no shows on July 4 or 5. Visit themiracleworker.info. —Lenore Vickrey ν
