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Julia Ward Howe (May 27, 1819 – October 17, 1910) was a prominent American
United States

The United States of America is a Federal government constitutional republic comprising U.S. state and a federal district. The country is situated mostly in central North America, where its Contiguous United States and Washington, D.C., the Capital districts and territories, lie between the Pacific Ocean and Atlantic Oceans, Borders of the U...
 abolitionist
Abolitionism

File:BLAKE10.JPGAbolitionism was a movement to end the slave trade and emancipate slaves in western Europe and the Americas. The slave system aroused little protest until the 18th century, when rationalist thinkers of the Age of Enlightenment criticized it for violating the rights of man, and Quaker and other evangelical religious groups con...
, social activist
Activism

Activism, in a general sense, can be described as intentional action to bring about social change or politics change. This action is in support of, or opposition to, one side of an often controversy argument....
, and poet
Poet

A poet is a person who writes poetry....
 most famous as the author of "The Battle Hymn of the Republic
The Battle Hymn of the Republic

"The Battle Hymn of the Republic" is an American Abolitionism song, written by Julia Ward Howe in November 1861 and first published in The Atlantic Monthly on 1 February 1862, that became popular during the American Civil War....
."

Julia Ward in New York City
New York City

The City of New York is the List of United States cities by population in the United States, while the New York metropolitan area ranks among the List of urban areas by population....
, she was the fourth of seven children born to Samuel Ward (May 1, 1786 – November 27, 1839) and Julia Rush Cutler.






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Quotations


Arise then... women of this day! Arise, all women who have hearts!

We, the women of one country, Will be too tender of those of another country To allow our sons to be trained to injure theirs.

I have seen him in the watchfires of an hundred circling camps They have builded him an altar in the evening dews and damps, I can read His righteous sentence by the dim and flaring lamps, His day is marching on.

All versions

I have read a fiery gospel writ in burnished rows of steel: As ye deal with my contemners, so with you my grace shall deal; Let the Hero, born of woman, crush the serpent with his heel, Since God is marching on.

Published version, in the Atlantic Monthly (February 1862)

He is coming like the glory of the morning on the wave, He is wisdom to the mighty, he is succour to the brave, So the world shall be his footstool, and the soul of Time his slave, Our God is marching on.

Manuscript version (19 November 1861)

I only hope you may be able not only to listen, but also to hear me. Your charity must multiply my small voice and do some such miracle as was done when the loaves and fishes fed the multitude in the ancient tune which has just been spoken of.






Encyclopedia


Juliawardhowe
Julia Ward Howe (May 27, 1819 – October 17, 1910) was a prominent American
United States

The United States of America is a Federal government constitutional republic comprising U.S. state and a federal district. The country is situated mostly in central North America, where its Contiguous United States and Washington, D.C., the Capital districts and territories, lie between the Pacific Ocean and Atlantic Oceans, Borders of the U...
 abolitionist
Abolitionism

File:BLAKE10.JPGAbolitionism was a movement to end the slave trade and emancipate slaves in western Europe and the Americas. The slave system aroused little protest until the 18th century, when rationalist thinkers of the Age of Enlightenment criticized it for violating the rights of man, and Quaker and other evangelical religious groups con...
, social activist
Activism

Activism, in a general sense, can be described as intentional action to bring about social change or politics change. This action is in support of, or opposition to, one side of an often controversy argument....
, and poet
Poet

A poet is a person who writes poetry....
 most famous as the author of "The Battle Hymn of the Republic
The Battle Hymn of the Republic

"The Battle Hymn of the Republic" is an American Abolitionism song, written by Julia Ward Howe in November 1861 and first published in The Atlantic Monthly on 1 February 1862, that became popular during the American Civil War....
."

Biography


Early life and family

Born Julia Ward in New York City
New York City

The City of New York is the List of United States cities by population in the United States, while the New York metropolitan area ranks among the List of urban areas by population....
, she was the fourth of seven children born to Samuel Ward (May 1, 1786 – November 27, 1839) and Julia Rush Cutler. Among her siblings was Samuel Cutler Ward
Samuel Cutler Ward

Samuel Cutler Ward was an American statesman, lobbyist, orator and author.Ward was born in Manhattan New York City, the son of investment banker and art collector Samuel Ward [1786-1839] and Julia Cutler; grandson of Col....
. Her father was a well-to-do banker. Her mother died when she was five. When she was young she learned many languages: Italian, French, German, and Greek.

Her paternal grandparents were Lieutenant Colonel
Lieutenant Colonel (United States)

In the United States Army, United States Air Force, and United States Marine Corps, lieutenant colonel is a field officer United States Military Officer military rank just above the rank of Major and just below the rank of Colonel ....
 Samuel Ward (November 17, 1756 – August 16, 1832) of the Continental Army
Continental Army

The American Continental Army was an army formed after the outbreak of the American Revolutionary War by the colonies that became the United States. Established by a resolution of the Continental Congress on June 15, 1775, the army was created to coordinate the military efforts of the Thirteen Colonies in their struggle against the rule of Kingdom...
 and Phoebe Greene (died October 11, 1828). Her maternal grandparents were Benjamin Clarke and Sarah Mitchell Cutler.

Lieutenant Colonel Samuel Ward was a son of Samuel Ward
Samuel Ward

Samuel Ward was an United States farmer, shop keeper, and statesman from Westerly, Rhode Island. He served as a colonial Governor of Rhode Island and later as a delegate to the Continental Congress....
 (May 27, 1725 – March 26, 1776), a colonial Governor of Rhode Island
Rhode Island

Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, more commonly referred to as Rhode Island , is a U.S. state in the New England region of the United States....
 and later a delegate to the Continental Congress
Continental Congress

The Continental Congress was a convention of delegates from the Thirteen Colonies that became the governing body of the United States during the American Revolution....
, and his wife Anna Ray (died December 3, 1770). Phoebe Greene was a daughter of William Greene
William Greene (Rhode Island governor)

William Greene was the second governor of Rhode Island after it became a state. His father, William Greene, had served as governor when Rhode Island was still a British colony....
 (August 16, 1731 – November 30, 1809), Governor of Rhode Island
List of Governors of Rhode Island

Party Affiliation...
 and his wife Catharine Ray.

Marriage and children

In 1843 she married a hero of the Greek revolution, physician
Physician

A physician, medical practitioner, doctor of medicine, or medical doctor practices medicine, and is concerned with maintaining or restoring human health through the study, diagnosis, and treatment of disease and injury....
 Dr. Samuel Gridley Howe
Samuel Gridley Howe

Samuel Gridley Howe was a prominent 19th century United States physician, abolitionist, and an advocate of education for the blindness....
 nicknamed Chev, who founded the Perkins Institute for the Blind. The couple made their home in South Boston, had six children (five of whom lived to adulthood), and were active in the Free Soil Party
Free Soil Party

The Free Soil Party was a short-lived political party in the United States active in the 1848 and 1852 presidential elections, and in some state elections....
. She was a member of the Unitarian
American Unitarian Association

The American Unitarian Association was a religious denomination in the United States and Canada, formed by associated Unitarianism congregations in 1825....
 church.

Social activism

Howe's "The Battle Hymn of the Republic
The Battle Hymn of the Republic

"The Battle Hymn of the Republic" is an American Abolitionism song, written by Julia Ward Howe in November 1861 and first published in The Atlantic Monthly on 1 February 1862, that became popular during the American Civil War....
", set to William Steffe's already-existing music, was first published in the Atlantic Monthly in 1862 and quickly became one of the most popular songs of the Union
Union (American Civil War)

During the American Civil War, the Union was a name used to refer to the Federal government of the United States of the United States, which was supported by the twenty-three states which were not part of the secession attempt by the 11 states that formed the Confederate States of America....
 during the American Civil War
American Civil War

The American Civil War , also known as the War Between the States and several Naming the American Civil War, was a civil war in the United States....
.

In 1870 Howe was the first to proclaim Mother's Day
Mother's Day

Mother's Day was created as a day for each family to honor their mother, celebrated on various days in many places around the world. It complements Father's Day, the celebration honoring fathers....
, with her Mother's Day Proclamation
Mother's Day Proclamation

The "Mother's Day Proclamation" by Julia Ward Howe was one of the early calls to celebrate Mother's Day in the United States. Written in 1870, Howe's Mother's Day Proclamation was a pacifist reaction to the carnage of the American Civil War and the Franco-Prussian War....
.

After the war Howe focused her activities on the causes of pacifism
Pacifism

Pacifism is the opposition to war or violence as a means of settling disputes or gaining advantage. Pacifism covers a spectrum of views ranging from the belief that international disputes can and should be peacefully resolved; to calls for the abolition of the institutions of the military and war; to opposition to any organization of society...
 and women's suffrage
Women's suffrage

The term women's suffrage refers to the economic and political reform movement aimed at extending suffrage ? the right to vote ? to women. The movement's modern origins lie in France in the 18th century....
. From 1872 to 1879, she assisted Lucy Stone
Lucy Stone

Lucy Stone was a prominent United States suffragist. Stone was the first recorded American woman to keep her own last name upon marriage and the first woman in Massachusetts to receive a college degree....
 and Henry Brown Blackwell in editing Woman's Journal
Woman's Journal

Woman's Journal was a women's rights periodical published from 1870-1931.Woman's Journal was founded in 1870 in Boston, Massachusetts by Lucy Stone and Henry B....


Death

Howe died on October 17, 1910, at her home, Oak Glen
Oak Glen (Portsmouth, Rhode Island)

Oak Glen is a historic place at 745 Union Street in Portsmouth, Rhode Island. It was the home of Julia Ward Howe, the author of "The Battle Hymn of the Republic"....
, in Portsmouth, Rhode Island
Portsmouth, Rhode Island

Portsmouth is a New England town in Newport County, Rhode Island, Rhode Island, United States. The population was 17,149 at the United States Census, 2000....
, at the age of 91. Her death was caused by pneumonia. She is buried in the Mount Auburn Cemetery
Mount Auburn Cemetery

Founded in 1831 as "America's first garden cemetery", or the first "rural cemetery", Mount Auburn Cemetery is an Elysium where, traditionally, chaste classical monuments were set in rolling landscaped terrain....
 in Cambridge, Massachusetts
Cambridge, Massachusetts

Cambridge is a city in the Greater Boston area of Massachusetts, United States. It was named in honor of the University of Cambridge in England....
.

Honors

On January 28, 1908, Howe became the first woman elected to the American Academy of Arts and Letters. Howe was inducted posthumously into the Songwriters Hall of Fame
Songwriters Hall of Fame

The Songwriters Hall of Fame is an arm of the National Academy of Popular Music. It was founded in 1969 by songwriter Johnny Mercer and music publishers Abe Olman and Howie Richmond....
 in 1970.

She was featured on a 14 cent US stamp issued in 1987.

The Julia Ward Howe School of Excellence in Chicago's Austin community is named in her honor.

Her home in Rhode Island, Oak Glen
Oak Glen (Portsmouth, Rhode Island)

Oak Glen is a historic place at 745 Union Street in Portsmouth, Rhode Island. It was the home of Julia Ward Howe, the author of "The Battle Hymn of the Republic"....
, was added to the National Register of Historic Places
National Register of Historic Places

The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation....
 in 1978.

Media


Works and collections

  • The Hermaphrodite
    The Hermaphrodite

    The Hermaphrodite is an incomplete novel by Julia Ward Howe about a hermaphrodite raised as a male, but whose underlying gender ambiguity often creates havoc in his life....
    . Incomplete, but probably composed between 1846 and 1847. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 2004.
  • Passion-Flowers. Poetry of Julia Ward Howe. Boston: Ticknor, Reed, and Fields, 1854.
  • Words for the Hour. Poetry of Julia Ward Howe. Boston: Ticknor and Fields, 1857.
  • From Sunset Ridge; Poems Old and New]]. Poetry of Julia Ward Howe. Boston, New York: Houghton Mifflin & Co. 1898
  • Later Lyrics. Poetry of Julia Ward Howe. Boston: J. E. Tilton & company, 1866.
  • At Sunset. Poetry of Julia Ward Howe. Boston and New York: Houghton Mifflin Co., 1910.
    • Woman's work in America. New York: N. Holt and Co., 1891
  • Reminiscences: 1819–1899. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1899.
  • Julia Ward Howe and the woman suffrage movement: a selection from her speeches and essays. Boston. D. Estes, 1913.


See also

  • American Woman Suffrage Association (AWSA)
    American Woman Suffrage Association (AWSA)

    The American Woman Suffrage Association was formed in November 1869 in response to a split in the American Equal Rights Association over the Fifteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution....
  • Gardiner, Maine
    Gardiner, Maine

    Gardiner is a city in Kennebec County, Maine, Maine, United States. The population was 6,198 at the 2000 United States Census. Popular with tourists, Gardiner is noted for its culture and old architecture....
     Howe's home for many years
  • Samuel Gridley and Julia Ward Howe House
    Samuel Gridley and Julia Ward Howe House

    The Samuel Gridley and Julia Ward Howe House is a National Historic Landmark on 13 Chesnut Street in Boston, Massachusetts.The house was built in 1804 by Charles Bulfinch and was home to Julia Ward Howe and Samuel Gridley Howe....


Further reading

  • Representative women of New England. Boston: New England Historical Pub. Co., 1904.
  • Richards, Laura Elizabeth. Julia Ward Howe, 1819–1910. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1916. 2 vol.
  • Clifford, Deborah Pickman. Mine Eyes Have Seen the Glory: A Biography of Julia Ward Howe. Boston: Little, Brown and Co., 1978.
  • Wlliams, Gary. Hungry Heart: The Literary Emergence of Julia Ward Howe. Amherst: U Massachusetts P, 1999.


External links

Works and papers
  • at Harvard University
    Harvard University

    Harvard University is a private university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, Massachusetts, United States, and a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1636 by the colonial Massachusetts legislature, Harvard is the Colonial Colleges institution of higher learning in the United States....
  • Archive at "Making of America" project, Cornell University
    Cornell University

    Cornell University located in Ithaca, New York, USA, is a private university with four Statutory college. Its two medical campuses are in New York City and Education City, Qatar....
     Library
  • at the University of Toronto
  • (1870)
  • Electronic archive of Howe's life and works
  • at The University of North Carolina at Greensboro


Biographies
  • , biography by Laura E. Richards, online at the University of Pennsylvania
    University of Pennsylvania

    The University of Pennsylvania is a private research university located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. Penn is America's first university and is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States....
  • Dictionary of Unitarian & Universalist Biography
  • at Answers.com


Honors
  • * marking where Howe wrote the Hymn
  • at www.mtlsd.org


Family