hours’ lost play compared with the treat in store for her! To-night
after the regular prayer meeting, a song service was to be held to study
hymns. Louise had begged so hard to be allowed to attend that her father
had consented, provided that her lessons were thoroughly prepared in the
afternoon.
These midweek song services were held at the Minneapolis church of which
her father was pastor. There, Louise Beatty sang for the first time
outside her own home. Little did this girl realize that her rich, deep
voice would later make her famous throughout the world.
Louise Dilworth Beatty was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, in 1872,
into a family where playing and singing were as much a part of the daily
program as eating or sleeping. Every one of the eight Beatty children
loved music. They were always singing in duets, trios, quartets, or
choruses.
Gathered around the fire on winter evenings, the family formed an
impromptu orchestra. One sister played the piano; a brother, the bones;
Mr. Beatty, the flute; and Louise, the future great opera singer, the
triangle.
Music had always delighted Louise, in particular. At school, the
seven-year-old girl was stirred day after day by the thrilling notes of
the music which the teacher played as the pupils marched out for recess.
When Louise was fourteen years old, she made her first appearance in
public as a soloist. The church in the little Pennsylvania town where
the family was then living was to give the cantata, _Ruth and Naomi_.
Mrs. Beatty was rather amused when Louise was asked to take the part of
Ruth, for she had never sung alone; but Louise herself was delighted.
The rehearsals were a joy.
On the night set for the cantata, just as the singers were assembling,
the disturbing news came that the man who was to sing the part of Boaz
had missed his train. What was to be done! “I will sing his part too,”
offered Louise. She carried the basso-profundo part, in addition to her
own, with such success that everyone told her mother that Louise’s voice
was wonderful, and that it should be cultivated.
Soon after this Louise began to take singing lessons, but the thought of
becoming an opera singer did not occur to her. She kept busy with her
high-school work, and later on studied music in Philadelphia. She also
sang in a church there.
Then one day Louise Beatty took the most important step in her life. She
decided to go to Boston to study music seriously. She felt that she must
know more about music itself, if she were to become a real singer. She
was advised to study harmony and composition with Sidney Homer, well
known as a writer of music. She began her lessons with Mr. Homer, and,
in addition, studied singing with William L. Whitney.
In 1895 Louise Beatty and Sidney Homer were married. Mr. Homer believed
that his wife’s voice was unusual, and that it was especially suited for
opera. He wanted her to go abroad to train herself to be an opera
singer. Accordingly, they went to Paris, where Madame Homer studied very
hard for two years. She was able to do a tremendous amount of work
without injuring her health, because she lived quietly and ate good home
food at regular hours.
Then came the reward of the long hours spent in singing with her
teachers, in practicing, and in studying languages and dramatics. Madame
Homer was ready to sing in opera. In America, she appeared for the first
time in San Francisco in the opera _Aida_, and a few weeks later in New
York in the same part. She was a success at once.
For many years Louise Homer has delighted American audiences with her
beautiful contralto voice. To keep her voice in good condition, and to
learn the many parts that she has sung has not been an easy task. Every
day during the season she practices and studies. Madame Homer believes
that a great name, once made, can only be kept by thorough work.
While Madame Homer has never slighted any part of the work of her
profession, neither has she neglected the work of home-making. She has
always found time to be an intelligent and affectionate mother to her
children and to preside over a real home. Remembering her own happy
childhood, she has been determined that her children should have as much
love and care and good training as her own mother gave her.
Louise, the eldest daughter, has a good mezzo voice and has sung in
recitals, sometimes with her mother. Sidney, the second child, has also
inherited musical ability.
Madame Homer and her husband have always been intensely interested in
each other’s work. The wife loves to sing the songs her husband
composes, and he in turn takes delight in dedicating them to her. Louise
Homer possessed a remarkable voice, but her own painstaking and constant
work has brought it to perfection.
[Illustration]
Harriet Goodhue Hosmer—
The Girl Who Loved Art More Than Ease
Bats, birds, toads, snakes, and beetles filled the room. Some were
stuffed and mounted, and the others were either dissected or preserved
in alcohol. This room was neither a museum nor a boy’s den. It was owned
by a little girl known as “Happy Hatty,” and she, herself, had collected
and prepared every one of its strange ornaments.
At the time that Harriet Hosmer was young, dissecting animals was not
considered a proper amusement for a girl. The neighbors thought that
Harriet would have been much better employed in sewing a fine seam.
Harriet’s father, an eminent physician, had his own ideas about bringing
up his little girl. Dr. Hosmer wanted her to live in the fresh air and
sunshine so that she would be strong and healthy. The more Harriet
ranged the woods in search of specimens, the better her father was
pleased.
Dr. Hosmer gave his little girl a boat, so that she could row on the
Charles River, which flowed past her home. He had a Venetian gondola
made for her, too, with velvet cushions and a silver prow. In fact, he
thought that no gift was too rich for his little girl, so long as it
would keep her in the open air.
Harriet enjoyed out-of-door life. She grew tall and strong. Her muscles
became firm from much rowing. She could walk miles without being tired,
and was a fearless rider. Thus, unknowingly, did this little girl, who
later became a distinguished sculptor, lay a strong foundation for her
life work.
Harriet Goodhue Hosmer was born in Watertown, Massachusetts, on October
9, 1830. Even as a child she liked to play with clay and mold it into
shapes. In one corner of the garden there was a clay-pit. Here the
little girl used to go, when she grew tired of books, to fashion dogs
and horses from the wet clay.
Harriet went to school in Watertown, and later attended a private school
at Lenox, Massachusetts. After three years at Lenox, Harriet returned
home. She then began to study drawing and modeling in Boston. Often she
walked both to and from her lessons, a distance of fourteen miles. By
this time, Harriet Hosmer realized that nothing made her happier than to
turn formless bits of clay into beautiful objects. She felt that she
would like to go still further in her work; she wanted to see some of
her ideas take shape in marble.
Harriet knew that a sculptor cannot fashion life-like figures of people
or animals without understanding the position and shape of the bony
frame under the flesh. The decorations of her museum-like room, all
those specimens that she had dissected or mounted as a child, had given
her a fair start in the study of anatomy. She also studied this subject
with her father. However, she realized that, if she were to be a real
sculptor, she must know more about anatomy. She consequently looked
about for a school where she might study.
The Boston Medical School would not accept this eager young student
because she was a girl, but Harriet Hosmer was not a person to be
daunted by one refusal. She was finally admitted to the St. Louis
Medical College where she had a very thorough course in anatomy. After
she had completed this course, she returned home and began to work
seriously in a studio which her father had fitted up for her in his
garden.
A beautiful girl representing Hesper, the evening star, was the subject
that Harriet Hosmer chose for her first original statue. From a solid
block of marble she had a workman knock off the corners. As he was not
accustomed to working for sculptors she did not allow him to go within
several inches of the part that she was to cut. All the rest of this
difficult work she did with her own small hands.
For eight or ten hours a day she chipped away at the block with chisel
and a leaden mallet weighing four pounds and a half. Muscles made strong
and flexible by much rowing and other exercises enabled her to keep up
this hard work day after day. The block of marble was finally turned
into the head of a lovely maiden, her hair entwined with poppies and a
star on her forehead.
Beautiful as was this head of Hesper, Harriet Hosmer felt that she must
study more. She was very desirous of entering the studio of John Gibson,
a noted English sculptor who was then residing in Rome. Now Mr. Gibson,
hearing that Miss Hosmer was young and rich, feared that she might be
easily discouraged before real difficulties. However, as soon as he saw
the daguerreotypes of her “Hesper,” the great sculptor said to her
father, “Whatever I can teach her, she shall learn.”
At the very beginning of her work with Mr. Gibson, Harriet Hosmer showed
him that she was not the sort of girl who gives up easily. The iron rod
in a clay copy of the Venus de Milo which she had modeled in order that
her teacher might have an idea of her work snapped, and the figure fell
to pieces. However, without stopping to complain, she started at once to
make another model.
Harriet Hosmer continued to work steadily with John Gibson. Then one day
a message came from her father stating that he had lost his fortune and
could no longer send her money. Miss Hosmer sold her fine saddle horse,
and took an inexpensive room for herself. Now she was actually to work
for her living.
Miss Hosmer became an important figure in the art and literary circles
in Rome. She numbered among her friends the Brownings, Hawthorne, the
Thackerays, and many other interesting people.
In the years that followed, many a beautiful statue emerged from
unshaped marble through the transforming touch of Harriet Hosmer’s
hands. Her statue “Puck” shows a merry little elf, sitting cross-legged
on a toadstool, his left hand resting upon a lizard, his right, clasping
a beetle. Some of her other important statues are “Œnone,” “Beatrice
Cenci,” “Sleeping Faun,” and a statue of Thomas H. Benton. “Zenobia in
Chains,” which is in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, is the most famous
of all. This is a colossal statue, representing the beautiful Queen of
Palmyra taken prisoner by the Roman Emperor Aurelian.
Harriet Goodhue Hosmer so loved to watch beauty grow under her fingers
that she was willing to give up the care-free, easy life that she might
have had as the child of a rich man. Because she developed her talent
through hard, serious work, she won for herself a high place among the
sculptors of America.
[Illustration]
Julia Ward Howe—
Whose Battle Hymn Sang Itself Into the Hearts of a Nation
In the days when New York was not the big city that it is now, there was
a fashionable section called the Bowling Green. The people who lived
there often used to see a great yellow coach roll by. Within, three
little girls sat stiffly against the bright blue cushions. These
children were dressed in blue coats and yellow satin bonnets to match
the chariot and its lining. They were the three little Ward children,
one of them, Julia, to be known later throughout the land as Julia Ward
Howe. She is the author of the famous patriotic hymn which you sing so
often at school, the “Battle Hymn of the Republic.”
Julia Ward, the eldest of the three little girls, was born in New York
City, May 27, 1819. Although her father was a rich man and loved his
children very dearly, they did not have many of the pleasures which most
children to-day enjoy as a matter of course.
The Ward girls had very little chance to romp and play outdoors and get
acquainted with the birds and flowers. To be sure, they went to Newport,
Rhode Island, in the summer, but poor little Julia had to wear a thick
green worsted veil to protect her delicate skin. It was not until she
had children of her own that she realized how much she had missed in her
youth. She was glad that her children could live close to Nature.
Julia was, however, a happy child in spite of her rather sober life. She
was alone much of the time, for her lively brothers were away at school
and the two younger sisters played by themselves; but she was never
lonely. She read a great deal: Shakespeare, Byron, and as much other
poetry as she could find. She enjoyed her music and other lessons.
Julia was particularly fond of study. At first she had lessons at home,
but at the age of nine she was sent to a private school nearby. Here
this little girl studied a difficult book, Paley’s _Moral Philosophy_,
with girls of sixteen and eighteen years of age.
Once, at this time, she heard a class reciting an Italian lesson. The
musical sound of the language delighted her, and she listened whenever
she had the chance. She secured a grammar, and studied it by herself.
Then, one day, she handed the surprised teacher a letter, written
correctly in Italian, asking permission to join the class.
Julia loved to make up poetry, and when she was in her thirteenth year,
she copied a number of her poems into a brown blank book as a present
for her father. One of them was a poem written about her mother, whom
she had lost when she was only six years old. Still another was in
French; and in the four stanzas there was only one mistake.
The study of languages was always a delight to her. She spoke and wrote
French and German very well. Later in life she studied Spanish, and at
the age of fifty she did not feel that she was too old to begin the
study of Greek.
At twenty-four years of age Julia Ward married Dr. Samuel Gridley Howe.
He was a noble-hearted man whom everyone knew as the first person to
teach language to a blind deaf mute, namely, Laura Bridgman.
A happy, busy time began for these two people, who believed that life
should be lived for others. Dr. Howe was engaged with his work for the
blind and for the freeing of the slaves. Mrs. Howe went on with her
studies, and wrote poems, plays, and essays. She helped her husband with
his antislavery work, and together they edited a newspaper called the
_Commonwealth_.
Yet no matter how crowded these days were, there was always a time in
the afternoon that was set aside for the children. The mother played and
sang to the little folks, and there were merry romps, as the father,
wrapped in a big fur coat, played bear and growled fiercely. Both mother
and father often read aloud to their children.
When the Civil War broke out, Julia Ward Howe longed to help her country
and soon a special way came. One day, she was driving back into
Washington with friends, after having witnessed a review of some troops.
Their carriage was delayed by the returning soldiers. To pass away the
time, Mrs. Howe and her companions began to sing war songs. Among them,
they sang,
“John Brown’s body lies a-mouldering in the grave.”
“Why do you not write some good words for that stirring tune?” someone
asked Mrs. Howe.
“I have often wished to do so!” she answered.
The next morning Mrs. Howe awoke before dawn, and found the words of a
song shaping themselves in her mind. As soon as the poem was complete,
she rose and, in the early morning light, wrote it down on a sheet of
paper. This poem was the famous “Battle Hymn of the Republic,” which
soon sang itself into the hearts of the nation.
Mrs. Howe’s writings have been numerous. In addition to her books of
poetry she also wrote much in behalf of social reforms. She lectured far
and wide, and loved to talk to school children. Because she wanted women
to learn how to help themselves, she founded, or helped to found, many
clubs and organizations for them. She wanted them to have the vote too.
Mrs. Howe’s children have followed in their mother’s footsteps and
written books themselves. One of her daughters, Laura E. Richards, has
written delightful stories for children. Her book, _Two Noble Lives_,
tells very beautifully the life stories of her remarkable mother and
father. Maud Howe Elliott and Florence Howe Hall are also the authors of
many books. The son, Henry Marion Howe, has written books on scientific
subjects.
Our country honors Julia Ward Howe as the author of one of its greatest
songs, which will ever continue to stir our patriotism. Because as a
girl she made the best use of her talents, she was enabled to fill a
long life with great service.
[Illustration]
Helen Keller—
The Deaf and Blind Girl Who Found Light and Happiness Through Knowledge
In a beautiful southern garden where birds sang gaily and roses,
honeysuckle, and jessamine shed their fragrance, little Helen lay face
downward on the ground. She hid her hot cheeks in the cool leaves and
grass. The tears flowed fast. Why, why would no one understand what she
wanted? Sometimes it seemed as if she could not bear the world of
darkness and silence in which she lived. This little girl could not talk
like other children. Neither could she see the yellow rose petals, nor
hear the songs of the birds.
On June 27, 1880, Helen Keller was born in the little Alabama town of
Tuscumbia. For nineteen months she was just like any other happy,
healthy baby girl. Then a severe illness took away her sight and
hearing, and, because she was unable to hear her baby words, she soon
forgot how to talk.
One day when Helen was nearly seven years old, a new doll was put into
her arms. Then, in her hand a lady made the letters _d-o-l-l_ in the
deaf alphabet. Helen did not know that things had names, but she was
amused with this new game and imitated the letters for her mother.
Helen’s new friend and teacher was Miss Anne Sullivan. She had come from
the Perkins Institution for the Blind, in Boston, to teach this little
girl.
When the finger game had been going on for a month, Miss Sullivan
spelled the word, _w-a-t-e-r_, into Helen’s hand, letting her feel the
water from the pump. A light broke over Helen’s face. For the first time
she understood that everything had a name. She touched the pump and the
trellis, and asked for their names. In a few hours she had learned
thirty new words. That night Helen went to bed very happy, looking
forward, for the first time in her life, to another day.
A new, joyous life now began for this little girl whose mind had been in
the dark. She soon realized that every word that she would learn would
provide her with a new and pleasant thought. Miss Sullivan gave Helen
slips of cardboard on which words were printed in raised letters. She
never tired of playing the game of arranging these words in sentences.
Down by the river Helen built dams of pebbles and dug lakes and bays and
was taught how the world is made. In the woods her teacher put a violet
or dogwood blossom in her hand and explained about growing things. She
learned to know the crickets and katydids by holding them in her hand.
Helen played all these games, not realizing that she was learning
lessons.
When Helen was eight years old, Miss Sullivan took her to Boston to the
Perkins Institution for the Blind. The child was delighted to find there
little girls and boys who could talk to her in the language of the hand.
She enjoyed, too, the books in the library printed in raised type, and
began to read in earnest. It was at this time that she climbed Bunker
Hill Monument, counting every step. She had another lesson in history at
Plymouth Rock.
It was difficult, of course, for Helen to talk with people who did not
know the deaf alphabet. Miss Sullivan had to spell out the conversation
into her hand. When Helen heard of a deaf girl who had been taught to
speak, she was determined to learn too.
It was the hardest task that she had undertaken, for she could not hear
the sound of her own voice nor see the lips of others. She would feel
the position of her teacher’s tongue and lips when making a sound, and
then imitate the motions. Constant practice and the great desire to
achieve always spurred her efforts. It was slow, tedious work, but Helen
persevered.
She _did_ succeed in learning to speak. It was a very happy day when
Helen actually spoke to her parents and to her little sister Mildred.
At ten years of age Helen had put her whole heart and will into learning
to speak. Six years later, after having studied lip-reading, French and
German, and other difficult subjects, she determined to undertake what
seemed like another impossibility. She made up her mind to go to
college!
Many of the books that she needed were not printed in raised type. She
could not hear lectures nor take notes. Such were a few of the
difficulties that this young girl had to face. Nevertheless, Helen was
not to be discouraged. She entered the Cambridge School for Young Ladies
and bravely began her preparation for Radcliffe College.
Miss Sullivan went to Helen’s classes with her and spelled into her hand
all that the teachers said. Helen wrote her compositions on the
typewriter. She used it, too, in answering successfully the examination
questions.
Helen was urged to take special work at college, but she preferred to
follow the regular course. Once more this blind and deaf girl conquered
all the difficulties, and in 1904 was graduated from Radcliffe College.
She had completed the same course as had the young women at Radcliffe
College and the young men at Harvard University who could see and hear.
As Helen Keller grew older, she realized that knowledge, besides giving
pleasure, enables one to be of more help in the world. After her
graduation she was eager to be of service. Naturally, she thought of the
blind first. Miss Keller was made a member of the Massachusetts
Commission for the Blind and served on several boards for the blind and
deaf. She has always urged that the blind be given the kind of education
that will fit them to support themselves.
Miss Keller has written many magazine articles and several books. When
she was only twelve years old she wrote a short account of her life for
the _Youth’s Companion_. Her _The Story of My Life_ was published before
her graduation from college.
Instead of being a burden, this blind and deaf girl early became a
happy, useful citizen. She has succeeded because she was determined to
know more, no matter how much hard work it cost her. Helen Keller says
that the worst darkness is ignorance. Her life motto has been:
“Knowledge is love and light and vision.”
[Illustration]
Maria Mitchell—
The Girl Who Studied the Stars
It was an eventful day in the Mitchell home. The parlor window had been
taken out and the telescope mounted in front of it. Twelve-year-old
Maria, at her father’s side, counted the seconds while he observed a
total eclipse of the sun.
Not every twelve-year-old girl could be trusted to use the chronometer,
an instrument which measures the time even more accurately than a watch.
Maria, however, had been helping her father in his study of the stars
ever since she could count. Before many years this little girl beside
the telescope became America’s best-known woman astronomer.
On the little three-cornered island of Nantucket, off the coast of
Massachusetts, Maria Mitchell was born, August 1, 1818. With its broad
sandy beaches, its wide moors, and ocean breezes, the island was a
delightful spot in which to grow up.
The Mitchell home was a pleasant place, filled with the laughter and fun
of a large family of children. Due to the mother’s careful planning, the
wheels of the household machinery ran very smoothly. No one would have
guessed, by seeing the cheerful, comfortable home, how far Mrs. Mitchell
had to stretch a tiny income.
Work and play were happily mingled. Little Maria, with her sisters,
learned to cook and sew. Maria was always ready to do her share of the
household work. If she swept a room, she did it thoroughly. When she
arranged the furniture it might not be done artistically, but every
piece was straight. She could not bear to have things crooked. This
exactness about little things was one of the qualities that made it
possible for this girl to become a great astronomer.