Editing America the Beautiful (section)

==History==
[[File:Americathebeautiful.jpg|thumb|upright|left|Commemoration plaque atop [[Pikes Peak]] in July 1999]]

In 1893, at the age of 33, Bates, an English professor at [[Wellesley College]], had taken a train trip to [[Colorado Springs, Colorado|Colorado Springs]], Colorado, to teach at [[Colorado College]].<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2001-nov-09-cl-1924-story.html|title=A Stirring Story Behind 'America the Beautiful'|last=Cooney|first=Beth|date=2001-11-09|work=Los Angeles Times|access-date=2017-08-21|issn=0458-3035|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170125121425/http://articles.latimes.com/2001/nov/09/news/cl-1924|archive-date=January 25, 2017}}</ref> Several of the sights on her trip inspired her, and they found their way into her poem, including the [[World's Columbian Exposition]] in [[Chicago]], the "White City" with its promise of the future contained within its gleaming white buildings;<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.uh.edu/engines/epi1238.htm|title=No. 1238: 1893 Exhibition|website=www.uh.edu|access-date=2017-08-21|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170118033520/http://uh.edu/engines/epi1238.htm|archive-date=January 18, 2017}}</ref> the wheat fields of North America's heartland [[Kansas]], through which her train was riding on July 16; and the majestic view of the [[Great Plains]] from high atop [[Pikes Peak]].<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.loc.gov/item/ihas.200000001/|title=America the Beautiful|work=The Library of Congress|access-date=2017-08-21|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170705125158/https://www.loc.gov/item/ihas.200000001/|archive-date=July 5, 2017|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name=FromSeatoShiningSea>{{Cite book |last = Ponder |first = Melinda M. |title = Katharine Lee Bates: From Sea to Shining Sea |publisher=Windy City Publishers |year=2017 |location=Chicago, IL|isbn = 9781941478479}}</ref>

On the pinnacle of that mountain, the words of the poem started to come to her, and she wrote them down upon returning to her hotel room at the original [[Antlers Hilton Hotel|Antlers Hotel]]. The poem was initially published two years later in ''The Congregationalist'' to commemorate [[Independence Day (United States)|the Fourth of July]]. It quickly caught the public's fancy. An amended version was published in 1904.<ref>{{Cite web|title=America the Beautiful|url=https://www.loc.gov/item/ihas.200000001/|access-date=2021-10-08|website=Library of Congress|archive-date=November 8, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181108075227/https://loc.gov/item/ihas.200000001|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last=Baxter|first=Sylvester|s2cid=220810886|date=October 31, 1918|title=America the Beautiful|journal=The Journal of Education|volume=88|issue=16 (2202)|pages=428–429|doi=10.1177/002205741808801607|jstor=42767143}}</ref>

[[File:Grace Church Newark plaque.jpg|thumb|left|Historical marker at [[Grace Church (Newark)|Grace Church in Newark]] where [[Samuel A. Ward|Samuel Ward]] worked as organist, and wrote and perfected the tune "Materna" that is used for "America the Beautiful"]]
{{Listen|type=music|filename="America the Beautiful", performed by the United States Navy Band.oga|title="America the Beautiful"|description="America the Beautiful", as performed by the United States Navy Band
|filename2=America (US Army Brass).ogg|title2="America the Beautiful"|description2=[[United States Army Band]] Brass version|filename3="America the Beautiful", performed by the United States Marine Band in the 1950s.oga|title3="America the Beautiful"|description3={{circa}}1953 performance by the United States Marine Band|filename4="America the Beautiful", performed by the Second Marine Aircraft Wing Band of Cherry Point, North Carolina.oga|title4="America the Beautiful"|description4=Performed by the Second Marine Aircraft Wing Band of Cherry Point, North Carolina.}}

The first known melody written for the song was sent in by [[Silas Pratt]] when the poem was published in ''The Congregationalist''. By 1900, at least 75 different melodies had been written.<ref name="Collins2009">{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3SXYDQAAQBAJ|title=Stories Behind the Hymns That Inspire America: Songs That Unite Our Nation|author=Ace Collins|date=30 August 2009|publisher=Zondervan|isbn=978-0-310-86685-5|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180508141241/https://books.google.com/books?id=3SXYDQAAQBAJ|archive-date=May 8, 2018}}</ref> A [[hymn tune]] composed in 1882 by [[Samuel A. Ward]], the organist and choir director at [[Grace Church, Newark]], was generally considered the best music as early as 1910 and is still the popular tune today. Just as Bates had been inspired to write her poem, Ward, too, was inspired. The tune came to him while he was on a ferryboat trip from [[Coney Island]] back to his home in New York City after a leisurely summer day and he immediately wrote it down. He composed the tune for the old hymn "O Mother Dear, Jerusalem", retitling the work "Materna". Ward's music combined with Bates's poem were first published together in 1910 and titled "America the Beautiful".<ref>{{cite book
 |title=Songs Sung Red, White, and Blue: The Stories Behind America's Best-Loved Patriotic Songs
 |first=Ace |last=Collins
 |page=19
 |publisher=Harper
 |year=2003
 |isbn= 978-0-06-051304-7
 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kKsA1Qi8BBgC&pg=PA19}}</ref>

Ward died in 1903, not knowing the national stature his music would attain. The song's popularity was well established by the time of Bates's death in 1929.<ref name="Collins2009" /> It is included in songbooks in many religious congregations in the United States.<ref>{{Cite web|title=America the Beautiful|url=http://hymnary.org/o_beautiful_for_spacious_skies/|access-date=2019-09-16|website=Hymnary.org|language=en}}</ref>

At various times in the more than one hundred years that have elapsed since the song was written, particularly during the [[Presidency of John F. Kennedy|John F. Kennedy administration]], there have been efforts to give "America the Beautiful" legal status either as a national hymn or as a national anthem equal to, or in place of, "[[The Star-Spangled Banner]]", but so far this has not succeeded. Proponents prefer "America the Beautiful" for various reasons, saying it is easier to sing, more melodic, and more adaptable to new orchestrations while still remaining as easily recognizable as "The Star-Spangled Banner". Some object to the war-oriented imagery of "The Star-Spangled Banner", as well as its implicit support of slavery and racism in the third verse. Some who prefer "The Star-Spangled Banner", however, prefer it specifically ''for'' its war themes. While that national dichotomy has stymied any effort at changing the tradition of the national anthem, "America the Beautiful" continues to be held in high esteem by a large number of Americans, and was even being considered before 1931 as a candidate to become the national anthem of the United States.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.thoughtco.com/america-the-beautiful-p2-2456277 |title=Who Wrote "America the Beautiful"? The History of America's Unofficial National Anthem |last=Estrella |first=Espie |date=September 2, 2018 |website=thoughtco.com |publisher=ThoughtCo |access-date=November 14, 2018 |quote=Many consider "America the Beautiful" to be the unofficial national anthem of the United States. In fact, it was one of the songs being considered as a U.S. national anthem before "Star Spangled Banner" was officially chosen. The song is often played during formal ceremonies or at the opening of important events...Many artists have recorded their own renditions of this patriotic song, including Elvis Presley and Mariah Carey. In September 1972, Ray Charles appeared on The Dick Cavett Show singing his version of "America the Beautiful." |archive-date=November 14, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181114224212/https://www.thoughtco.com/america-the-beautiful-p2-2456277 |url-status=dead }}</ref>
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