Stephen Collins Foster, known as "the father of American music", was an American composer known primarily for his parlour and minstrel music during the Romantic period. He wrote more than 200 songs, including "Oh! Susanna", "Hard Times Come Again No More", "Camptown Races", "Old Folks at Home", "My Old Kentucky Home", "Jeanie with the Light Brown Hair", "Old Black Joe", and "Beautiful Dreamer", and many of his compositions remain popular today.
"My Old Kentucky Home, Good-Night!", typically shortened to "My Old Kentucky Home", is a sentimental ballad written by Stephen Foster, probably composed in 1852. It was published in January 1853 by Firth, Pond, & Co. of New York. Foster was likely inspired by Harriet Beecher Stowe's anti-slavery novel Uncle Tom's Cabin, as evidenced by the title of a sketch in Foster's sketchbook, "Poor Uncle Tom, Good-Night!"
Sir Thomas Fowell Buxton, 1st Baronet Buxton of Belfield and Runton was an English Member of Parliament, brewer, abolitionist and social reformer. He married Hannah Gurney, whose sister became Elizabeth Fry, and became a great friend of her father Joseph Gurney and the extended Gurney family.
The Stephen Collins Foster Memorial is a performing arts center and museum which houses the Stephen Foster Archives at the University of Pittsburgh in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA. It is dedicated to the life and works of American songwriter Stephen Foster.
Fletcher Hodges Jr. was an American who curated the Foster Hall Collection, a collection of documents and music related to Stephen Foster at the University of Pittsburgh, for fifty-one years.
Elizabeth Margaret Chandler was an American poet and writer from Pennsylvania and Michigan. She became the first female writer in the United States to make the abolition of slavery her principal theme.
Eliza Fenwick was a Cornish author, whose works include Secresy; or The Ruin on the Rock (1795) and several children's books. She was born in Cornwall, married an alcoholic, and had two children by him. She left him and eventually went to live with her children in Barbados, where she ran a school with her daughter.
"Gentle Annie" is a popular American song written by Stephen Foster in 1856. Tradition says that it was written in honor of Annie Jenkins, the daughter of a grocer in Federal Street, Allegheny, Pennsylvania, named Morgan Jenkins. However, Foster's biographer and niece, Evelyn Foster Morneweck, disputes this and states that it is probably written in honor of his cousin, Annie Evans, who died shortly before it was composed. Some sources say it is Foster's farewell to his maternal grandmother, Annie Pratt McGinnis Hart. His paternal grandmother was Ann Barclay.
Virginia Proctor Powell Florence was a trailblazer in both African-American history and the history of librarianship. In 1923 she became the first black woman in the United States to earn a degree in library science. This also made her the second African-American to be formally trained in librarianship, after Edward Christopher Williams.
Rhoda Boyd was born in rural Cumberland County, Pennsylvania in 1748 to John Boyd, immigrant from Ulster and Nancy Urie, immigrant from Scotland. Rhoda and her siblings were captured by Delaware Indians on 10 February 1756. They killed her mother and youngest brother during the attack.
Morrison Foster was the older brother, business agent and biographer for Stephen Foster, a composer and lyricist of early American music. When Stephen Foster died at age 37, Morrison continued to manage Stephen's estate and acted as a mediator between music publishers and Stephen Foster's wife and daughter. Documents demonstrate his correspondence with publishers in his receipt of royalty payments on behalf of Stephen's heirs. Morrison also wrote the first biography of Stephen Foster. Morrison's daughter Evelyn Foster Morneweck, wrote a biography about her uncle, Chronicles of Stephen Foster's Family.
"Willie Has Gone To War" is a song written by Stephen Collins Foster sometime in 1862. It was considered a 'Civil War Song', though it was not as popular as some of his previous work. George Cooper wrote the lyrics. He may have composed up to 285 songs, hymns, arrangements and instrumental works during his lifetime. He also created many of the lyrics.
The Stephen Foster Collection and archives are the largest collection of primary source materials on the life and work of composer Stephen Foster. The collection consists of documents and other items of historical interest related to the life and work of Stephen Foster. It resides in the Stephen Foster Memorial at the University of Pittsburgh. Josiah K. Lilly donated an almost complete set of first edition music. The memorial houses sketchbooks and other memorabilia. The process of assembling the collection was methodical, well-organized and funded by various non-governmental and governmental sources. The cost of maintaining the collection is partially funded by the University of Pittsburgh.
William Barclay Foster (1779–1855) was the father of Stephen Foster and a notable businessman in his time. He was one of the most prosperous merchants of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He was a Pennsylvania state legislator and served three terms. He was also elected mayor of Allegheny City twice in his lifetime. He has been identified as a "patriot", a "lover of home" and an "outstanding servant to his community, state and government".
Jane Denny Foster Wiley was the wife of Stephen Foster and the inspiration for his song "Jeanie with the Light Brown Hair". Her archives are located in the University of Pittsburgh.
Pauline Alice Young was an African-American teacher, librarian, historian, lecturer, community activist, humanitarian, and individualist.
Marion Welch was the only child of composer Stephen Collins Foster and, together with her daughter, Jessie Rose, was the caretaker of the Stephen S. Foster Memorial Home, located at 3600 Penn Avenue, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, from 1914 until her death in 1935. She taught the piano and occasionally composed music.
Anne Grenville, Baroness Grenville was an English noblewoman and author, and a member of the Pitt family, which at the time dominated British politics.
Evelyn Foster Morneweck (1887-1973) was a writer and biographer of Stephen Collins Foster. Her father, Morrison Foster, was also a biographer and published another biography of Stephen's. Her biographical account of Stephen Collins Foster and other family members can be accessed online.
