VOICE ONE:
In the northern states, John Brown became a hero. His story was told through song. The song was most popular with soldiers. It became the unofficial marching song of the Union Army.
Julia Ward Howe also liked to sing the song. She felt that the music was beautiful, but the words about John Brown were not. So she decided to write different words to the music.
Those words came to her that night as she lay in her hotel room in Washington. She was awakened by her dreams of marching soldiers.
VOICE TWO (WOMAN'S VOICE):
"I found to my surprise that the words were forming themselves in my head. I lay still until the last line had completed itself in my thoughts.
Then I quickly got out of bed. I thought I would forget the words if I did not write them immediately. I looked for a piece of paper and a pen. Then I began to write the lines of a poem:
'Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord. He is trampling out the vintage where the grapes of wrath are stored, He hath loosed the fateful lightning of His terrible swift sword, His truth is marching on.'
I wrote until I was finished. Then I lay down again and fell asleep. I felt something important had happened to me."
VOICE ONE:
An American magazine, "The Atlantic Monthly," bought Missus Howe's poem. She was paid four dollars. The magazine published the poem in eighteen sixty-two. The poem became very popular. It had just the right words for the great marching music. The soldiers of the Union Army began to sing the words Julia Ward Howe had written. It soon became their official marching song -- "The Battle Hymn of the Republic."
VOICE TWO:
Julia Ward Howe became famous. She was invited to the White House to meet President Abraham Lincoln. After dinner at the White House, the guests talked about the Civil War. They were sad. The Union army had suffered many defeats. Then someone began to sing “The Battle Hymn of the Republic." Missus Howe and President Lincoln joined in the singing. There were tears in the President's eyes. Here is the last part of the song, sung by the Mormon Tabernacle Choir:
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VOICE ONE:
After the North won the Civil War in eighteen sixty-five, Julia Ward Howe became involved in other social reform movements. She became a leader in the movement to gain equal rights for American women, including the right to vote. She helped establish the New England Woman's Club in eighteen sixty-eight. This organization worked for equal rights for women in education and business. She served as president of the group for more than thirty years.
VOICE TWO:
Julia Ward Howe also became involved in the movement for peace. In eighteen seventy, she issued an "Appeal to Womanhood Throughout the World." This was a call for an international conference of women to support the peaceful settlement of conflicts. The next year she helped organize the American group of the Woman's International Peace Association. She became president of the group.
Julia Ward Howe continued to write books and make speeches about the issues she felt were important. Through the years, thousands of people came to hear her recite her most famous poem. She died in nineteen ten. She was ninety-one years old.
VOICE ONE:
The "Battle Hymn of the Republic" still is one of America's great traditional songs. No one knows for sure who wrote the music. But the song lives on. And so does the name of the woman who made the music famous with her words: Julia Ward Howe.
(THEME)
VOICE TWO:
This Special English program was written by Shelley Gollust. It was produced by Lawan Davis. I'm Shirley Griffith.
VOICE ONE:
And I'm Ray Freeman. Join us again next week for another PEOPLE IN AMERICA program on the Voice of America.
