"America the Beautiful" Is probably the best loved, most inspiring, patriotic song ever written. It should be our National Anthem. It has a range of 9 notes, and is easy to sing. It is not a war song as is our National Anthem, which is virtually impossible to sing, its range is so large, and the words are about a silly war which no one knows about anyway. "The Star Spangled Banner" was declared our National Anthem by vote of Congress and signed into law on March 4, 1932. There were thousands of letters urging America the Beautiful be made our National Anthem, as well as urgings by music critics. As usual, Congress paid no attention to the desires of its constituency.
Katherine Lee Bates was born on August 12, 1859, in Falmouth Mass. She grew into a not very pretty, chubby, pince-nez glasses wearing, single gal who would become an 'old maid.' She was a brilliant poetess though, graduating from and eventually becoming a full professor at newly found Wellesley College for Women. Her students thought her devotion to English Literature was incredible, and they all adored her. Throughout her 69 years, she wrote wonderful poetry, but her crown masterpiece was "America the Beautiful," which she wrote after a trip to the American West, which began as she boarded a train in June, 1893, at age 34, to tour the West. She was a dour eastern girl, who had never seen the mid western wheat fields, vast expanses, brilliant sunsets, or the Rocky Mountains. She eventually got to Colorado Springs, where she visited The Garden of the Gods, and climbed Pike's Peak, altitude 14,110. She wrote that "The supreme day of our Colorado sojourn," was her Pike's Peak day. The new cog railway was disabled the days she took on Pike's Peak. Upon reaching the top, she wrote in her diary, "In one ecstatic gaze, I witnessed the most glorious scenery I ever beheld." She kept a daily dairy her entire life, and when she returned to Massachusetts, she vividly remembered her trip to Colorado, and wrote in her diary, "It was then and there, as I was looking out over the sea-like expanse of fertile country spreading away so far under those ample skies, that the opening lines of the hymn floated into my mind." The hymn was unknown, but this began her writing of her most famous poem, which she declared "belonged to the nation." She never got a dime for her poem, "America The Beautiful." Many years later, Theodore Roosevelt (TR) upon visiting Colorado, said of it that, "It bankrupts the English Language." I agree!
Bates played no instrument, couldn't read music, and couldn't compose, but her poem quickly became so popular, that everyone thought it should be put to music. Letters began, and turned into the thousands. So many, and she tried to answer all or at last most. So busy answering, that she eventually dubbed the poem "AB," to her office staff. Thousands asking for her autograph, thanking her for her verse, and hundreds of suggestions as to music to be put to her poem. She had changed a few words and phrases, as most writers are wont to do upon examining their efforts, which made the work even more delightful, but still no suitable music for "America The Beautiful." "O Mother, Dear Jerusalem," was a hymn composed by Samuel Augustus Ward, an organist at Grace Episcopal Church in Newark New Jersey. Self made, self confident, and self taught, Ward opened a store which sold sheet music, pianos and organs in Newark. He married Virginia, and fathered four daughters, two of which survived. On a sunny day in 1882, Sam and family took a steamer to Coney Island, and spent a few days soaking up the sea and sun on Coney's white sand beaches. On the return trip, Sam was standing on one of the rails of the side wheeler, when a tune came into his head, and "O Mother, Dear Jerusalem," was written on a piece of scrap paper. The hymn was 20 years before "America The Beautiful" was written by Katherine Lee Bates. Sam's hymn made him famous, and it was sung in cathedrals and churches around the world. Still, there was no music for "America The Beautiful," even though hundreds of suggestions had been made and even a couple of contests held to find a suitable melody. None were appropriate.
In 1888 Sam Ward wrote another hymn, which he called "Materna." It quickly became an instant hit and found its way into thousands of church hymn books. A latter day organist at Sam's church said of Materna, "Anybody can sit down and write a hymn tune, but this one is most remarkable. The melodic profile just stands alone. You have to be an interesting character to write a daring line like that." Sam must have agreed, because a year or so later, he heard some children singing Materna, and when he got home, he remarked that, "I never realized until I heard those dear little children singing it, how beautiful my melody is. It was a very moving experience." Shortly after that, a clergyman named Clarence Barbour read the poem, he found Materna in his hymn book, and quickly put them both together. At about 1904, the song of Katherine Bates and Sam Ward's melody became "America The Beautiful," probably thanks to Clarence Barbour.
In 1972, Ray Charles became famous with his version of "America the Beautiful," and three years later, Elvis Presley also made it part of his repertory. In 1925, Katherine Lee Bates retired from Wellesley's English department after 40 years of service. Sam Ward never knew the impact of his towering creation. He died on September 28, 1903 from erysipelas, an infectious skin disease, which was incurable. Today, Bates' home in which she grew up, in Falmouth, Mass, is privately owned but has a sign denoting its history. Grace Episcopal church in decayed Newark New Jersey has a bronze sign nothing the church's organist's accomplishments, and of course, "America The Beautiful," has to be the most wondrous, beautiful, tribute to the America we all love and cherish, in spite of the nation's dreadful demeaning at the hands of Obama and his Democrats.