“AMERICA… the BEAUTIFUL”
Katharine Lee Bates wrote America the Beautiful first as a poem which was originally published in the Fourth of July edition of the church periodical The Congregationalist in 1895. Bates was only 33 years old at the time when she traveled to the top of Pike’s Peak, pictured here, which inspired her to write it.
This plaque commemorating her trip is at the top of Pike’s Peak. Bates wrote, ” We hired a prairie wagon. Near the top we had to leave the wagon and go the rest of the way on mules. I was very tired. But when I saw the view, I felt great joy. All the wonder of America seemed displayed there, with the sea-like expanse.”
Bates took a train from Massachusetts to Colorado Springs to teaching a summer session. Sights from her journey appear in the piece, including Chicago’s Colombian Exposition. Bates references the World’s Fair, with its many white buildings, in the line “Thine alabaster cities gleam.”
Image from the Chicago Tribune archive photos.
Samuel A. Ward, a church organist, composed the music for the song after a day at Coney Island, but Ward died in 1903, one year before his music was joined with Bates’ lyrics. Ward and Bates never met. You can find free sheet music for the tune here.
No one made a great deal of money off the song. Bates received $5 for the initial publication of her poem and gave up all royalties to it when it was published. Ward’s family never moved to received payment for his music.
In addition to not making much money, Bates didn’t receive critical acclaim, either. When reviewing her book “America the Beautiful, and Other Poems” that was published in 1912, a reviewer in the New York Times wrote: “[W]e intend no derogation to Miss Katharine Lee Bates when we say that she is a good minor poet.
Amber waves of grain aren’t always enough. The song was considered a main contender for the national anthem, along with My Country ‘Tis of Thee and The Star Spangle Banner. In 1931, President Herbert Hoover signed a law making the national anthem the Star Spangled Banner, upsetting many. In the decades since, many have continued to lobby for the anthem to be changed to the more peaceful, easier to sing America The Beautiful. A quick Google search reveals dozens of currently active petitions.
The Chinese played the song to welcome President Richard Nixon on his visit there in 1972.
America the Beautiful can be heard at the Super Bowl or Presidential Inauguration, but it can come up in unexpected places. It is used in Ellen Raskin’s The Westing Game, a favorite tween book.
Ray Charles was known for his amazing version of America the Beautiful and included the song on his Greatest Hits album. He supported it becoming the national anthem, asking, “Honestly, wouldn’t you rather sing about the beauty of America?” Below is Charles performing America the Beautiful in 1972.
Here are the lyrics to America The Beautiful:
O beautiful for spacious skies,
For amber waves of grain,
For purple mountain majesties
Above the fruited plain!
America! America!
God shed His grace on thee,
And crown thy good with brotherhood
From sea to shining sea!
America! America!
May God thy gold refine
Till all success be nobleness,
And ev’ry gain divine.
O beautiful for patriot dream
That sees beyond the years
Thine alabaster cities gleam
Undimmed by human tears.
America! America!
God shed His grace on thee,
And crown thy good with brotherhood
From sea to shining sea.
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