At the public library at her native Falmouth stands a life-size bronze statue of Katharine Lee Bates, a poet, author, and professor of English literature. It was created by Lloyd Lillie and inaugurated in 1986. It depicts Bates as she gazes from the summit of Pikes Peak, looking over the Rockies and Great Plains. Katharine Lee Bates (1859-1929) was born in Falmouth, Massachusetts, and lived there until age 11. After attending Wellesley College, she taught high school English for a few years. In 1889, at 30, Bates published her first novel, Rose and Thorn, for which she was awarded a prize by the Congregational Sunday School and Publishing Society. The prize money allowed her to travel to England and study for an MA degree from Oxford University. Upon returning to the US, Bates was appointed a full professor of English Literature at Wellesley, teaching there for 40 years. At Wellesley, she shared a living with her friend and companion, Katharine Coman, in an arrangement called Boston Marriage. Some scholars believe they had a romantic relationship. She continued to write and publish dozens of poems, essays, travel books, and children’s stories. In addition to her career, she was a noted speaker and activist, promoting social rights for women, people of color, and immigrants. In the summer of 1893, while teaching at the Colorado Summer School at Colorado College, she went on a trip to Pikes Peak. The view she saw inspired her to write the lyrics of her most famous poem, America the Beautiful. The Congregationalist journal published the poem with the title America on July 4th, 1895. Through the years, it underwent several revisions till it reached its final form in 1912. More than 70 melodies were composed to match the lyrics, and in 1910, it paired with the hymn Samuel A. Ward’s “Materna” (1882). This combination made it one of the most popular patriotic songs in the US. She passed away in Wellesley, Massachusetts, on March 28th, 1929, and lies in Oak Grove Cemetery at Falmouth. Read more...

A statue of the young Rachel Carson, documenting a moment captured in a photo in 1951 by Edwin Gray near Sam Cahoon’s fish market dock in Woods Hole. Back then, she was at the beginning of her career, studying and working as a researcher at the Marine Biological Laboratory’s (MBL) and the Fisheries laboratories (now National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration). Rachel Carson (1907-1964) was a pioneer Marine Biologist, writer, and conservationist. Her books sparked the environmental movement in the US and abroad and created awareness of the impact people’s actions have on the environment. The idea to commemorate Carson in a statue came to Eric Turkington when he learned that the famous Carson was strongly connected to Woods Hole. Together with Susan Shephard, they founded the Rachel Carson Statue Committee, which raised the commission to fund the statue. Among the contributors were: Woods Hole Community Association; the Upper Cape Business and Professional Women’s Club; the Silent Spring Institute; the Massachusetts Breast Cancer Coalition as well as individuals who wished to honor Carson as well as to inspire everyone how important it is to save our environment. The local Cape cod artist, David Lewis, was chosen to create the statue based on the photograph, and on July 14th, 2013, it was dedicated. Carson is depicted sitting on a bench gazing at the water, taking notes. Several benches near her invite the visitors to join her. Her words are inscribed on the stepping stones on the grounds- “I had my first prolonged contact with the sea at Woods Hole. I never tired of watching the tidal currents pouring through the hole – that wonderful place of whirlpools and eddies and swiftly racing water.” Read more...