Julia Ward Howe

May 27, 1819 - October 17, 1910

           Born in New York City, Julia Ward attended private schools before she married Samuel Gridley Howe in 1843 and moved to Boston. Thye had six children. Both she and her husband were prominent abolitionists and worked as editors for "The Commonwealth", an abolitionist periodical.
           Howe was also extremely active in other social causes, principally women's rights. She was president of the New England Woman Suffrage Association and the American branch of the Women's International Peace Association. Howe also wrote several pieces on social criticism including "Is Polite Society Polite?", 1845; three books of poetry; two travelogues; and a biography of Margaret Fuller.
           Julie Ward Howe penned the lyrics to The Battle Hymn of the Republic one night after returning home from a visit with a family friend to Union soldiers in a Washington campground. She had joined in singing "John Brown's Body" with the soldiers, who loved that song. Her friend and pastor asked her, "Mrs. Howe, why do you not write some good words for that stirring tune?" That night, Julia Howe was inspired; she recalled how the verses were weaving themselves together as she drifted off to sleep. Afraid she would forget them at dawn, she forced herself out of bed, lit a candle, and wrote the words to what would become the most famous hymn of the Union. Howe received a great deal of praise for her poem, but only $4 cash. One day, after considerable public attention, Howe said, "I wish very much that it may do some service in time of peace, which, I pray God, may never more be broken."
           Julia Ward Howe died in Newport, Rhode Island.

"Civil War Cards", Stephen T. Foster, 1963 Atlas Editions, USA