STEPHEN C. FOSTER

of Pittsburgh, Pa.

BORN

July 4, 1826

DIED

January 13, 1864

Prolific song writer and musician, Stephen Foster became known as the “Father of American Music,” and for good reason, too.  Even though his most noteworthy songs were written well over a century ago, they are still recognized today.  Two of his songs were adopted as state songs—“Old Folks at Home” also known as “Swanee River” as Florida’s and “My Old Kentucky Home” became the state song for, of course, Kentucky. Many of his other songs are also a part of American culture—such as the rollicking “Camptown Races” one of more than 200 songs he wrote during his short lifetime.

His popularity was memorialized in stained glass in the Temple of Memories, the public mausoleum dedicated in 1961 in the Allegheny Cemetery in Pittsburgh.  The window features Stephen Foster in the center seated at a piano.  There are scenes of his most famous songs in the window and the side panels—including depictions of “Oh, Susanna” and “I Dream of Jeannie.”

According to Images of America: Allegheny Cemetery by Lisa Speranza and Nancy Foley page 108, Arcadia Publishing 2016, Charleston, South Carolina, devoted music fan Harry Houdini visited the grave of Foster many times and even paid for the upkeep of Foster’s grave.  Houdini credited Foster with the creation of “real American songs.”