america the beautiful

about the song

bates took a summer teaching job at colorado college in colorado springs in 1893. thinking back on the day when she and a group climbed pike's peak, she said: "we hired a prairie wagon. near the top we had to leave the wagon and go the rest of the way on mules. i was very tired. but when i saw the view, i felt great joy. all the wonder of america seemed displayed there, with the sea-like expanse." the images of the poem, the "spacious skies" and "purple mountain majesties," stayed with her until.that evening. she finished a poem entitled "america the beautiful" in one sitting.

she waited two years before deciding that the poem was good enough for publication. it first appeared in the congregationalist on the fourth of july, 1895. it became hugely popular. even though it was not written as a song, the rhythm and meter of the words made it possible to use several of the existing hymns and folk tunes that were around at the time. for a while, people sang it to the tune of "auld lang syne." soon, however, it was set to samuel ward's "materna," a piece of hymn music that had been composed a few years before. "america the beautiful" was first published together with "materna" in 1910. in 1926, the national federation of music clubs held a competition to set the poem to "less somber" music, but the consensus was "materna" was just fine. when katherine bates died in 1929, she still had not made a public statement about which musical piece she preferred, so it seems that "america the beautiful" will forever be associated with "materna."

there have been several attempts to make "america the beautiful" the national anthem of the united states of america. after the "great war" (world war i), in order to remember the heroes of the war, "the star spangled banner," and older poem set to an older tune, started to be performed at the beginning of baseball games. in 1931, congress declared the "star spangled banner" the official national anthem of the usa.

still, "america the beautiful" remains immensely popular. many people, americans and non-americans alike, believe that it is a better expression of the true spirit of america. besides, it is much easier to sing. the "star spangled banner" is perfect for watching the flag go up when we win gold medals, but "america the beautiful" is the perfect song when we are crying on each other's shoulders as we celebrate, remember, and hold in our hearts the triumphs and tragedies of the nation that has such a potential for both "greatness" and "goodness."

when the battle was over and the sun rose over iwo jima in world war ii, the american soldiers sang "america the beautiful." following the september 11 attacks on innocent civilians that culminated in the world trade center tragedy, americans and non-americans were moved by the words of "america the beautiful" in their process of coping with "the day america changed forever."

about katherine lee bates

katherine was born in falmouth, mass., in 1859. as a child, she wrote in her diary, "i like women better than men." after graduating from wellesley college in 1885, bates taught english. at the time, teaching was really the only way that a woman could become financially independent from her family without having to marry a man. susan b. anthony even called the end of the 19th century "the epoch of the single woman" because so many educated women partnered off with other women in romantic friendships.

in 1887, bates met katharine coman, a history and political economy teacher at wellesley (coman became the founder of the college's economics department). their friendship grew, and in 1890, the two women became intimate. their friends included other female couples who lived together in what became called "wellesley marriages."

in order to supplement their meager $400-a-year income, bates and coman supplemented their incomes by writing books and articles, giving guest lectures, and accepting summer teaching jobs. work often kept the two apart. but they would write to each other often, pressing yellow clovers into their letters.

the poem provided bates with a steady income for the rest of her life. in 1907, she had a house built for herself and coman near the wellesley campus. coman, went on to write six books and many articles on american history and economics. coman also helped to found denison house, a settlement house in boston.

in 1912, coman had surgery for breast cancer, forcing her to retire from teaching. in 1915, she died at the age of 57. bates, in her grief, wrote poems for the woman she had nicknamed "joy of life." the collection was published in 1922 and was titled yellow clover: a book of remembrance.

bates wrote other collections of poetry, academic papers on shakespeare, and children's books. she continued to teach at wellesley until 1920 when she retired to write poetry full time. she once remarked about life without coman: "sometimes not quite sure whether i'm alive or not." katherine lee bates died in 1929 at age 70.