Howe, Julia Ward

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[[Image:JuliaWardHowe.jpeg|thumb|250 px|right|Julia Ward Howe]]  
 
[[Image:JuliaWardHowe.jpeg|thumb|250 px|right|Julia Ward Howe]]  
'''Julia Ward Howe''' (May 27, 1819–October 17, 1910) was a prominent writer, poet, lecturer, and women's rights activist.
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'''Julia Ward Howe''' (May 27, 1819 – October 17, 1910) was a prominent writer, poet, lecturer, and women's rights activist.
 +
 
 +
An American abolitionist, she was most famous as the author of ''The Battle Hymn of the Republic,'' which she wrote in 1862. After the [[American Civil War]] her work for the freedom of slaves evolved into work to gain civil rights for women, and and she played a significant role in the early organizing of women as peace activists.
 +
 
 +
In 1868, she helped establish the [[New England Suffrage Association]]. During a speaking tour in the late 1870's, J.W. Howe called for a peace movement and convened a Woman's Peace Conference in London, as a response to the [[Franco-Prussian War]].
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{{toc}}
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Howe was a woman of great religious conviction whose belief in "deed, and not creed" was the motivating factor behind all of her great achievements. She spoke on "What is Religion" as a featured speaker at the [[Parliament of World's Religions]] held in 1893, at the Chicago World's Fair.
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== Family ==
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Born '''Julia Ward''' in [[New York City]], she was the fourth of seven children born to Samuel Ward (1786-1839) and Julia Rush Cutler. Her father was a well-to-do banker who played a role in the founding of New York University. Her mother died when she was six years old.
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 +
Her paternal grandparents were Lieutenant Colonel Samuel Ward (May 1, 1756-November 27, 1839) of the [[American Continental Army]] and Phoebe Green. Her maternal grandparents were Benjamin Clarke and Sarah Mitchell Cutler.
 +
 
 +
Lieutenant Colonel Samuel Ward was a son of [[Samuel Ward]], a colonial Governor of Rhode Island (1765-1767) and later as a delegate to the [[Continental Congress]], and his wife Anna Ray. Phoebe Green was a daughter of [[William Greene]], also a Rhode Island Governor (1778-1786), and his wife Catharine Ray.
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== Marriage==
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At the age of 21 years old, Julia Ward married physician Dr. [[Samuel Gridley Howe]], who was 39 years old at the time. Dr. Howe had gained notoriety through his published narrative of experiences in the [[Greek War of Independence]]. When they married, he was the director of the [[Perkins Institute for the Blind]] in Boston. He was a radical Unitarian who was a part of the [[Transcendentalism|Transcendentalist]] movement. His religious convictions led him to take an active leadership role in the [[abolitionism|anti-slavery]] cause.
  
An American abolitionist, she was most famous as the author of ''The Battle Hymn of the Republic'', which she wrote in 1862. After the Civil War her work for the freedom of slaves evolved into work to gain civil rights for women and and she played a significant role in the early organizing of women as peace activists.  
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The couple made their home in South Boston and had six children, five of whom lived to adulthood and became successful professionals. Their marriage was at times quite difficult for Julia, as her husband believed married women should not have a life outside the home. She remained faithful to him throughout their marriage despite his convictions, his mismanagement of her father's inheritance, and his known infidelities.  
  
In 1868, she helped establish the New England Suffrage Association.
+
In the early years of their marriage, she accepted these narrow views on women's roles and used her time at home to write poetry, study philosophy, and learn several languages.
During a speaking tour in the late 1870's, J.W. Howe called for a peace movement and convened a Woman's Peace Conference in London, as a response to the Franco-Prussian War.
 
  
Howe was a woman of great religious conviction whose belief in "deed, and not creed" was the motivating factor behind all of her great achievements. She spoke on  "What is Religion" as a featured speaker at the Parliament of World's Religions held in 1893 at the Chicago World's Fair.
+
She was always an active supporter of his abolitionist views and they worked together during the Civil War in supporting the [[United States Sanitary Commission]]. The Commission played a key role in reforming the unsanitary conditions that played a significant role in the deaths of many wounded soldiers early in the war. Their work on this commission led to recognition by [[Abraham Lincoln|President Lincoln]]. In 1862, he invited Dr. Sam Howe and his wife to visit him at the [[White House]] in [[Washington, D.C.]]
  
 +
==Public life==
  
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===''Battle Hymn of the Republic''===
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It was during their visit to Washington that Julia Ward Howe was approached by a minister who had read some of her published poems. He asked her if she could write a new song for the war. [[Pastor James Freeman Clarke]] asked her to write a song that would replace the song written in admiration of John Brown and his rebellion, ''John Brown's Body.''
  
== Family ==
+
She later wrote of her experience of writing the ''Battle Hymn of the Republic'' as being one of almost divine revelation. She wrote: <blockquote>I awoke the next morning in the gray of the early dawn, and to my astonishment, found that the wished-for-lines were arranging themselves in my brain. I lay quite still until the last verse had completed itself in my thoughts, then hastily arose, saying to myself, I shall lose this if I don't write it down immediately.</blockquote>
Born '''Julia Ward''' in [[New York City]], she was the fourth of seven children born to Samuel Ward (1786 - 1839) and Julia Rush Cutler. Her father was a well-to-do banker who played a role in the founding of New York University.
+
 
 +
She concluded her account by writing, "I lay down again and fell asleep, but not before feeling as if something very important had just happened to me."
 +
 
 +
Her poem was first published in the ''[[Atlantic Monthly]]'' in February 1862, and quickly became one of the most popular songs for the [[Union (American Civil War)|Union]] during the [[American Civil War]]. The poem was sung to the same tune as that of ''John Brown's Body'' which, ironically, was originally written by a southerner for religious rivals.
  
Her paternal grandparents were Lieutenant Colonel Samuel Ward (May 1, 1756 - November 27, 1839) of the Continental Army and Phoebe Green. Her maternal grandparents were Benjamin Clarke and Sarah Mitchell Cutler.
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===Religion===
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Julia Ward Howe was born into a strict [[Episcopalian]]-[[Calvinism|Calvinist]] family. When her father died, she was 20 years old and came to be influenced by a liberal uncle who was made her guardian. She then married Howe who was a radical [[Unitarian]].  
  
Lieutenant Colonel Samuel Ward was a son of [[Samuel Ward]], a colonial Governor of Rhode Island (1765-1767) and later as a delegate to the [[Continental Congress]], and his wife Anna Ray. Phoebe Green was a daughter of [[William Greene (Rhode Island governor)|William Greene]], also a Rhode Island Governor (1778-1786), and his wife Catharine Ray.
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She and her husband attended the church of Theodore Parker, a radical thinker on the issues of women's rights and slavery. Parker has been called a Transcendentalist, theologian, scholar, abolitionist, and social reformer. There is evidence that he was one of the so-called [[Secret Six]] who bankrolled John Brown's failed efforts and there is speculation that Samuel G. Howe was also one of the six, although there is no proof.
  
== Marriage and public life ==
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Julia Ward Howe's own religious conviction became very evident in the Old and New Testament Biblical images used in her poem the ''Battle Hymn of the Republic''. She preached often in Unitarian and Universalist churches while mainly attending the Church of the Disciples, which was led by James Freeman Clarke.
At the age of 21 Julia Ward married physician Dr. [[Samuel Gridley Howe]] who had already gained notoriety through his published narrative of experiences in the Greek War of Independence. When they married he was the director of the [[Perkins Institute for the Blind]] in Boston. He was a radical Unitarian who was a part of the Transcendentalist movement. His religious convictions led him to take an active leadership role in the anti-slavery cause.
 
  
The couple made their home in South Boston, had six children (five of whom lived to adulthood and became successful professionals). Their marriage was at times quite difficult for Julia as her husband believed married woman should not have a life outside the home. She remained faithful to him throughout their mariage despite his
+
Her notoriety for writing the ''Battle Hymn of the Republic'' led to her becoming a public figure. From the 1870s, she began to lecture widely throughout Massachusetts and New England.
attitudes towards women, his mismanagement of her father's inheritance, and his infidelities.  
 
  
In the early years of their marriage she accepted his narrow views on women's roles and used her time at home to write poetry, to study philosophy and to learn several languages.
+
In 1873, she hosted an annual gathering of women ministers and also helped to found the ''Free Religious Association''.  
  
She was always an active supporter of his abolitionist views and they worked together during the Civil War in supporting the U.S. Sanitary Commission. The Commission played a key role in reforming the unsanitary conditions that played a significant role in the deaths of many wounded soldiers early in the war. Their work on this commision led to recognition by President Lincoln and in 1862 he invited Dr. Sam and J.W. Howe to Washington.
+
She was invited to speak at the ''Parliament of the World's Religions'' held in 1893, at the Chicago World's Fair. It was the first organized effort to bring the world's religions together for dialog. In her speech ''What is Religion,'' she concluded, <blockquote>From this Parliament let some valorous, new, strong, and courageous influence go forth, and let us have here an agreement of all faiths for one good end, for one good thing—really for the Glory of God, really for the sake of humanity from all that is low and animal and unworthy and undivine.</blockquote>
  
===Battle Hymn of the Republic===
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===Women's rights===
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After the war, Howe continued her social outreach by working with the widows and orphans of soldiers on both sides of the conflict. Witnessing the tolls of war on families on all sides, she turned her attention in 1870, to organizing women to play a role in opposing war in all its forms.  She worked hard to push Congress to create a general congress of women "without limit of nationality," who would play a role in bringing about peaceful resolutions to conflicts.
  
It was during their visit to Washington that Julia Ward Howe was approached by a minister who had read some of her published poems. He asked her if she could write a new song for the war. Pastor James Freeman Clarke asked her to write a song that would replace the song written in admiration of John Brown and his rebellion, "J.B's Body".
+
Inspired by [[Anna Jarvis]]' efforts with the Mothers Day Work Clubs that she established prior to the Civil War, Howe fought for a formal recognition of a Mother's Day for Peace. She was the first to proclaim [[Mother's Day]] in 1870, with her [[Mother's Day Proclamation]].<ref>Jone Johnson Lewis, [http://womenshistory.about.com/od/howejwriting/a/mothers_day.htm "Mother's Day History," ''About.com'']. Retrieved December 19, 2008.</ref> Howe never saw the official establishment of Mother's Day, but would certainly have rejoiced in the fact that the daughter of [[Anna Jarvis]] (also named Anna)was responsible for getting it established in 1907.
  
She said she awoke the very next morning early dawn, to her astonishment, found the words to the song arranging themselves in her head, she stayed in bed, awaiting the very last verse to be completed within her thoughts, then arose quickly and said to herself, " I shall lose this if I don't write it down, searched for pen and paper, began scrawling lines almost without looking. Upon completion, I lay down again and fell asleep, but not before feeling as if something very important had just happened to me." Published in the ''[[Atlantic Monthly]]'' in 1862 it quickly became one of the most popular songs for the [[Union (American Civil War)|Union]] during the [[American Civil War]]. Ironically, the original tune was written by a Southerner for the purpose of religious rivals.
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Howe had already started to shift her focus to women's rights issues in 1868, when she helped found the ''New England Suffrage Association''. She also worked with [[Lucy Stone]] and the ''American Women Suffrage Association (AWSA)''. In 1870, she also helped Stone and her husband, [[Henry Blackwell]], found ''Woman's Journal.'' As an editor and writer for the journal for 20 years, she helped gather essays by writers of the time who disputed the theories that women were inferior to men.
  
Due to her deep religious conviction J.W.Howe hoped through the song, to turn the idea of the  war, or the focus could remain on the principle of ending slavery itself. Unbeknownst to most, she was paid $5 for the song, Battle Hymn of the Republic.
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In 1883, Howe published a biography of [[Margaret Fuller]].
 
 
After the war she focused her activities on the causes of widows and orphans of soldiers, on both sides she truly lived for the sake of others, a woman ahead of her time.
 
  
In 1868, J.W.Howe began her crusade to encourage the reconciliation of Union and Confederate neighbors.
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In 1889, she helped bring about the merger of the AWSA with the National American Woman Suffrage Association (NAWSA) that at that time was led by [[Elizabeth Cady Stanton]] and [[Susan B. Anthony]].
  
In 1870, She wanted women to cross national lines, to work together to end war  for all time. She pointed out that what we have in common as women and human beings far outweighs that which divides us. With her heart full of zeal, she worked hard to push Congress to action, together with Anna Jarvis, they fought for a formal recognition of a Mother's Day for Peace. She was the first to proclaim [[Mother's Day]], with her [[Mother's Day Proclamation]].
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In 1890, she helped found the General Federation of Women's Clubs, which eventually displaced the AAW.
  
On January 28, 1908 Julia Ward Howe became the first woman elected to the [[American Academy of Arts and Letters]].
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==Final years==
  
Julia Ward Howe is buried in the [[Mount Auburn Cemetery]] in [[Cambridge, Massachusetts]].
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In January 1876, Samuel Gridley Howe died. Apparently, he confessed to Julia on his deathbed about his licentious affairs. Despite the reportage of legend, Julia Ward Howe did not respond, "If you weren't dyin' I'd kill you." She completely forgave him. After his death, she spent two years traveling and lecturing through [[Europe]] and the [[Middle East]]. It was on her return from her travels that she launched wholeheartedly into her efforts to champion women's rights.
  
Julia Ward Howe was inducted into the [[Songwriters' Hall of Fame]] in 1970.
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On January 28, 1908, Julia Ward Howe became the first woman elected to the [[American Academy of Arts and Letters]].
  
==Quotes==
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Julia Ward Howe died in 1910, and is buried in the Mount Auburn Cemetery in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Samuel G. Elliot, head of the American Unitarian Association, gave her eulogy in front of the 4,000 who attended.
  
Mother Mind
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Julia Ward Howe was inducted into the [[Songwriters' Hall of Fame]] in 1970.
  
I never made a poem, dear friend..
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==Writings==
I never sat me down, and said,
 
This cunning brain and patient hand
 
Shall fashion something to be read.
 
  
Men often came to me, and prayed
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'''Mother Mind'''
I should indite a fitting verse
 
For fast, or festival, or in
 
Some stately pageant to rehearse.
 
(As if, than Balaam more endowed,
 
I of myself could bless or curse.)
 
  
Reluctantly I bade them go,
+
:I never made a poem, dear friend.
Ungladdened by my poet-mite;
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:I never sat me down, and said,
My heart is not so churlish but
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:This cunning brain and patient hand
Its loves to minister delight.
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:Shall fashion something to be read.
  
But not a word I breathe is mine
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:Men often came to me, and prayed
To sing, in praise of man or God;
+
:I should indite a fitting verse
My Master calls, at noon or night,
+
:For fast, or festival, or in
I know his whisper and his nod.
+
:Some stately pageant to rehearse.
 +
:(As if, than Balaam more endowed,
 +
:I of myself could bless or curse.)
  
Yet all my thoughts to rhythms run,
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:Reluctantly I bade them go,
To rhyme, my wisdom and my wit?
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:Ungladdened by my poet-mite;
True, I consume my life in verse,
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:My heart is not so churlish but
But wouldst thou know how that is writ?
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:Its loves to minister delight.
  
T'is thus..through weary length of days,
+
:But not a word I breathe is mine
I bear a thought within my breast
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:To sing, in praise of man or God;
That greaten from my growth of soul,
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:My Master calls, at noon or night,
And waits, and will not be expressed.
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:I know his whisper and his nod.
  
It greatens, till its hour has come,
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:Yet all my thoughts to rhythms run,
Not without pain, it sees the light;
+
:To rhyme, my wisdom and my wit?
"Twixt smiles & tears I view it o'er,
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:True, I consume my life in verse,
And dare not deem it perfect, quite.
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:But wouldst thou know how that is writ?
  
These children of my soul I keep
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:T'is thus through weary length of days,
Where scarce a mortal man may see,
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:I bear a thought within my breast
Yet not unconsecrate, dear friend,
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:That greaten from my growth of soul,
Baptismal rites they claim of thee.
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:And waits, and will not be expressed.
  
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:It greatens, till its hour has come,
 +
:Not without pain, it sees the light;
 +
:"Twixt smiles and tears I view it o'er,
 +
:And dare not deem it perfect, quite.
  
Great  Quotes:
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:These children of my soul I keep
 +
:Where scarce a mortal man may see,
 +
:Yet not unconsecrate, dear friend,
 +
:Baptismal rites they claim of thee.
  
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===Quotes===
 
"Every life has its actual blanks, which the ideal must fill up, or which else remain bare & profitless forever."
 
"Every life has its actual blanks, which the ideal must fill up, or which else remain bare & profitless forever."
  
"I am confirmed in my division of human energies.
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"I am confirmed in my division of human energies. Ambitious people climb, but faithful people build."
Ambitious people climb, but faithful people build."
 
  
" Every life has its actual blanks, which the ideal
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"When I see the elaborate study and ingenuity displayed by women in pursuit of trifles, I feel no doubt of their capacity for the most herculean undertakings."
must fill up, or which else remain bare & profitless forever."
 
  
"When I see the elaborate study and ingenuity
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"The strokes of the pen need deliberation as much as the sword needs swiftness."
displayed by women in pursuit of trifles,
 
I feel no doubt of their capacity for the most herculean undertakings."
 
  
"The strokes of the pen need deliberation as much as the sword needs swiftness."
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==Notes==
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<references/>
  
 
==Publications==
 
==Publications==
 
 
*''[[The Hermaphrodite]].'' Incomplete, but probably composed between 1846 and 1847.  Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 2004.
 
*''[[The Hermaphrodite]].'' 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.  
 
*''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.
 
*''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 Mufflin & Co. 1898
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*''From Sunset Ridge; Poems Old and New.'' Poetry of Julia Ward Howe.  New York: Houghton Mufflin & Co. 1898
 
*''Later Lyrics.'' Poetry of Julia Ward Howe.  Boston: J. E. Tilton & company, 1866.
 
*''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.
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*''At Sunset.'' Poetry of Julia Ward Howe. New York: Houghton Mifflin Co., 1910.
*''Sex and education: a reply to Dr. E.H. Clarke's "Sex in education."'' Boston: Roberts Bros., 1874.
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*''Sex and Education: A Reply to Dr. E.H. Clarke's "Sex in education."'' Boston: Roberts Bros., 1874.
*''Woman's work in America.'' New York: N. Holt and Co., 1891
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*''Woman's Work in America.'' New York: N. Holt and Co., 1891.
 
*''Reminiscences: 1819-1899.'' Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1899.
 
*''Reminiscences: 1819-1899.'' Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1899.
*''Representative women of New England''. Boston: New England Historical Pub. Co., 1904.
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*''Representative Women of New England''. Boston: New England Historical Pub. Co., 1904.
*''Julia Ward Howe and the woman suffrage movement: a selection from her speeches and essays''. Boston. D. Estes, 1913.
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*''Julia Ward Howe and the Woman Suffrage Movement: A Selection from her Speeches and Essays''. Boston. D. Estes, 1913.
*Richards, Laura Elizabeth. ''Julia Ward Howe, 1819-1910.'' Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1916. 2v.
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*Richards, Laura Elizabeth. ''Julia Ward Howe, 1819-1910.'' Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1916.
  
 
=References=
 
=References=
 
+
*About.com, [http://womenshistory.about.com/library/weekly/aa013100b.htm Julia Ward Howe.] Retrieved December 18, 2007.
http://ocp.hul.harvard.edu/ww/people_howe.html
+
*About.com, [http://womenshistory.about.com/od/quotes/a/julia_ward_howe.htm Julia Ward Howe Quotes.] Retrieved December 18, 2007.
 
+
*About.com, [http://womenshistory.about.com/od/howejwriting/a/mothers_day.htm Mother's Day History.] Retrieved December 18, 2007.
http://womenshistory.about.com/library/weekly/aa013100b.htm
+
*Open Collections Program, [http://ocp.hul.harvard.edu/ww/people_howe.html Julia Ward Howe.] Retrieved December 18, 2007.
 
 
http://womenshistory.about.com/od/quotes/a/julia_ward_howe.htm
 
 
 
http://womenshistory.about.com/od/howejwriting/a/mothers_day.htm
 
 
 
  
 
== External links ==  
 
== External links ==  
{{wikiquote}}
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All links retrieved October 4, 2022.
{{wikisource author|Julia Ward Howe}}
+
   
*[http://songwritershalloffame.org/exhibit_home_page.asp?exhibitId=193 Julia Ward Howe's entry at the Songwriters' Hall of Fame]
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* [http://www.juliawardhowe.org Julia Ward Howe.org: A site devoted to the life and work of Julia Ward Howe].  
* [http://www.juliawardhowe.org Julia Ward Howe.org: A site devoted to the life and work of Julia Ward Howe.]
+
* [https://www.womenofthehall.org/inductee/julia-ward-howe/ National Women's Hall of Fame].  
* [http://www.uua.org/uuhs/duub/articles/juliawardhowe.html Biography on Dictionary of Unitarian & Universalist Biography site]
 
* [http://ocp.hul.harvard.edu/ww/people_howe.html Julia Ward Howe] at Harvard University
 
* [http://www.answers.com/topic/julia-ward-howe Julia Ward Howe] at Anwers.com
 
* [http://www.greatwomen.org/women.php?action=viewone&id=80 National Women's Hall of Fame]
 
* [http://eir.library.utoronto.ca/rpo/display/poet170.html Poetry] at the University of Toronto
 
* ''[http://www.prism.net/user/fcarpenter/howe.html Mother's Day Proclamation]'' (1870)
 
* [http://cdl.library.cornell.edu/cgi-bin/moa/sgml/moa-idx?type=boolean&coll=serial&rgn1=authorind&layer=second&q1=Howe%2C%20J.%20W.&q1=Howe%2C%20Julia%20Ward&q1=Howe%2C%20Julia%20Ward%2C%20Mrs.&searchSummary=20%20matching%20%20journal%20articles Julia Ward Howe] at "The Making of America" project of Cornell University
 
* [http://ocp.hul.harvard.edu/ww/people_howe.html Julia Ward Howe (1819-1910) on Harvard.edu]
 
*[http://freepages.history.rootsweb.com/~dav4is/people/WARD741.htm A profile of her father]
 
*[http://freepages.history.rootsweb.com/~dav4is/people/WARD103.htm A profile of her paternal grandfather]
 
  
[[Category:Biography|Howe, Julia Ward]]
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[[Category:Biography]]
[[Category:History and biography|Howe, Julia Ward]]
 
  
 
{{Credit|67352237}}
 
{{Credit|67352237}}

Latest revision as of 21:09, 4 October 2022

Julia Ward Howe

Julia Ward Howe (May 27, 1819 – October 17, 1910) was a prominent writer, poet, lecturer, and women's rights activist.

An American abolitionist, she was most famous as the author of The Battle Hymn of the Republic, which she wrote in 1862. After the American Civil War her work for the freedom of slaves evolved into work to gain civil rights for women, and and she played a significant role in the early organizing of women as peace activists.

In 1868, she helped establish the New England Suffrage Association. During a speaking tour in the late 1870's, J.W. Howe called for a peace movement and convened a Woman's Peace Conference in London, as a response to the Franco-Prussian War.

Howe was a woman of great religious conviction whose belief in "deed, and not creed" was the motivating factor behind all of her great achievements. She spoke on "What is Religion" as a featured speaker at the Parliament of World's Religions held in 1893, at the Chicago World's Fair.

Family

Born Julia Ward in New York City, she was the fourth of seven children born to Samuel Ward (1786-1839) and Julia Rush Cutler. Her father was a well-to-do banker who played a role in the founding of New York University. Her mother died when she was six years old.

Her paternal grandparents were Lieutenant Colonel Samuel Ward (May 1, 1756-November 27, 1839) of the American Continental Army and Phoebe Green. Her maternal grandparents were Benjamin Clarke and Sarah Mitchell Cutler.

Lieutenant Colonel Samuel Ward was a son of Samuel Ward, a colonial Governor of Rhode Island (1765-1767) and later as a delegate to the Continental Congress, and his wife Anna Ray. Phoebe Green was a daughter of William Greene, also a Rhode Island Governor (1778-1786), and his wife Catharine Ray.

Marriage

At the age of 21 years old, Julia Ward married physician Dr. Samuel Gridley Howe, who was 39 years old at the time. Dr. Howe had gained notoriety through his published narrative of experiences in the Greek War of Independence. When they married, he was the director of the Perkins Institute for the Blind in Boston. He was a radical Unitarian who was a part of the Transcendentalist movement. His religious convictions led him to take an active leadership role in the anti-slavery cause.

The couple made their home in South Boston and had six children, five of whom lived to adulthood and became successful professionals. Their marriage was at times quite difficult for Julia, as her husband believed married women should not have a life outside the home. She remained faithful to him throughout their marriage despite his convictions, his mismanagement of her father's inheritance, and his known infidelities.

In the early years of their marriage, she accepted these narrow views on women's roles and used her time at home to write poetry, study philosophy, and learn several languages.

She was always an active supporter of his abolitionist views and they worked together during the Civil War in supporting the United States Sanitary Commission. The Commission played a key role in reforming the unsanitary conditions that played a significant role in the deaths of many wounded soldiers early in the war. Their work on this commission led to recognition by President Lincoln. In 1862, he invited Dr. Sam Howe and his wife to visit him at the White House in Washington, D.C.

Public life

Battle Hymn of the Republic

It was during their visit to Washington that Julia Ward Howe was approached by a minister who had read some of her published poems. He asked her if she could write a new song for the war. Pastor James Freeman Clarke asked her to write a song that would replace the song written in admiration of John Brown and his rebellion, John Brown's Body.

She later wrote of her experience of writing the Battle Hymn of the Republic as being one of almost divine revelation. She wrote:

I awoke the next morning in the gray of the early dawn, and to my astonishment, found that the wished-for-lines were arranging themselves in my brain. I lay quite still until the last verse had completed itself in my thoughts, then hastily arose, saying to myself, I shall lose this if I don't write it down immediately.

She concluded her account by writing, "I lay down again and fell asleep, but not before feeling as if something very important had just happened to me."

Her poem was first published in the Atlantic Monthly in February 1862, and quickly became one of the most popular songs for the Union during the American Civil War. The poem was sung to the same tune as that of John Brown's Body which, ironically, was originally written by a southerner for religious rivals.

Religion

Julia Ward Howe was born into a strict Episcopalian-Calvinist family. When her father died, she was 20 years old and came to be influenced by a liberal uncle who was made her guardian. She then married Howe who was a radical Unitarian.

She and her husband attended the church of Theodore Parker, a radical thinker on the issues of women's rights and slavery. Parker has been called a Transcendentalist, theologian, scholar, abolitionist, and social reformer. There is evidence that he was one of the so-called Secret Six who bankrolled John Brown's failed efforts and there is speculation that Samuel G. Howe was also one of the six, although there is no proof.

Julia Ward Howe's own religious conviction became very evident in the Old and New Testament Biblical images used in her poem the Battle Hymn of the Republic. She preached often in Unitarian and Universalist churches while mainly attending the Church of the Disciples, which was led by James Freeman Clarke.

Her notoriety for writing the Battle Hymn of the Republic led to her becoming a public figure. From the 1870s, she began to lecture widely throughout Massachusetts and New England.

In 1873, she hosted an annual gathering of women ministers and also helped to found the Free Religious Association.

She was invited to speak at the Parliament of the World's Religions held in 1893, at the Chicago World's Fair. It was the first organized effort to bring the world's religions together for dialog. In her speech What is Religion, she concluded,

From this Parliament let some valorous, new, strong, and courageous influence go forth, and let us have here an agreement of all faiths for one good end, for one good thing—really for the Glory of God, really for the sake of humanity from all that is low and animal and unworthy and undivine.

Women's rights

After the war, Howe continued her social outreach by working with the widows and orphans of soldiers on both sides of the conflict. Witnessing the tolls of war on families on all sides, she turned her attention in 1870, to organizing women to play a role in opposing war in all its forms. She worked hard to push Congress to create a general congress of women "without limit of nationality," who would play a role in bringing about peaceful resolutions to conflicts.

Inspired by Anna Jarvis' efforts with the Mothers Day Work Clubs that she established prior to the Civil War, Howe fought for a formal recognition of a Mother's Day for Peace. She was the first to proclaim Mother's Day in 1870, with her Mother's Day Proclamation.[1] Howe never saw the official establishment of Mother's Day, but would certainly have rejoiced in the fact that the daughter of Anna Jarvis (also named Anna)was responsible for getting it established in 1907.

Howe had already started to shift her focus to women's rights issues in 1868, when she helped found the New England Suffrage Association. She also worked with Lucy Stone and the American Women Suffrage Association (AWSA). In 1870, she also helped Stone and her husband, Henry Blackwell, found Woman's Journal. As an editor and writer for the journal for 20 years, she helped gather essays by writers of the time who disputed the theories that women were inferior to men.

In 1883, Howe published a biography of Margaret Fuller.

In 1889, she helped bring about the merger of the AWSA with the National American Woman Suffrage Association (NAWSA) that at that time was led by Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony.

In 1890, she helped found the General Federation of Women's Clubs, which eventually displaced the AAW.

Final years

In January 1876, Samuel Gridley Howe died. Apparently, he confessed to Julia on his deathbed about his licentious affairs. Despite the reportage of legend, Julia Ward Howe did not respond, "If you weren't dyin' I'd kill you." She completely forgave him. After his death, she spent two years traveling and lecturing through Europe and the Middle East. It was on her return from her travels that she launched wholeheartedly into her efforts to champion women's rights.

On January 28, 1908, Julia Ward Howe became the first woman elected to the American Academy of Arts and Letters.

Julia Ward Howe died in 1910, and is buried in the Mount Auburn Cemetery in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Samuel G. Elliot, head of the American Unitarian Association, gave her eulogy in front of the 4,000 who attended.

Julia Ward Howe was inducted into the Songwriters' Hall of Fame in 1970.

Writings

Mother Mind

I never made a poem, dear friend.
I never sat me down, and said,
This cunning brain and patient hand
Shall fashion something to be read.
Men often came to me, and prayed
I should indite a fitting verse
For fast, or festival, or in
Some stately pageant to rehearse.
(As if, than Balaam more endowed,
I of myself could bless or curse.)
Reluctantly I bade them go,
Ungladdened by my poet-mite;
My heart is not so churlish but
Its loves to minister delight.
But not a word I breathe is mine
To sing, in praise of man or God;
My Master calls, at noon or night,
I know his whisper and his nod.
Yet all my thoughts to rhythms run,
To rhyme, my wisdom and my wit?
True, I consume my life in verse,
But wouldst thou know how that is writ?
T'is thus through weary length of days,
I bear a thought within my breast
That greaten from my growth of soul,
And waits, and will not be expressed.
It greatens, till its hour has come,
Not without pain, it sees the light;
"Twixt smiles and tears I view it o'er,
And dare not deem it perfect, quite.
These children of my soul I keep
Where scarce a mortal man may see,
Yet not unconsecrate, dear friend,
Baptismal rites they claim of thee.

Quotes

"Every life has its actual blanks, which the ideal must fill up, or which else remain bare & profitless forever."

"I am confirmed in my division of human energies. Ambitious people climb, but faithful people build."

"When I see the elaborate study and ingenuity displayed by women in pursuit of trifles, I feel no doubt of their capacity for the most herculean undertakings."

"The strokes of the pen need deliberation as much as the sword needs swiftness."

Notes

  1. Jone Johnson Lewis, "Mother's Day History," About.com. Retrieved December 19, 2008.

Publications

  • The Hermaphrodite. 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. New York: Houghton Mufflin & Co. 1898
  • Later Lyrics. Poetry of Julia Ward Howe. Boston: J. E. Tilton & company, 1866.
  • At Sunset. Poetry of Julia Ward Howe. New York: Houghton Mifflin Co., 1910.
  • Sex and Education: A Reply to Dr. E.H. Clarke's "Sex in education." Boston: Roberts Bros., 1874.
  • Woman's Work in America. New York: N. Holt and Co., 1891.
  • Reminiscences: 1819-1899. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1899.
  • Representative Women of New England. Boston: New England Historical Pub. Co., 1904.
  • Julia Ward Howe and the Woman Suffrage Movement: A Selection from her Speeches and Essays. Boston. D. Estes, 1913.
  • Richards, Laura Elizabeth. Julia Ward Howe, 1819-1910. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1916.

References
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External links

All links retrieved October 4, 2022.

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