Date: 5-20-01
VOICE ONE:
I'M SHIRLEY GRIFFITH.
VOICE TWO:
AND I'M STEVE EMBER WITH THE VOA SPECIAL ENGLISH
PROGRAM PEOPLE IN AMERICA.
TODAY, WE TELL ABOUT STEPHEN FOSTER,
AMERICA'S FIRST POPULAR PROFESSIONAL SONGWRITER.
(MUSIC BRIDGE)
VOICE ONE:
YOU MAY HAVE HEARD THE OLD TRADITIONAL AMERICAN SONGS "OH!
SUSANNA," "CAMPTOWN RACES" AND "MY OLD KENTUCKY HOME." BUT, DO
YOU KNOW WHO WROTE THEM? STEPHEN FOSTER.
HE WROTE THOSE AND
MORE THAN TWO HUNDRED OTHER SONGS DURING THE EIGHTEEN-FORTIES AND EIGHTEEN-FIFTIES.
HIS BEST SONGS HAVE BECOME PART OF AMERICA'S CULTURAL HISTORY.
THEY HAVE BECOME AMERICAN FOLK SONGS.
MANY PEOPLE IN AMERICA
LEARNED TO SING THESE SONGS WHEN THEY WERE CHILDREN.
MOST
AMERICANS CAN SING THESE SONGS TODAY.
VOICE TWO:
STEPHEN COLLINS FOSTER WAS BORN ON JULY FOURTH,
EIGHTEEN-TWENTY-SIX IN WHAT IS NOW PART OF THE CITY OF
PITTSBURGH, IN THE NORTHEASTERN STATE OF PENNSYLVANIA.
HE WAS
THE NINTH CHILD OF WILLIAM AND ELIZA FOSTER.
HE DID NOT HAVE
MUCH MUSICAL TRAINING.
BUT HE HAD A GREAT NATURAL ABILITY FOR
MUSIC.
HE TAUGHT HIMSELF TO PLAY SEVERAL MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS.
HE COULD PLAY ANY MUSIC JUST BY LISTENING TO IT.
STEPHEN FOSTER BEGAN WRITING SONGS WHEN HE WAS FOURTEEN.
IN
EIGHTEEN-FORTY-SEVEN, HE WROTE HIS FIRST SUCCESSFUL SONG, "OH!
SUSANNA."
KEN EMERSON WROTE A BOOK ABOUT STEPHEN FOSTER.
IT IS CALLED
DOO-DAH! STEPHEN FOSTER AND THE RISE OF "AMERICAN POPULAR CULTURE.
MISTER EMERSON SAYS "OH! SUSANNA" WAS THE FIRST INTERNATIONALLY
POPULAR SONG WRITTEN BY AN AMERICAN THAT EVERYONE CAN STILL
RECOGNIZE AND SING TODAY.
((MUSIC CUT #1: "OH! SUSANNA"))
VOICE ONE:
STEPHEN FOSTER MARRIED JANE MCDOWELL IN EIGHTEEN-FIFTY.
HE
WROTE MANY NEW SONGS.
SOME OF THEM WERE ABOUT LOVE.
ONE OF THE
BEST KNOWN IS "JEANIE WITH THE LIGHT BROWN HAIR." HE WROTE IT
FOR HIS WIFE WHEN THEY WERE SEPARATED.
((MUSIC CUT #2: "JEANIE WITH THE LIGHT BROWN HAIR."))
VOICE TWO:
STEPHEN FOSTER WROTE ALMOST THIRTY SONGS FOR MINSTREL SHOWS.
MINSTREL SHOWS BECAME POPULAR IN THE UNITED STATES IN THE
EIGHTEEN-FORTIES.
WHITE ENTERTAINERS BLACKENED THEIR FACES AND
PERFORMED AS IF THEY WERE BLACK ENTERTAINERS.
MINSTREL SHOWS
INCLUDED MUSIC, DANCE AND COMEDY.
THE SHOWS WERE PERFORMED IN
ALMOST EVERY MAJOR AMERICAN CITY, ESPECIALLY IN THE NORTHEAST.
ONE OF FOSTER'S SONGS WRITTEN FOR MINSTREL SHOWS IS "CAMPTOWN
RACES." TODAY, IT IS A POPULAR SONG FOR CHILDREN.
((MUSIC CUT #3: "CAMPTOWN RACES"))
VOICE ONE:
MINSTREL SONGS DESCRIBED THE CULTURE OF BLACK AMERICAN SLAVES IN
THE SOUTHERN STATES.
YET FOSTER DID NOT REALLY KNOW ANYTHING
ABOUT THIS SUBJECT.
HE LIVED IN PITTSBURGH FOR MOST OF HIS LIFE.
HE VISITED THE SOUTH ONLY ONCE.
HOWEVER, SOME EXPERTS SAY FOSTER'S MINSTREL SONGS SHOWED HE DID
UNDERSTAND HOW BLACK PEOPLE IN THE SOUTH LIVED BEFORE THE CIVIL
WAR.
THE PEOPLE IN FOSTER'S SONGS LOVE THEIR FAMILIES AND WORK
HARD.
NOW, HOWEVER, SOME OF HIS SONGS ARE JUDGED INSULTING TO
AFRICAN-AMERICANS.
SO, MUSIC PUBLISHERS HAVE CHANGED SOME OF THE
WORDS.
AND A FEW OF HIS SONGS ARE NO LONGER SUNG.
VOICE TWO:
IN EIGHTEEN-FIFTY, FOSTER MADE AN AGREEMENT WITH THE LEADER OF A
SUCCESSFUL MINSTREL GROUP, E.
P.
CHRISTY.
THE AGREEMENT MEANT
THAT CHRISTY'S MINSTRELS HAD THE RIGHT TO PERFORM EVERY NEW SONG
FOSTER WROTE.
FOSTER ALSO PERMITTED CHRISTY TO NAME HIMSELF AS
THE WRITER OF THE SONG "OLD FOLKS AT HOME." THIS BECAME ONE OF
MOST SUCCESSFUL SONGS WRITTEN BY STEPHEN FOSTER.
IT BECAME THE
OFFICIAL SONG OF THE STATE OF FLORIDA IN NINETEEN-THIRTY-FIVE.
IT ALSO IS KNOWN AS "WAY DOWN UPON THE SWANEE RIVER."
((MUSIC CUT #4: "OLD FOLKS AT HOME"))
VOICE ONE:
STEPHEN FOSTER WROTE OTHER SONGS ABOUT HOME AND MEMORIES OF TIMES PAST.
IN HIS BOOK, KEN EMERSON SAYS FOSTER WROTE SONGS ABOUT
HOME IN PART BECAUSE HE ALMOST NEVER LIVED IN ONE HOME FOR LONG.
HIS FATHER LOST ALL HIS MONEY WHEN STEPHEN WAS A BOY.
SO STEPHEN
WAS FORCED TO LIVE WITH MANY DIFFERENT FAMILY MEMBERS.
ALTHOUGH
FOSTER LIVED IN THE NORTH, SOME OF HIS SONGS SUGGEST A DESIRE TO
BE BACK HOME IN THE AMERICAN SOUTH.
VOICE TWO:
"MY OLD KENTUCKY HOME" IS AN EXAMPLE.
MISTER EMERSON SAYS FOSTER
WROTE THE SONG IN HONOR OF HARRIET BEECHER STOWE'S ANTI-SLAVERY
BOOK, UNCLE TOM'S CABIN.
"MY OLD KENTUCKY HOME" EXPRESSES GREAT
SYMPATHY FOR ENSLAVED AFRICAN AMERICANS.
THE BLACK ANTI-SLAVERY
ACTIVIST FREDERICK DOUGLASS PRAISED THE SONG.
IT LATER BECAME
THE OFFICIAL SONG OF THE STATE OF KENTUCKY.
((MUSIC CUT #5: "MY OLD KENTUCKY HOME"))
VOICE ONE:
STEPHEN FOSTER WAS AMERICA'S FIRST FULL-TIME PROFESSIONAL
SONGWRITER.
HE WAS A GOOD SONGWRITER.
BUT HE WAS A POOR
BUSINESSMAN.
HE SOLD MANY OF HIS MOST FAMOUS SONGS FOR VERY
LITTLE MONEY.
HE WAS NOT ABLE TO SUPPORT HIS WIFE AND DAUGHTER.
IN EIGHTEEN-SIXTY, HE MOVED TO NEW YORK CITY.
HIS SONGS WERE NOT
AS POPULAR AS THEY HAD BEEN.
HIS MARRIAGE HAD ENDED.
HE HAD NO
MONEY.
FOR MOST OF HIS LIFE, HE DRANK LARGE AMOUNTS OF ALCOHOL.
HE DIED ON JANUARY THIRTEENTH, EIGHTEEN-SIXTY-FOUR.
HE WAS ONLY
THIRTY-SEVEN YEARS OLD.
VOICE TWO:
STEPHEN FOSTER WAS HONORED IN SEVERAL WAYS AFTER HIS DEATH.
HE
WAS THE FIRST MUSICIAN TO BE NOMINATED TO THE HALL OF FAME FOR
GREAT AMERICANS.
AND HE WAS THE FIRST AMERICAN COMPOSER WHOSE
COMPLETE WORKS WERE PUBLISHED TOGETHER.
EACH YEAR, ON THE
ANNIVERSARY OF HIS DEATH, PEOPLE IN PITTSBURGH GATHER TO REMEMBER
STEPHEN FOSTER.
THEY GO TO THE CHURCH HE ATTENDED AS A CHILD.
THEY ATTEND A SHOW THAT HONORS HIM.
THEN THEY VISIT HIS BURIAL
PLACE.
THE END OF STEPHEN FOSTER'S LIFE WAS SAD.
BUT HIS SONGS HAVE
BROUGHT HAPPINESS TO MANY PEOPLE.
ONE OF HIS LAST SONGS WAS ONE
OF THE MOST BEAUTIFUL.
IT IS CALLED "BEAUTIFUL DREAMER."
((MUSIC CUT #6: "BEAUTIFUL DREAMER"))
VOICE ONE:
THIS SPECIAL ENGLISH PROGRAM WAS WRITTEN BY SHELLEY GOLLUST.
IT
WAS PRODUCED BY LAWAN DAVIS.
I'M SHIRLEY GRIFFITH.
("BEAUTIFUL DREAMER" INSTEAD OF CLOSING THEME)
VOICE TWO:
AND I'M STEVE EMBER.
JOIN US AGAIN NEXT WEEK FOR ANOTHER
PEOPLE IN AMERICA PROGRAM ON THE VOICE OF AMERICA.