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Ever hear of Fanny Crosby?

Perhaps you know her from some of the more than 8,000 hymns she wrote although many of these were written using nearly 200 pen names. I knew a bit about her but recently saw an article in a newspaper about her. I knew that she was blind and besides her hymns, not a lot more. Born on March 24, 1820, Fanny lost her vision at the age of six weeks due to inept treatment of an inflammation of her eyes.

In 1835, Fanny enrolled at the New York Institution for the Blind. She remained there for eight years as a student and another two years as a graduate pupil. In 1843, Crosby joined a group of lobbyists in Washington, D.C. arguing for support of education for the blind. She was the first woman to speak to the United States Senate.

Fanny Crosby has been described as a prolific song writer, trailblazing political lobbyist, poet and missionary to the poor.

To learn more, Wikipedia has an exhaustive article on this utterly fascinating woman.