”Oh! Susanna” was a hit, but you never would have known it from the contents of Foster’s wallet. He had been burned badly, but he learned two important lessons from the experience: (1) he could write successful songs, and (2) he needed to protect his artistic property.
Foster understood that the minstrel shows of the era were the way to gain an audience for his songs, but he decided to humanize the people in his songs and convey a sense that everyone shared the same needs, free or slave. He told the performers of his songs not to make fun of slaves, but to get their audiences to feel compassion for them. Foster was the reforming figure of the minstrel movement in American entertainment. Some of this came from the fact that Pittsburgh was a center for abolitionism in Pennsylvania, and one of Pittsburgh’s great abolitionist figures, Charles Shiras, was a boyhood friend of Foster’s.
Indeed!
The syncopation and melodies that Foster employed showed admiration and affection for emerging Black musical forms. During the 1960’s, there were those who decried Stephen Foster’s songs as racist, but they were not. Even though some of the language seemed pejorative by late Twentieth Century standards, they were NOT racist terms in the early 19th century. Foster’s lyrics never mocked or demeaned Black people. The lyrics were mostly about home, family, poverty, nostalgia, elderly people, love, and humor.
I especially like the funny oxymorons in “Oh! Susanna”. My students do too. They get the humor, where perhaps their parents do not.
“Political Correctness” can take a lot of joy out of life!
Thanks, Publius, for a blast from the past. Lots of songs from my youth.
Thanks for the video tunes of Stephen Foster for our troops to enjoy. ((HUGS))