Who is Stephen Foster?

Stephen Foster—Beautiful Dreamer and Seminal American Songwriter

Arguably, songwriting as a profession in America started with Stephen Foster.

Born on the 4th of July in Pennsylvania in 1826, Stephen Collins Foster is credited with composing some of this country’s most beloved and performed songs, including “Beautiful Dreamer,” “My Old Kentucky Home,” and “Oh! Susanna.”

According to NNDB, “He was the youngest child of a merchant of Irish descent who became a member of the state legislature and was related by marriage to President James Buchanan.”

His chief early success was gained by writing songs used in “black-face” minstrel shows, such as those made popular by E.P. Christy, leader of Christy’s Minstrels.

“Foster attempted to make a living as a professional songwriter and may be considered a pioneer in this respect, since this field did not yet exist in the modern sense. Consequently, due in part to the poor provisions for music copyright and composer royalties at the time, Foster saw very little of the profits which his works generated for sheet music printers. Multiple publishers often printed their own competing editions of Foster’s tunes, paying Foster nothing. For ‘Oh, Susanna,’ he received $100.” —Wikipedia.

The Christy’s Minstrels shows were a phenomenal success for the day. According to the book, Love and Theft: Blackface Minstrelsy and the American Working Class (Race and American Culture) by Eric Lott, Christy paid Foster $15,000 for the exclusive rights to the song “Old Folks at Home.”

However, for the most part, Foster was paid little or nothing for his songs and songwriting talent. He even sold the “authorship” of “Old Folks at Home” (aka “Swanee River”), not just the publishing rights. You can see from the image of the sheet music that the song was published as “Written and Composed by E.P. Christy.”

Stephen Foster died on January 13, 1864, at the age of only 37. He was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1970.

“Alcoholic, penniless and consumed by loneliness and debt, Foster died in New York City on January 13, 1864. His death followed the completion of his last great song ‘Beautiful Dreamer.’ Written two weeks earlier, Foster wrote in his trademark sentiment about escape from bitter realities. He is said to have died with a purse carrying less than $.40 and a scrap of paper reading ‘Dear friends and gentle hearts.'” —Songwriters Hall of Fame.