[2] Both of her parents were well-known figures in Boston and beyond; her father was an educator who distinguished himself in the Greek War of Independence, while her mother was a writer and suffragist, and wrote The Battle Hymn of the Republic.

[4] Her uncle was lobbyist Samuel Ward,[5] and her nephew was writer Francis Marion Crawford.

[8] Laura Bridgman, her father's deaf-blind student, took particular interest in young Julia, and they formed a lasting friendship.

[12][13][14] "She walked in a dream always, of beauty and poetry, thinking of strange things," her sister recalled.

[14] Annie Sullivan mentioned Anagnos's recent death in her valedictory address at Perkins in 1886.