Katharine Lee Bates was born in Falmouth, Massachusetts on August 12, 1859.  She was the fifth child of William and Cornelia Frances Lee Bates.  Katharine’s father was the pastor of the First Congregational Church on the Village Green.  Her father died from a tumor in his spine when she was only a month old.  The family lived in Falmouth for the first 12 years of Katharine’s life.  She started her writing career by keeping a diary when she was a young girl.  After her father’s death, the family moved to Granitville, known today as Wellesley Hills.  Miss Bates attended Wellesley High School and then later graduated from Wellesley College with a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1880.  Katharine taught school and later became a professor as well as head of the English literature department.  She studied at Oxford, England and eventually earned a master’s degree at Wellesley.  She enjoyed writing about animals and children and was often photographed with her collies.  She was a prolific author and wrote many volumes of poetry, books on her travels and stories for children. She retired from teaching in 1925 to her home in Wellesley.  She died March 28, 1929.

America the Beautiful - Katharine Lee Bates is probably best know for writing the poem – “America the Beautiful”.  Miss Bates was lecturing one summer at Colorado College in Colorado Springs, Colorado when she took a trip with some colleagues to the summit of Pikes Peak, a 14,110 ft. mountain.  They traveled by prairie wagon.  She was inspired by the view to compose her poem “America the Beautiful”.  The poem first appeared in print on July, 4, 1895.  For her efforts the author only received a small check from the original publication.  The poem was set to music to the tune of Samuel A. Ward’s “Materna”.  There have been several campaigns to adopt “America the Beautiful” as the anthem for the United States.  It is considered one of America’s most sung and loved patriotic songs.  A large statue sits on the summit of Pikes Peak as a tribute to Katharine Lee Bates’ famous poem.