Stephen C. Foster collection, 1931-1951

Stephen C. Foster (1826-1864) was one of America's most popular composers of songs in the nineteenth century. Some of his songs include "My Old Kentucky Home," "Camptown Races," "Old Folks At Home (somtimes known as "Way Down Upon the Swanee River")," "Beautiful Dreamer," "Hard Times Come Again No More," "Oh! Susannah," and "Nelly Bly." He was born in Lawrenceville, Pennsylvania (now a section of Pittsburg), and composed his first song when he was eighteen. While musically talented, he did not begin to compose songs for a living until his song "Oh! Susannah" turned out to be immensly popular. Unfortunately, the antebellum United States did not have the strong copyright laws that are in place today and "Oh! Susannah" was pirated several times over. From that point on, Foster took care to make sure that he was paid for his songs, but he could never know just how many of his songs were sold. 1855 was a bad year for Foster as both his parents died and his song output dropped. As a result, his debts piled up and he soon had to sell many royalties to pay debts. The beginning of the Civil War caused the song business to become even more uncertain and he made less and less. He died at the age of thirty-seven after suffering a fever and complications from a fall in a New York hotel room. He was buried back in Pittsburg where he wrote most of his songs. Foster was a staunch Northerner and had only visited the South once during a riverboat trip to New Orleans. Nevertheless, many of his songs had Southern themes. He was also an active social reformer and many of his songs paid respect to African-Americans (although many of the lyrics would be considered racist by today's standards). Foster studied a variety of folk songs from different countries and blended various styles together in such a way that his sons were popular with many ethnic groups and were considered truly "American." His influence on American culture has extended into the twenty-first century. One of Georgia's State Parks is named for him and is located near the head of the Suwannee River. Further downstream is another state park located in Florida. Florida's state song is "Old Folks at Home" while Kentucky's state song is "My Old Kentucky Home." When the Kentucky quarter was released as part of the fifty state quarters program, part of the inscription was the title of the song by Foster. The University of Pittsburg contains the largest collection of Foster's works at the Center for American Music.