Julia Ward Howe
| Julia Ward Howe | |
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| Born |
May 27, 1819 New York City, United States |
| Died | October 17, 1910 (aged 91) Portsmouth, Rhode Island, United States |
| Language | English |
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Julia Ward Howe (/haʊ/; May 27, 1819 – October 17, 1910) was an American poet and author, best known for writing "The Battle Hymn of the Republic". She was also an advocate for abolitionism and was a social activist, particularly for women's suffrage.
Howe was born in New York City. She was the fourth of seven children born to an upper middle class couple. Her father Samuel Ward III was a Wall Street , well-to-do banker, and strict Calvinist. Her mother was the occasional poet Julia Rush Cutler, related to Francis Marion, the "Swamp Fox" of the American Revolution. She died of tuberculosis when her daughter was five years old.
She was educated by private tutors and in schools for young ladies until she was sixteen. Her eldest brother Samuel Cutler Ward traveled in Europe and brought home a private library. She had access to these modern works, many contradicting the Calvinistic world view presented by her father. She became well read and intelligent, though as much a social butterfly as she was a scholar. She was brought into contact with some of the greatest minds of her time because of her father’s status as a successful banker. She interacted with Charles Dickens, Charles Sumner, and Margaret Fuller.
Sam married into the prominent Astor family, allowing him great social freedom that he shared with his sister. The siblings were cast into mourning time when their father died in 1839; shortly afterwards, brother Henry died, then Samuel's wife Emily died, along with their newborn child.
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