WASHINGTON -LRB- CNN -RRB- -- A bronze statue of Helen Keller was unveiled at the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday as lawmakers praised her as a trailblazer and an inspiration for those with disabilities . The Helen Keller statue depicts the moment when Anne Sullivan spelled `` W-A-T-E-R '' into the child 's hand `` Some are still dismissed and cast aside for nothing more than being less than perfect , '' Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell , R-Kentucky , said at the unveiling ceremony . `` The story of Helen Keller inspires us all . '' The statue shows Keller -- who lost her sight and hearing to illness when she was 19 months old -- standing at a water pump as a 7-year-old , a look of recognition on her face as water streams into her hand . It depicts the moment in 1887 when teacher Anne Sullivan spelled `` W-A-T-E-R '' into one of the child 's hands as she held the other under the pump . It 's the moment when Keller realized meanings were hidden in the manual alphabet shapes Sullivan had taught her to make with her hands . `` W-A-T-E-R , '' said Alabama Gov. Bob Riley . `` Five simple letters that helped rescue 7-year-old Helen Keller from a world of darkness and a world of silence . `` It is this defining moment that we celebrate today . And in time , this moment so vividly depicted by this statue helped the world to understand that all of us , regardless of any disability , have a mind that can be educated , a hand that can be trained , a life that will have meaning . '' Keller learned to speak and earned a degree from Radcliffe College and the women 's branch of Harvard University . She traveled the world as an adult , wrote 12 books and championed causes including women 's suffrage and workers ' rights . Carl Augusto , president and CEO of the American Foundation for the Blind , told the crowd he thinks Keller , who worked for the foundation for the last 44 years of her life , `` would have loved this impressive statue of herself and the symbolism attached . '' Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid , D-Nevada , and others assisted Augusto as he ran his hands over the statue . The foundation , Augusto said , still considers Keller `` our guiding light . She embodies the American spirit of limitless possibility ... her biggest desire was to leave the world a better place than she found it , and ladies and gentlemen , that 's the legacy she leaves all of us . '' More than 40 of Keller 's descendants attended the ceremony in the Capitol Rotunda . Students from the Alabama Institute for the Deaf and Blind sang a medley of patriotic songs . The statue , said House Speaker Nancy Pelosi , D-California , will `` always remind us that people must be respected for what they can do rather than judged for what they can not . '' The statue is also the Capitol 's first depicting a child , Riley 's office said . Since 1864 , each state has been allowed to place two statues in the Capitol . In 2002 , Congress changed the law to allow states to change their statues . Riley , then a U.S. representative , suggested the state place a statue of Keller , and the state Legislature passed a resolution asking Congress to accept a statue of Keller as a gift . A committee with Alabama first lady Patsy Riley serving as honorary chairwoman raised private donations and selected Utah bronze sculpture artist Edward Hlavka to create the piece . The 600-pound statue is made of bronze with a base of Alabama marble , Riley 's office said . In 1997 , a Franklin Delano Roosevelt memorial that opened near the National Mall drew complaints from disability advocates because the statue of the president , who suffered from polio , did not show him in a wheelchair . In 2001 , President Clinton unveiled an addition to the memorial including a new statue of the four-term president sitting in a wheelchair . `` By placing this statue in the Capitol , we appropriately honor this extraordinary American , and will inspire countless children who will come to understand that with faith and with courage , there truly are no limits on what can be accomplished , and there is no obstacle that ca n't be overcome , '' Riley said . Keller 's statue will replace one depicting Jabez Curry . Curry , who has represented Alabama in the Capitol since 1908 , was a Georgia native who served as president of Howard College , which later became Samford University in Birmingham . The Curry statue is being sent back to Alabama for display at the university . The other statue representing Alabama is of Joseph `` Fightin ' Joe '' Wheeler , a Confederate general during the Civil War who , three decades later , volunteered to serve in the Spanish-American War at age 62 and attained the same rank in the U.S. Army , the only one of 425 Confederate generals to do so , according to a biography of him posted on the Fort Sam Houston Museum 's Web site . His statue was donated by the state in 1925 , Riley 's office said .