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Julia Ward Howe ( May 27 1819 – October 17 1910 ) was a prominent American Abolitionist , Social Activist , and Poet most famous as the author of " The Battle Hymn Of The Republic ." Born Julia Ward in New York City , she was the fourth of six children born to Samuel Ward (1786 – 1839) and Julia Rush Cutler. Her father was a well-to-do banker. Her paternal grandparents were Lieutenant Colonel Samuel Ward ( May 1 1756 – November 27 1839 ) of the Continental Army and Phoebe Greene. Her maternal grandparents were Benjamin Clarke and Sarah Mitchell Cutler. Lieutenant Colonel Samuel Ward was a son of Samuel Ward , a colonial Governor of Rhode Island and later a delegate to the Continental Congress , and his wife Anna Ray. Phoebe Greene was a daughter of William Greene , Governor Of Rhode Island and his wife Catharine Ray. In 1843 she married a hero of the Greek Revolution , Physician Dr. Samuel Gridley Howe nicknamed Chev, who founded the Perkins Institute For The Blind . The couple made their home in South Boston, had six children (five of whom lived to adulthood), and were active in the Free Soil Party . She was a member of the Unitarian church. Howe died of pneumonia at her home, Oak Glen, in Portsmouth, Rhode Island , at the age of 91. She is buried in the Mount Auburn Cemetery in Cambridge, Massachusetts . SOCIAL ACTIVISM Howe's " Battle Hymn Of The Republic ", set to William Steffe's already-existing music, was first published in the '' Atlantic Monthly '' in 1862 and quickly became one of the most popular songs of the Union during the American Civil War . In 1870 Howe was the first to proclaim Mother's Day , with her Mother's Day Proclamation . After the war Howe focused her activities on the causes of Pacifism and Women's Suffrage . From 1872 to 1879, she assisted Lucy Stone and Henry Brown Blackwell in editing '' Woman's Journal . HONORS On January 28 , 1908 Howe became the first woman elected to the American Academy Of Arts And Letters . Howe was inducted posthumously into the Songwriters Hall Of Fame in 1970. MEDIA PUBLICATIONS
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