The childhood and adolescence of Julia Ward Howe (1819–1910) brought both boons and obstacles. Born into wealth—her father was a successful New York banker—she grew up in luxury, but her mother died in childbirth when Julia was 5. As she grew older, her father, acting both from overzealous religious principles and from reasons of propriety, strictly regulated her life: the books she read, the friends she made, the entertainments and dances she might attend. She must have felt his influence profoundly, for, after his death, when she was 20, Howe continued for a while to lead an austere life.
A portrait of Julia Ward Howe, 1925, by John Elliott. Public Domain
