Existing comment:
Julia Ward Howe:
While a guest at the Willard in 1861, Julia Ward Howe woke from her bed in the middle of the night and wrote the words to the Battle Hymn of the Republic. The hymn first appeared in the Atlantic Monthly in February 1862 and has since become a patriotic anthem. Notably, the song was used at funeral ceremonies for Presidents Ronald Reagan and Richard Nixon and former senator and Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy. |