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Julia Ward Howe

Julia Ward Howe
Begun by
John Elliott, 1858 - 1925
Finished by
William Henry Cotton, 22 Jul 1880 - 5 Jan 1958
Sitter
Julia Ward Howe, 27 May 1819 - 17 Oct 1910
Date
begun c. 1910; completed c. 1925
Type
Painting
Medium
Oil on canvas
Dimensions
Stretcher: 108 x 72.1 x 2.5cm (42 1/2 x 28 3/8 x 1")
Frame: 123.2 x 87.3 x 7cm (48 1/2 x 34 3/8 x 2 3/4")
Topic
Exterior
Printed Material\Book
Nature & Environment\Plant\Tree
Costume\Dress Accessory\Glove\Gloves
Julia Ward Howe: Female
Julia Ward Howe: Literature\Writer\Poet
Julia Ward Howe: Society and Social Change\Reformer\Abolitionist
Julia Ward Howe: Society and Social Change\Reformer\Activist\Civil rights activist\Suffragist
Portrait
Credit Line
National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution; transfer from the Smithsonian American Art Museum; gift of Maud Howe Elliott to the Smithsonian Institution, 1933
Restrictions & Rights
CC0
Object number
NPG.65.31
Exhibition Label
Born New York City
For years, Julia Ward Howe yearned to take a more active part in public affairs. But her husband, the noted Boston reformer Samuel Gridley Howe, insisted that she restrict herself to running their home. In 1861, she unwittingly became a minor celebrity by writing the “Battle Hymn of the Republic.” Composed during a visit to Washington, D.C., this fiercely martial poem, dedicated to the Union cause, was set to the music of “John Brown’s Body.” By 1865 it had become the North’s unofficial wartime anthem.
After the Civil War, Howe finally broke the constraints imposed by her husband to become one of the best-loved figures in the growing women’s suffrage movement, while raising six children. In 1870, she founded Woman’s Journal, a weekly suffragist magazine. The following year, she organized the Woman’s Peace Congress in London, and she was elected president of the Association of the Advancement of Women in 1881.
John Elliott (1858–1925), finished by William Henry Cotton (1880–1958)
Oil on canvas, c. 1910, completed c. 1925
Transfer from the Smithsonian American Art Museum; gift of Maud Howe Elliott to the
Smithsonian Institution, 1933
NPG.65.31
Julia Ward Howe 1819–1910
Nacida en la Ciudad de Nueva York
Julia Ward Howe ansió durante años un papel más activo en los asuntos públicos, pero su esposo, el reformista bostoniano Samuel Gridley Howe, insistía en que se limitara al manejo de la casa. En 1861 alcanzó cierta fama cuando escribió el “Himno de batalla de la República”. Compuesto en una visita a Washington D.C., este fervoroso poema marcial dedicado a la causa de la Unión se cantaba con la música de “El cuerpo de John Brown”. Para 1865 se había convertido en el himno de guerra extraoficial del norte.
Tras la Guerra Civil, Howe al fin se liberó de las restricciones impuestas por su esposo y fue una de las figuras más queridas del creciente movimiento sufragista, a la vez que criaba a seis hijos. En 1870 fundó el Woman’s Journal, una revista semanal sufragista. Al año siguiente organizó en Londres el Congreso de la Mujer por la Paz y en 1881 fue elegida presidenta de la Asociación para el Progreso de la Mujer.
Provenance
The sitter; her daughter Maud Howe Elliott [Mrs. John Elliott]; gift to Smithsonian [NCFA] 1933; transferred 1965 to NPG.
Data Source
National Portrait Gallery
Exhibition
Out of Many: Portraits from 1600 to 1900
On View
NPG, East Gallery 111