The academic community of women scholars that flourished at Wellesley College during the period from 1895 to 1920 included among its distinguished professoriate Katharine Lee Bates--scholar, poet, educator, editor, and administrator. Though best known today as the author of "America the Beautiful," in over forty years at Wellesley Bates established herself as a leading figure in the women's intellectual movement of the nineteenth century. Marked by legendary personal generosity, scholarly perseverance, and quiet initiative, under her careful guidance the role of the English department within the Wellesley academic community expanded and became one of the most progressive and widely respected in the nation. During her years there she published various critical editions of English classics, several volumes of poetry, and numerous prose works ranging from travel books to children's stories.

A New Englander of English and Irish ancestry, Bates was born the youngest of five children and the second daughter...