January 13: Stephen Foster Memorial Day!

4 min read

1 year ago Leo S

One of the United State’s most famous songwriters, Stephen Foster is known for his enduring and popular songs which continue to be widely recorded and performed to this day, including “Camptown Races,” and worldwide popular “Oh! Susanna.”
Celebrated to recognize the life and legacy of this talented composer, Stephen Foster Memorial Day is typically marked with concerts, performances, and other events to celebrate his life and work.

Born in Lawrenceville, Pennsylvania in 1826, Stephen Collins Foster is considered one of the first American songwriters to write primarily for the commercial market, rather than for the stage. Or church.
Often celebrating the everyday lives of ordinary Americans, his songs gained popularity in the mid-19th century, and some of his more widely recognized works include “Oh! Susanna”, a song about a man who is traveling to see his love, Susanna, reflecting on the many difficulties he has encountered on his journey, but also “Camptown Races”, a humorous depiction of a horse race at a place called Camptown, with the singer encouraging his horse to “git up and git” in order to win the race, “My Old Kentucky Home”, a nostalgic tribute to the state of Kentucky and the simple pleasures of life on a plantation, “Beautiful Dreamer”, a romantic ballad about a man who dreams of his beloved, even as he knows that she is far away, as well as “Hard Times Come Again No More”, a song that is a poignant reflection on the struggles of poverty and the hope for a better future.

However on this day, January 13th, 1864, at the age of 37, he died in poverty in New York City, following a life fraught with financial and personal difficulties throughout his career.
Despite his early death, his music has had a lasting impact on American culture and continues to be widely performed and celebrated to this day.

There have been a large number of myths about Stephen Foster that have emerged over time.
Opinions vary as to what role alcohol played in his life. His father struggled with alcohol and took the temperance pledge. The author himself wrote a temperance song (“Comrades Fill No Glass for Me”) and, although there is evidence that Stephen drank, he was not the mythic bum in a Bowery gutter some have portrayed him to be, nor did he drink himself to death. He, already sick, died of blood loss and infection on January 13, 1864, after collapsing on a washbasin and bowl in a Bowery-district hotel room in New York.

Despite he made lots of money, he died penniless because of financial missteps, but it was not only a result of bad money management, as he worked as an accountant for his brother and kept meticulous financial records of his own business dealings, so he was certainly capable of financial responsibility. Unfortunately, in his life-time copyright law did not protect composers’ own interests, but were entirely directed to the rights of the publishers. The only way to earn money from a song was through a 5 to 10 percent royalty paid only by the song’s original publisher or by the outright selling of a song to a performer for perhaps $5 to $15. Stephen also developed a bad habit of requesting from his publishers an advance on sheet music sales in exchange for ending his royalties of future sales, deals that severely curtailed his future earnings.

It was 1951, when a joint resolution of Congress authorized President Harry S. Truman to issue an annual proclamation to call upon the people of the U.S. to observe the day with activities and ceremoniess, declaring it Stephen Foster Memorial Day.
And since now, this day is celebrated throughout the United States, with events and activities taking place in many cities and towns, typically observed by those who are interested in American music and culture, as well as those who are fans of Stephen Foster’s work in particular.
Fans of this prolific musician show their appreciation by attending concerts or performances featuring his music, visiting museums or exhibits dedicated to his life and work, or participating in educational events or activities that focus on his contributions to music.