julia ward howe.....

ok, so on this 4th of july.......the choir sang a rousing rendition of 'the battle hymn of the republic'.......though in our baptist hymnal that same song is listed as 'mine eyes have seen the glory' instead.........this is one of the few songs that i can name the composer without hesitation.......when i was 'young'.......and i mean gradeschool young.....my first memories of the library are the series of biographies of famous women.....in matching blue covers.......the male biographies were red, as i recall........i read them all...several times over......harriet beecher stowe, molly pitcher, dolley madison, among others.....and julia ward howe.......these were simplified biographies...that focused on some truth from the woman's childhood....and that dealt only briefly with their future fame.......but one certainly understood their roots...what formed their creativity, boldness, compassion, etc.........so my memories of julia ward howe had to do with her desire for women's suffrage, as well as her patriotism......never got around to reading the male biographies......guess i was a budding feminist ...............