Julia Ward Howe Biography

Julia Ward Howe was a poet who co-published the anti-slavery newspaper The Commonwealth with her husband, Samuel Gridley Howe. In 1861 she wrote the words to The Battle Hymn of the Republic, which became the recognized theme song of the Union during the Civil War. After the war Howe continued writing, became active in the woman’s suffrage movement and advocated world peace. In 1908 she became the first woman elected to the American Academy of Arts and Letters.