Lee Trawick
Reporter2@riverbendnews.org
Although Stephen Collins Foster was born on July 4, 1826, in Lawrence, Penn., he has monuments and state parks named after him throughout the United States. However, in the north central Florida area, the first think that comes to mind when mentioning Stephen Foster's name is the Stephen Foster Folk Culture Center State Park in White Springs, which is known for its beautiful Christmas lights, the Carillon Tower and for various festivals. But who exactly was Stephen Foster and what mark did he leave on America to have so many monuments erected in his honor?
Today, Foster is known as the “father of American music.” He was a self-taught musician who wrote and composed over 200 songs during his lifetime, including the lyrics for “Oh! Susanna,” “Old Folks at Home (Suwannee River),” “Camptown Races” and “Hard Times Come Again No More”; he was also a songwriter and a composer before there was such a thing.
But Foster was much more than just a songwriter; during the mid-1800s, slavery was at the forefront of conversations throughout America “Rather than writing nostalgically for an old South...or trivializing the hardships of slavery, Foster sought to humanize the characters in his songs, to have them care for one another and to convey a sense that all people-regardless of their ethnic identities or social and economic class-share the same longings and needs for family and home,” PBS states in Foster's biography. He did this to, in his own words, "build up taste...among refined people by making words suitable to their taste, instead of the trashy and really offensive words which belong to some songs of that order."
Foster's songs expertly blended a variety of ethnic genres, especially that of African-American music and the European influences of the neighborhood he grew up in. National Public Radio's website states his melodies “frequently expressed sympathy for the plight of slaves” and “imbue African Americans with a dignity and pathos that were unprecedented” for the times. Foster wrote songs that crossed over to both "slave music" and traditional music throughout his career before composing music was considered a profession. During his time, he wrote songs that live on today and have influenced today's music.
In 1928, Foster's song “My Old Kentucky Home” was officially named the state song of Kentucky and “Old Folks at Home (Suwannee River)” was named the official state song of Florida in 1935. Foster did not live long enough to his life's work appreciated by the world, as he died at the age of 37 on Jan. 13, 1864, after he fell in the bathroom while shaving and cut his throat. Three days later, he passed away in Bellevue Hospital in New York.
On Oct. 27, 1951, Congress passed a joint resolution designating Jan. 13 of each year as Stephen Foster Memorial Day and on Jan. 13, 1952, President Harry S. Truman proclaimed the observance. This was not the only honor Foster received following his death, though. In 1936, Foster's profile was featured on a silver half dollar in honor of the Cincinnati Music Center. Then, in October 2010, Foster was inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame.