Katharine Lee Bates, American poet and songwriter (b. 1859)
Katharine Lee Bates (August 12, 1859 – March 28, 1929) was an American professor and author, chiefly remembered for her anthem "America the Beautiful", but also for her many books and articles on social reform, on which she was a noted speaker.
Bates enjoyed close links with Wellesley College, Massachusetts, where she had graduated with a B.A., and later became a professor of English literature, helping to launch American literature as an academic speciality, and writing one of the first-ever college textbooks on it. She never married, possibly because she would have lost tenure if she had. Throughout her long career at Wellesley, she shared a house with her close friend and companion Katharine Coman. Some scholars have assumed that this was a lesbian relationship, considering some exchanges of letters sufficient proof, others believe their relationship may have been a platonic ‘Boston marriage’ in the contemporary phrase.
1929Mar, 28
Katharine Lee Bates
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Events on 1929
- 31Jan
Leon Trotsky
The Soviet Union exiles Leon Trotsky. - 26Feb
Grand Teton National Park
President Calvin Coolidge signs an executive order establishing the 96,000 acre Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming. - 8Apr
Bhagat Singh
Indian independence movement: At the Delhi Central Assembly, Bhagat Singh and Batukeshwar Dutt throw handouts and bombs to court arrest. - 21Jun
Cristero War
An agreement brokered by U.S. Ambassador Dwight Whitney Morrow ends the Cristero War in Mexico. - 28Oct
Wall Street Crash of 1929
Black Monday, a day in the Wall Street Crash of 1929, which also saw major stock market upheaval.