Katharine Lee Bates was born in a house on Falmouth's Main Street on August 12th, 1859. Her father was the pastor of the Congregational Church right around the corner. This house is impeccably maintained by The Falmouth Historical Society. Miss Bates moved to Wellesley when she was still a kid and graduated from the high school there and then Wellesley College in 1874. She was also a professor there until 1925.
For more on Katharine Lee Bate's life, click here.
Katharine Lee Bates wrote the words to one of the most famous and beloved songs in American History, America The Beautiful.
Hey, Ray Charles did the tune, which puts it right up there on MY list!
For more on America The Beautiful, click here.
 
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Never was there lovelier town Than our Falmouth by the sea. Tender curves of sky look down On her grace of knoll and lea. Sweet her nestled Mayflower blows Ere from prouder haunts the spring Yet has brushed the lingering snows With a violet-colored wing. Bright the autumn gleams pervade Cranberry marsh and bushy wold, Till the children's mirth has made Millionaires in leaves of gold; And upon her pleasant ways, Set with many a gardened home, Flash through fret of drooping sprar Visions far of ocean foam. Happy bell of Paul Revere, Sounding o'er such blest demesne While a hundred times a year Weaves the round from green to green. |
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Never were there friendlier folk Than in Falmouth by the sea, Neighbor-households that invoke Pride of sailor-pedigree. Here is princely interchange Of the gifts of shore and field, Starred with treasures rare and strange That the liberal sea-chests yield. Culture here burns breezy torch Where gray captains, bronzed of neck Tread their little length of porch With a memory of the deck. Ah, and here the tenderest hearts, Here where sorrows sorest wring And the widows shift their parts Comforted and comforting. Holy bell of Paul Revere Calling such to prayer and praise. While a hundred times the year Herds her flock of faithful days! |
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Greetings to thee, ancient bell Of our Falmouth by the sea! Answered by the ocean swell, Ring thy centuried Jubilee! Like the white sails of the Sound, Hast thou seen the years drift by, From the dreamful, dim profound To a goal beyond the eye. Long thy maker lieth mute, Hero of a faded strife; Thou hast tolled from seed to fruit Generations three of life. Still thy mellow voice and clear Floats o'er land and listening deep, And we deem our fathers hear From their shadowy hill of sleep. Ring thy peals for centuries yet, Living voice of Paul Revere! Let the future not forget That the past accounted dear! Katharine Lee Bates |
The real experts on the life of Katharine Lee Bates are the good folks at The Falmouth Historical Society, who maintain a museum at her former home on Main Street. Visit them! Email them!
