Happy birthday to Katharine Lee Bates (b. August 12, 1859; d. March 28, 1929). Bates was a graduate of Wellesley High School, class of 1874, and is the namesake of Bates Elementary School. She is widely known as the author of the patriotic song America the Beautiful. The prolific writer published nonfiction, fiction, and poetry in newspapers and magazines including the New York Times and the Atlantic Monthly. Bates taught at Dana Hall School before landing a job as a professor of English literature at Wellesley College.
Katharine Lee Bates
Born August 12, 1859, in Falmouth, Mass.
Died March 28, 1929, in Wellesley, Mass.
2024 marks the 160th anniversary of Bates’ death.
Her ashes are buried at Oak Grove Cemetery, in Falmouth.
Bates Elementary School, 116 Elmwood Rd., was named for her.
Wellesley High School class of 1874.
Wellesley College, class of 1880.
Taught at Dana Hall School until 1886.
Authored the poem that inspired the patriotic song America the Beautiful in 1893.
Moved into 70 Curve St., Wellesley (“The Scarab”) in 1907.
Was a professor of English literature at Wellesley College until 1925.
The Shining Sea Bikeway, was named in her honor. The 11-mile paved and level bike path stretches on Cape Cod from Bates’ birthplace of Falmouth, to Woods Hole, A 3.3-mile section of the Bikeway was dedicated on Nov. 9, 1975. An extension was completed and opened to the public in summer 2009.
Was commemorated by a series of “O Beautiful” USPS postage stamps on July 4, 2018. Each of the 20 stamps features a photograph that helps illustrate one of five phrases from the song’s famous first verse: “Spacious Skies,” “Waves of Grain,” “Mountain Majesties,” “The Fruited Plain,” and “Sea to Shining Sea.”
MORE…
We take a spin on Katharine Lee Bates’ very own ‘O Beautiful’ Cape Cod Bikeway
Katharine Lee Bates has her very own U.S. postage stamps
It is an honor to have attended Katerine Lee Bates Elementary School and even more of an honor to have graduated 100 years after her from Wellesley Senior High School. Every night I look up and see the beautiful majestic mountains she wrote about in America the Beautiful. I live in Breckenridge, Colorado. The Rocky Mountains surround me. Katherine saw them from Colorado Springs at Colorado College.