Julia Ward Howe

Born in New York City in 1819, Julia Ward Howe grew up in a well-off family and was privately educated. She became an author, poet, and lecturer, and after marrying educator Samuel Gridley Howe she made her home in Boston.

Howe became famous during the Civil War after writing the words to “The Battle Hymn of the Republic,” published in The Atlantic Monthly in 1862. The song became closely identified with the Union cause, and it remains the work for which she is best remembered.

But her life was larger than a single poem. Howe was an outspoken abolitionist and later devoted major energy to reform work, especially women’s suffrage and peace activism. She died in 1910, leaving behind a legacy as both a popular writer and a determined public voice.