Hymn Story: Praise, Praise His Name 

Praise, Praise His Name was written by Fanny Crosby.  The hymn is often referred to by its first line “On the desert mountain straying.”

Crosby became blind at a very young age but became a prolific hymnwriter. After finishing her education, she became a teacher at the New York Institution for the Blind in 1847. She taught English grammar, rhetoric, and American history there for the next eleven years.

“While teaching at the institution she met Presidents Van Buren and Tyler, Hon. Henry Clay, Governor Wm. H. Seward, General Winfield Scott, and other distinguished characters of American history… In connection with her meeting these notable men, we might add that Miss Fanny Crosby had the honor of being the first woman whose voice was heard publicly in the Senate Chamber at Washington.”