2025 Icons

  1. Peter Anastos
  2. Walter Arlen
  3. Becca Balint
  4. Samuel Barber
  5. Andy Cohen
  6. John D’Emilio
  7. Colman Domingo
  8. Billie Eilish
  9. Cecilia Gentili
  10. Jeffrey Gibson
  11. Nikki Giovanni
  12. Lily Gladstone
  13. Mel Heifetz
  14. Sir Lady Java
  15. Ella Jenkins
  16. ABilly Jones-Hennin
  17. Ellsworth Kelly
  18. Karl Lagerfeld
  19. Troy Masters
  20. Sarah McBride
  21. T. J. Osborne
  22. Ted Osius
  23. Ann Philbin
  24. Chappell Roan
  25. Harper Steele
  26. Breanna Stewart
  27. Arthur Tress
  28. Cy Twombly
  29. Ocean Vuong
  30. Abby Wambach
  31. Lanford Wilson

Katharine Lee Bates
2012 Icon



Songwriter

 

b. August 12, 1859
d. March 28, 1929

“That the hymn has gained a hold is clearly due to the fact that Americans are at heart idealists.”

Katharine Lee Bates was a songwriter, poet and educator. She is best known for writing “America the Beautiful.”

Born in Massachusetts, Bates was the daughter of a Congregational pastor. After spending a year at Oxford University in England, she graduated from Wellesley College. She remained at Wellesley to teach literature. Bates wrote children’s books, textbooks and travel books about her trips to the Middle East and Europe.

In 1893, Bates taught a summer course at Colorado College. While hiking Pike’s Peak, she became overwhelmed with the scenery. She wrote down a four-verse poem originally titled “Pike’s Peak,” now known as “America the Beautiful.” When published in local newspapers, the poem became wildly popular. Although set to various tunes, the poem is traditionally sung to the tune of Samuel Ward’s hymn “Materna,” and has become the unofficial national anthem. There have been efforts to give “America the Beautiful” legal status as the national anthem.

In 1915, Bates cofounded and served as the president of the New England Poetry Club. She was actively involved in social and labor reform.

While teaching at Wellesley, Bates became involved with professor, poet and dean Katharine Coman. Bates described their relationship as a “romantic friendship.” The couple lived together for 25 years until Coman died. “So much of me died with Katharine Coman,” Bates said, “that I’m sometimes not quite sure whether I’m alive or not.” To honor her partner and celebrate their shared love and scholarship, Bates wrote “Yellow Clover: A Remembrance of Love” (1922).

The Falmouth Historical Society preserved Bates’s family home as a historical landmark. In 1970, she was inducted posthumously into the Songwriters Hall of Fame.