America the Beautiful: The Stirring True Story Behind Our Nation's Favorite Song [Hardcover]

Lynn Sherr (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 16, 2001

We've all sung it a thousand times, and most of us know at least the first verse by heart. "America the Beautiful" has been called a hymn, a prayer, even the "national heartbeat set to music." Numerous proposals and half a dozen bills in Congress have tried to replace our national anthem, "The Star-Spangled Banner," with this more lyrical, less militaristic song. But who knows the story behind the song? In America the Beautiful, Lynn Sherr tells the story of Katharine Lee Bates, a poet and pioneering young English professor at the newly established Wellesley College, who penned "America the Beautiful" at age 33, as she gazed over the glorious panorama from the top of Pike's Peak, Colorado. The poem, published two years later on July 4, 1895, struck a chord. Americans embraced it and immediately set it to music, trying out at least 74 different melodies. There were even Mexican, Canadian, and Australian versions. Analyzing the lyrics of "America the Beautiful" and the story of Katharine Lee Bates's unusual life, Lynn Sherr opens a window onto the shifting world of late 19th century America. She explores the lingering impact of the Civil War and the dramatic developments in commerce and technology, which shaped the American Century and the popularity of one brilliant, stirring song.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Adult/High School-This attractive book tells of Katherine Lee Bates's journeys preceding and following the writing of "America the Beautiful." Scherr brings a visual as well as literary focus to the story of this song, which has evolved into an unofficial national anthem, especially since the tragic attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. Bates was an English professor at Wellesley College and a prolific poet and scholar, but she will always be remembered for contributing much to the patriotic feelings of both her times and ours. In understated prose and evocative illustrations, the author transports readers back to the not-so-halcyon days at the turn of the last century and the not always graceful coming-of-age of the United States. The history of the anthem from poem to icon is clearly traced while the times are brought to life in plentiful period illustrations and photographs, both in color and black and white; posters; song sheets; facsimiles; and maps. This book might be useful for history, music, literature, or sociology assignments, but it is also a joy to look through and to read for pure interest.
Susan H. Woodcock, Chantilly Regional Library, VA
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

Review

This attractive book tells of Katherine Lee Bates's journeys preceding and following the writing of ''America the Beautiful.'' Scherr brings a visual as well as literary focus to the story of this song, which has evolved into an unofficial national anthem, especially since the tragic attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. Bates was an English professor at Wellesley College and a prolific poet and scholar, but she will always be remembered for contributing much to the patriotic feelings of both her times and ours. In understated prose and evocative illustrations, the author transports readers back to the not-so-halcyon days at the turn of the last century and the not always graceful coming-of-age of the United States. The history of the anthem from poem to icon is clearly traced while the times are brought to life in plentiful period illustrations and photographs, both in color and black and white; posters; song sheets; facsimiles; and maps. ---- School Library Journal --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 128 pages
• Publisher: PublicAffairs; 1st edition (October 16, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1586480855
• ISBN-13: 978-1586480851
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 8.3 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #747,844 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A book as beautiful as the poet, composer and country, November 11, 2001

By 

Jon Hunt "musician, teacher" (Old Greenwich, Ct. USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: America the Beautiful: The Stirring True Story Behind Our Nation's Favorite Song (Hardcover)

The story behind "America the Beautiful" is as emotionally moving as the song it produced and Lynn Sherr has captured all of this in her timely new book. I read it this evening and found myself on more than one occasion needing to go to my piano and play and sing through this wonderful national song.

Many facts leap out at the reader...the poet and author of "America the Beautiful", Katharine Lee Bates, never met the composer, Samuel A. Ward, and except for one $5 fee, neither received any money for it...Mr. Ward died before the tune and text ever appeared together in print...and that dozens of other tunes were proposed to be wedded to Miss Bates's poem yet it wasn't until shortly before her death in 1929 that tune and text became the accepted national version that we sing today.

There are many more rich details to this story and Ms. Sherr has put them forward with colorful prints throughout the book, many of them reminders of the times in which these two gifted people lived. Fate certainly played several pivotal parts. The biggest was Miss Bates's trip west in the summer of 1893 where she was inspired in at least three places to pen lines that exist in the song today... "alabaster cities" (from seeing the "White City" of the Chicago World's Fair), "amber waves of grain" (while passing through Kansas on a train) and "spacious skies", "purple mountain majesties" and "above the fruited plain" from her view atop Pikes' Peak. But we also learn that it is quite plausible that Samuel Ward wrote the tune on a friend's linen cuff as he left Coney Island one day aboard a boat. And if it hadn't been for a conscientious clergyman from Rochester New York, the words and music might never have been paired. I'm glad that a few other musical attempts that tried to be tied with the poem are printed in this book...play through them and you'll see why Mr. Ward's music is clearly superior.

After the story itself is finished, Ms. Sherr goes on to give her thoughts on the meaning of the song and the fight to get it established as our National Anthem to replace the "Star-Spangled Banner". This point has been fought over for a long time and will continue to be. For those of us who much prefer "America the Beautiful" it is reassuring to know that in almost every gathering I have attended since September 11 where music has been sung, "America the Beautiful" is one people request. It's no wonder. This great song reflects on the America in which we live, hope and dream. Lynn Sherr has done a magnificent job.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars "It is not food for the soul, but wine", January 17, 2004

By 

mwreview "mwreview" (Northern California, USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: America the Beautiful: The Stirring True Story Behind Our Nation's Favorite Song (Hardcover)

Lynn Sherr describes the poem, music, meaning, history, and legacy of the song "America the Beautiful" in this unique book. In many ways this book is a glimpse at the Progressive era in the United States in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Katharine Lee Bates, author of the poem, was a progressive intellectual who supported many views which were considered radical in her time (i.e. women's rights, pacifism, social service, etc.). Sherr follows Bates on her travels to a teacher's sojourn in Colorado, where Bates received inspiration for her poem. On her way, Bates visited the 1893 Columbia Exposition in Chicago where she was awed by the "White City" (not so much a racist classification-at least not as Bates regarded it-but an interpretation of the ideal urban civilization). This experience found its way in the fourth stanza of Bates' poem as "alabaster cities." Bates also visited Jane Addams' Hull House on this trip. Samuel Ward, of which little is known, is also discussed briefly. Ward wrote the music that would later be used for "America the Beautiful" in the form of a hymn entitled "Materna" (with the lyrics for "Oh Mother, Dear Jerusalem.") His inspiration came during a visit to Coney Island.

What I found to be fascinating is how Bates' poem captured the hearts of so many people even before it was set to music that many wished was our national anthem. Bates received hundreds of letters praising her poem from all age groups. I cannot imagine any poem moving the people of the nation today except, perhaps, if it were in the form of a rap. I found the explanation on how Bates' poem and Ward's music were united to be very interesting. Sherr also includes the original version of the poem and the different changes Bates incorporated. Sherr put a lot of care into this book, including many photos, postcards, sheet music, and other paraphernalia related to the story. She also interviewed people like the composer of "A Chorus Line" about the song: "it's very relaxed at ["the fruited plain"] point, and then it just bursts forward" (pg. 56). Music expert Marvin Hamlisch gives his opinion on other musical renditions of the poem (pg. 62). Sherr does not hide her political leanings in this book (she mentions that Al Gore used a line from the song as part of his concession speech, which she must have deemed a highlight in the song's legacy). Sherr is also blatantly sycophantic when describing the life of Bates, but this book is still a very interesting, well-written, and beautifully constructed tribute to one of our most famous patriotic songs. It has 113 pages of text and is well illustrated. I recommend shopping around for the best deal.

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An amazing, exciting and intriguing history of the song, April 11, 2002

By 

Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: America the Beautiful: The Stirring True Story Behind Our Nation's Favorite Song (Hardcover)

America The Beautiful: The Stirring True Story Behind Our Nation's Favorite Song by journalist and author Lynn Sherr, is an historical account of a patriotic American classic and recommended for both school and community library American history collections. Individual chapters delve into the history of the original poem, the music that made the song, the meaning of the anthem and the legacy of this patriotic work. Filled with color photographs, reproductions of primary sources and a fascinating wealth of lore, America The Beautiful is an amazing, exciting and intriguing history of the song that defines the United States.