I Think I Need Glasses Trivia Quiz

Answer: Harriet Tubman

Harriet Tubman was born in Dorchester County, Maryland, as a slave. She escaped the South and started the Underground Railroad, a network of safe houses for other slaves fleeing northwards. Tubman spent most of her life partially blind after sustaining a cruel head injury as a teenager from a man who threw a weight at her head. Tubman helped many hundreds of fugitive slaves escape to Canada and the Northern states. She died in 1913 after spending her last twenty years caring for sick children and older people in a group home that she started. Truly, an inspirational woman.

Answer: Elizabeth Blackwell

Elizabeth Blackwell was a remarkable woman. She was born in Bristol, England in 1821. At age 11 her family moved across the ocean to New York City. From an early age she developed an interest in becoming a doctor. She was refused entry to every school that she applied to until Geneva College in New York State accepted her.

She went on to graduate in 1849 with the first medical degree awarded to a woman in the history of the United States. She continued to study with a goal of becoming a surgeon. Unfortunately, that dream ended in the summer of 1849 when she was working a residency at La Maternité, a Midwifery program in Paris-France.

While treating a sick infant, pus splashed into her eye and she contracted ophthalmia neonatorum, a severe form of conjunctivitis.

This disease necessitated her having to have the left eye amputated. Despite this setback, she continued to be an early pioneer in the field of medicine. In 1868 she opened the Women's Medical College in New York City and was an active proponent of women in medicine until her death at age 81 in 1910.

Answer: Wilma Mankiller

Wilma Mankiller was an influential leader of the Cherokee nation and lived from 1945 until 2010. She originally got involved in the political scene with the protest occupation of Alcatraz back in 1969. In 1979 she experienced a near fatal accident which almost ended her life. Following this event she would experience many other health problems including lymphoma, breast cancer, a kidney transplant and complications with the disease myasthenia gravis. Despite her adversities, she assumed the mantle of leader of the tribal council in 1985 and was a highly influential advocate for the Cherokee nation throughout her life.

Answer: Ella Fitzgerald

Born on April 25th 1917 in Newport News Virginia, Ella Fitzgerald became one of the greatest ever jazz performers. in her long and illustrious 60 year career she produced over 70 albums, won 14 Grammy Awards and was presented with the National Medal of Arts by President Ronald Reagan and the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President George H.W. Bush. In 1993, Ella lost both her legs due to complications with diabetes. This same disease slowly caused a deterioration in her eyesight. Despite these losses, she remained a stalwart supporter of many charities until her death in 1996 at age 79.

Answer: Dorothea Lange

Dorothea Lange was born Dorothea Margaretta Nutzhorn on May 26th, 1895 in Hoboken, New Jersey. From an early age she demonstrated both interest and skill for photography and writing. The Farm Security Administration contracted with her to document rural poverty using a camera.

Her photos were humanistic and painted a moving picture of what true life was for many Americans during the depression era. Dorothea had contracted polio at age 7 which left her with some movement difficulties. Later in life her health would continue to challenge her especially as she began to lose her eyesight.

She is credited with the following quote: "One should really use the camera as though tomorrow you'd be stricken blind. To live a visual life is an enormous undertaking, practically unattainable. I've only touched it, just touched it." Dorothea died in 1965 at age 70.

Answer: Marla Runyan

Marla Runyan was born in 1969 and at age 9 was diagnosed with Stargardt's disease. This irreversible macular degeneration condition left holes in the light-sensitive membrane in the back of her eye. The result of no central field of vision left her legally blind as an adult. From an early age she loved to run and had a very successful career in high school and college as a heptathlete and a middle distance runner.

She represented the USA at the 1992 Barcelona Paralympics where she earned four gold medals.

In Atlanta, in 1996, she earned a gold and a silver medal in Paralympic competition. In 2000, she decided to target making the Olympic team for the able-bodied athletes. She successfully placed in the top-3 at the USA Olympic Trials in the 1500m.

In Sydney, she shocked everyone by making an Olympic Final where she finished 8th.

Answer: Sue Townsend

Growing up as a grade-school student in Reading, England, I remember very well the books featuring Adrian Mole and the television shows that were spawned from Sue Townsend's books. Every schoolboy found it easy to relate to the emotional angst of "Adrian Mole Aged 13 3/4." Townsend wrote nine books in the Adrian Mole series from 1982 until 2009.

She was also a notable author for many other books and twelve plays. In 1993, Sue Townsend was invited to become a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature.

Answer: Alicia Alonso

Alicia Ernestina de la Caridad Martinez Hoya (Alicai Alonso) was born on December 21st, 1921. In her teenage years she developed a significant eye defect that partially blinded her. Despite this obstacle, she refused to give up her love of ballet and became the best ballerina in all of Cuba and one of the best in the world. In 1999, she was awarded the UNESCO Pablo Picasso Medal for extraordinary contribution to dance. Back in 1955 she became the lead choreographer of the Ballet Nacional de Cuba.

Answer: Maria Theresia von Paradis

Maria von Paradis was born May 15th 1759 in Austria, the daughter of Joseph Anton, Imperial Secretary and a Councilor to Empress Maria Theresa. Maria lost her eyesight in childhood but was still afforded every opportunity to develop her musical talents.

It is rumored that Mozart composed his "Piano Concerto No. 18 in B Flat Major" exclusively for Maria. In 1776, she was treated by renowned psychologist Franz Anton Mesmer, who it is said restored some sight for a brief period of time. She was educated in the piano, vocals, and musical theory, and took instruction from Antonio Salieri in musical composition.

She toured widely throughout Europe performing and singing. Many of her piano compositions, cantatas, and instrumental works still remain today.

Answer: Helen Keller

Helen Keller's story is extraordinary. Born in 1880 in Tuscumbia, Alabama, Helen experienced a dreadful childhood illness that took her hearing and eyesight. Her parents were told to institutionalize Helen but they brought a young woman by the name of Annie Sullivan into their home to tutor Helen. Annie, with her remarkable patience and teaching abilities, taught Helen to read Braille, to write, to play music, and to take instruction in regular school subjects.

Helen graduated college, got married, and wrote the best-selling book "The Story of My Life," which became a worldwide hit.

Helen Keller met 12 Presidents during her life-time, was inducted into the Women's Hall of fame, and would see her life immortalized in a musical in 1962 with the release of the show the "Miracle Worker." Helen Keller passed away in 1968 at the age of 87.