Samuel Ralph Harlow was born on 20 July 1885 in Boston, Massachusetts, United States of America. He was ordained as a Congregational minister in 1912, and became a chaplain and sociology teacher (1912 - 1922) at the International College in Smyrna, Turkey. When World War 1 began, he served as the director of the Young Men’s Christian Association (YMCA) for American forces in France. In 1923, he joined Smith College in Northampton, Massachusetts, and served for more than 30 years as a professor of religion and social ethics. He traveled overseas as a lecturer for the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, and was a visiting professor at Pierce College (1945 - 1946) in Athens, Greece. He is known for writing stanzas 4 through 6 of the hymn “I Would Be True” in 1918, with stanzas 1 through 3 written earlier by Howard Arnold Walter (1906) and music arrangement created earlier by Joseph Yates Peek (1911). Samuel Ralph Harlow passed on at 87 years of age on 21 August 1972 in Northampton, Massachusetts, United States of America.

Samuel Ralph Harlow was born on 20 July 1885 in Boston, Massachusetts, United States of America. He was ordained as a Congregational minister in 1912, and became a chaplain and sociology teacher (1912 - 1922) at the International College in Smyrna, Turkey. When World War 1 began, he served as the director of the Young Men’s Christian Association (YMCA) for American forces in France. In 1923, he joined Smith College in Northampton, Massachusetts, and served for more than 30 years as a professor of religion and social ethics. He traveled overseas as a lecturer for the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, and was a visiting professor at Pierce College (1945 - 1946) in Athens, Greece. He is known for writing stanzas 4 through 6 of the hymn “I Would Be True” in 1918, with stanzas 1 through 3 written earlier by Howard Arnold Walter (1906) and music arrangement created earlier by Joseph Yates Peek (1911). Samuel Ralph Harlow passed on at 87 years of age on 21 August 1972 in Northampton, Massachusetts, United States of America.