Who is Stephen Foster?
Stephen Foster, or Stephen Collins Foster, lived from 4 July 1826 and 13 January 1864. He is known to many as the “father of American music.” Stephen Foster, it has been agreed upon by many historians and American musicologists, was the pre-eminent American songwriter in the 1800s. Many of his songs, such as “Oh! Susanna” are still popular songs today. Other famous Stephen Foster songs include “My Old Kentucky Home,” “Camptown Races,” “Beautiful Dreamer”, and “Old Black Joe.” His famous song “Old Folks at Home” is known to most as “Swanee River.” Stephen Foster was born in Lawrenceville, Pennsylvania, which is now officially a part of the city of Pittsburgh. Foster was the youngest of ten children in a working class family. When his father’s alcoholism took over, the family became nearly destitute. Foster’s education, which included just one month at Washington & Jefferson College, was not largely based in music. Although he had very little formal training, Foster published a number of
