America the Beautiful Lyrics by Katherine Lee Bates music by Samuel Ward

Katherine Lee Bates Born in Falmouth Massachusetts in 1859 She continued to return to Falmouth every year after moving to visit friends and family Began writing at age 9 in a small red notebook. She loved writing about animals and children She was an English teacher at Wellesley College in Massachusetts

Inspiration in Colorado In 1893 she traveled to Colorado to give a lecture at Colorado College While in Colorado she took a day trip to Pikes Peak onboard a prairie wagon Inspired to write the poem “America the Beautiful” by the beauty of the view from the summit of Pikes Peak

Quote by Miss Bates Quote “it was there, as I was looking out over the sea- like expanse of fertile country spreading away so far under the ample skies, that the opening lines of this text formed themselves in my mind” Painting of a young Miss Bates

A View from Pikes Peak Colorado 14,114 feet above sea level

Meaning behind the words Bates wrote about "amber waves of grain," "fruited plains," "purple mountain majesties.” She also wrote about the history of our pilgrims who "beat a highway for freedom, across the wilderness," She makes references to the pioneers and the hardships they went through when building our country

World’s Fair inspiration On her way home from Colorado Miss Bates visited the World’s Fair in Chicago. At the fair she was inspired by the mile square Columbian Exposition on the banks of Lake Michigan, where all the buildings were painted or stuccoed white: "thine alabaster cities gleam, undimmed by human tears!” (part of the last verse)

Getting Published She wrote the first draft in 1893 but put it in a notebook for another two years. First published in the Boston magazine The Congregationalist on July 4, 1895

Original Poem 1. O, beautiful for halcyon skies, For amber waves of grain, For purple mountain majesties Above the enameled plain! America! America! God shed His grace on thee, Till souls wax fair as earth and air And music-hearted sea! 4. O, beautiful for patriot dream That sees beyond the years Thine alabaster cities gleam Undimmed by human tears! America! America! God shed His grace on thee Till nobler men keep once again Thy whiter jubilee! 2. O, beautiful for pilgrim feet Whose stern, impassioned stress A thoroughfare for freedom beat Across the wilderness! America! America! God shed His grace on thee Till paths be wrought through wilds of thought By pilgrim foot and knee! 3. O, beautiful for glory-tale Of liberating strife, When once or twice, for man's avail, Men lavished precious life! America! America! God shed His grace on thee Till selfish gain no longer stain, The banner of the free!

Home she grew up in Statue on Pikes Peak in Colorado The original poem My Border Collie, Hamlet, was a constant companion of mine She died on March 28, 1929

Samuel A. Ward Born in Newark New Jersey in 1847 Studied music in New York Became a music businessman in New Jersey Ward was also inspired to compose his tune that would eventually become the music for Katherine Lee Bates’ poem. The tune came to him while he was on a ferryboat trip from Coney Island back to his home in New York City in 1882, and he immediately wrote it down.

Music He was so anxious to capture the tune in his head, he asked a friend for his shirt cuff to write the tune on. He called the melody he composed " Materna ” (meaning motherly) and used the words to an old hymn ( O Mother Dear, Jerusalem ) The tune was originally published in The Parish Choir in Boston on July 12, 1888 Later the original hymn tune words were dropped in favor of Bates’ poem. Ward's music, combined with Bates' poem, was first published together in 1910 and titled, America the Beautiful.

Samuel Wards’ original tune Materna using the words to the hymn O Mother Dear, Jerusalem Coney Island, New York Where he was Inspired

And the tune goes on…. The song is still sung as it was in 1910 (although Bates made a few changes to the lyrics for another eight years, the tune still remains the same) Samuel Ward died in 1903 and did not get to enjoy the popularity of his tune. In 1912 his widow gave permission for the melody to “officially” be used together with Bates’ words. In 1926 the National Federation of Music clubs conducted a contest for the best musical setting to Bates’ poem, although there were 900 entries none seemed as suitable as Wards’ tune.

The First Verse O, Beautiful, for spacious skies For amber waves of grain For purple mountain majesties, Above the fruited plain America, America! God shed his grace on thee, And crown thy good with brotherhood From sea to shining sea You’ll need to have the first verse memorized for the test!

America the Beautiful Essay Question: What message does the song convey with the lyrics?