Pulitzer Prize Biography Winner

Julia Ward Howe

by Laura E. Richards and Maud Howe Elliott

Summary

Two of Julia Ward Howe's own daughters tell the story of their mother, the reformer and writer who composed the lyrics to The Battle Hymn of the Republic. The book traces her work for abolition, woman suffrage, and peace alongside intimate family memories drawn from letters and journals. It matters as a daughters' portrait of one of the most influential American women of the nineteenth century.

Historical Context & Significance

This was the very first biography to receive the Pulitzer Prize, shared by sisters who wrote about their own mother.