Julia Harris May

Julia Harris May (1892)

Julia Harris May (April 27, 1833 – May 6, 1912) was an American poet, teacher, and school founder. She spent several years teaching in the south. Since 1868, May was the head of a private school in Strong, Maine. Her poems appeared extensively in the leading religious and literary journals of the United States.^[1]

Biography[]

Julia Harris May was born in Strong, Maine, April 27, 1833. Her parents were Rev. William and Delia Marie May.^[2] When only four years old her father died, and soon after, two siblings did as well. This left the mother with two daughters, Sarah and Julia.^[3]

At fourteen, May taught her first school, and showed at once her gift for teaching. She continued to teach summer schools and go on with her own education in the public schools of Farmington, Maine and the Farmington Academy in the fall and winter for several years.^[3] She then entered in the Mount Holyoke Female Seminary (now Mount Holyoke College, from which she was graduated with distinction,^[3] in 1856,^[4] and received the degree of MA in 1906 from that institution.^[2]

After finishing her studies she went South to teach, and remained there during the civil war. She established a private school; her mother and sister came to her, and they created a happy home. She loved the South and the people, and prospered among them, but the climate began to affect her unfavorably. She also missed the strong air of the wintry coast and the balsam of the pines.^[3]

The family returned to Maine, and after a brief rest and recuperation, the sisters opened the May School at Farmington, Maine. It was from the first a success. In 1882, the citizens of Strong, her native town, adjoining Farmington, induced the sisters to remove their school to that town, building for them a school house on their own family grounds.^[3]

May was the poet of the household, and her name became familiar to lovers of verse. Sketches, letters, stories, reviews and poems from the two sisters made the winter pass quickly, and each spring, the school opened with renewed prosperity. After their mother died, the two sisters continued working together until December 30, 1888, when Sarah died.^[3][a]

Julia Harris May (1894)

After her sister's death, May came to Auburn where she was especially active in club work. For a number of years, conducted a class in art and literature. She was an honorary member of the Woman's Literary Union and an active member of the Wednesday Morning Club and the Congregational Church.^[2] May continued with her school, and continued writing poetry. Some of her most finished and touching poems were written later in life.^[5]

She published several volumes of poems, among them, Songs from the Woods of Maine, (1894, New York); Looking for the Stars and Pictures Framed in Song.^[2]

May died suddenly at her home in Auburn, Maine, May 6, 1912, after a brief illness.^[2][4]

Selected works[]

• Songs from the Woods of Maine, 1894
• Looking for the Stars
• Pictures Framed in Song

Noted[]

References[]

Attribution[]

• This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Herringshaw, Thomas William (1892). Local and National Poets of America with Interesting Biographical Sketches and Choice Selections from Over One Thousand Living American Poets (Public domain ed.). Amer. Pub. Ass.
• This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Moulton, Charles Wells (1894). "Julis Harris May. By F. L. M.". The Magazine of Poetry. 6 (Public domain ed.). Charles Wells Moulton.