West side of Pioneers Museum by OlenaKyiv
Sculpture of Katharine Lee Bates, the author of ?America the Beautiful? by Omaha artist John Lajba. As a storytellers say Katharine made a trip to Pikes Peak in 1893, which inspired her to write four original stanzas to what later became America the Beautiful. Piece was published in 1895. Although she rewrote some sections, it has remained the same since 1904 when part of the third stanza was altered. Prior to this time the author received criticism for the word ?beautiful? but she refused to change the term since she claimed it best described America. Miss Bates retained the copyright to insure there would be no misprints or deliberate changes of her beloved hymn and it has remained the same ever since then.
