{"id":6284,"date":"2021-12-08T17:48:27","date_gmt":"2021-12-08T23:48:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pages.stolaf.edu\/americanmusic\/?p=6284"},"modified":"2021-12-08T17:51:00","modified_gmt":"2021-12-08T23:51:00","slug":"stephen-fosters-intent-and-impact-with-old-folks-at-home","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pages.stolaf.edu\/americanmusic\/2021\/12\/08\/stephen-fosters-intent-and-impact-with-old-folks-at-home\/","title":{"rendered":"Stephen Foster\u2019s Intent and Impact with \u201cOld folks at home\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"

In an earlier blog post, I came across Stephen Foster\u2019s \u201cOld folks at home\u201d (also known as \u201cWay down upon the Swanee River\u201d), a ballad which was written for and widely performed by blackface minstrel troupes. Many of Foster\u2019s compositions have had a prominent role in the lasting legacy of minstrelsy, and this piece is no exception. \u201cOld folks at home\u201d went from immediate popularity after its publication in 1851, to performances by Christine Nilsson<\/a> and Adelina Patti<\/a>, to designation as the state song of Florida in 1938. Through the Sheet Music Consortium database I was able to observe five different publications of the song ranging from 1851 to 1899.<\/span><\/p>\n

The sheet music published by Firth, Pond & Co. in 1851 is unique because it claims that \u201cOld folks at home\u201d was composed by E. P. Christy, the leader of Christy\u2019s Minstrels. Christy paid Foster to write the song and have it published under his name for performance by his minstrel troupe, as is made clear by the cover of the sheet music. The song is also labeled in this publication as an \u201cEthiopian melody\u201d, which was interesting but not surprising, as white people at this time casually used \u201cEthiopian\u201d to describe anything relating to dark-skinned people.\u00a0<\/span>\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

The falsehood about Christy as the composer of this song must have been short-lived, because only three years later the song was published within \u201cFoster\u2019s Melodies Arranged for the Guitar\u201d. All following publications that I have seen credit Foster as well.<\/span><\/p>\n

Each publication which includes a vocal part used fairly similar dialect, although the dialectic inconsistencies present in some publications stood out to me. In the 1897 version published in Boston, the word \u201cthe\u201d is used in the first line, but all other instances of \u201cth\u201d are replaced by \u201cd.\u201d <\/span>\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

In the 1894 \u201cConcert Edition\u201d, the word \u201cev\u2019ry\u201d appears in contrast with the word \u201cebber\u201d used earlier in the same music. These inconsistencies reveal the half-ass nature of the use of dialect for this piece, which reflects the broader attitude of disrespect towards the group which is supposedly being represented in this music.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

The Suwannee River in Florida, shown in red<\/p><\/div>\n

\u201cOld folks at home\u201d is currently still the state song of Florida (due to its references to the Suwannee River), however, the most obviously problematic things about the song have been eliminated through the removal of dialect and the replacement of the word \u201cdarkies\u201d with \u201cbrothers.\u201d However, the line \u201cstill longing for the old plantation\u201d continues to be clear and present in the first verse. <\/span><\/p>\n

Based on letters from Stephen Foster to E. P. Christy, Foster wanted his \u201ctragic\u201d minstrel songs (such as \u201cOld folks at home\u201d) to inspire feelings of pity and compassion for slaves, rather than the ridicule resulting from most minstrel shows at the time. Could Foster\u2019s intentions ever come true through this piece intended for blackface performance, which by nature mocks the experience of enslaved people in America? Only a further exploration of primary sources could tell.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Sources:<\/p>\n

\u201cFlorida Lakes and Rivers Map.\u201d GIS Geography. Geology.com, November 2, 2021. https:\/\/gisgeography.com\/florida-lakes-rivers-map\/.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIn Harmony: Sheet Music from Indiana.\u201d Old folks at home. The Trustees of Indiana University, 2021. http:\/\/webapp1.dlib.indiana.edu\/inharmony\/detail.do?action=detail&fullItemID=%2Flilly%2Fdevincent%2FLL-SDV-035017.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cOld Folks at Home : Ethiopian Melody.\u201d Playmakers Repertory Company Playbills. Accessed October 30, 2021. https:\/\/dc.lib.unc.edu\/cdm\/ref\/collection\/sheetmusic\/id\/37599.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cOld Folks at Home.\u201d Playmakers Repertory Company Playbills. Accessed October 30, 2021. https:\/\/dc.lib.unc.edu\/cdm\/ref\/collection\/sheetmusic\/id\/37129.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cOld Folks at Home.\u201d Playmakers Repertory Company Playbills. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Accessed December 6, 2021. https:\/\/dc.lib.unc.edu\/cdm\/ref\/collection\/sheetmusic\/id\/32979.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cOld Folks at Home; Way down upon the Swanee River.\u201d Duke Digital Collections. Accessed October 30, 2021. https:\/\/repository.duke.edu\/dc\/hasm\/b0951.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u200b\u200b\u201cOn This Day in Florida History – May 28, 1935 – Now Controversial \u2018Old Folks at Home\u2019 Becomes State Song.\u201d Florida History Network – Your one-stop source for celebrating and preserving Florida’s past, today. Accessed December 6, 2021. http:\/\/www.floridahistorynetwork.com\/may-28-1935—now-controversial-old-folks-at-home-becomes-state-song.html.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Root, Deane L. \u201cFoster, Stephen C(ollins).\u201d Grove Music Online, October 16, 2013. https:\/\/www.oxfordmusiconline.com\/grovemusic\/view\/10.1093\/gmo\/9781561592630.001.0001\/omo-9781561592630-e-1002252809?rskey=7S6WHZ#omo-9781561592630-e-1002252809-div1-5.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe Swanee River.\u201d State Symbols USA. State Symbols USA. Accessed December 6, 2021. https:\/\/statesymbolsusa.org\/symbol-official-item\/florida\/state-song\/swanee-river.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In an earlier blog post, I came across Stephen Foster\u2019s \u201cOld folks at home\u201d (also known as \u201cWay down upon the Swanee River\u201d), a ballad which was written for and widely performed by blackface minstrel troupes. Many of Foster\u2019s compositions … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3255,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[1],"tags":[1320,172,513,885,1033],"class_list":["post-6284","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-florida","tag-minstrelsy","tag-sheet-music","tag-sheet-music-consortium","tag-stephen-collins-foster"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p7jEhR-1Dm","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pages.stolaf.edu\/americanmusic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6284","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pages.stolaf.edu\/americanmusic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pages.stolaf.edu\/americanmusic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pages.stolaf.edu\/americanmusic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3255"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pages.stolaf.edu\/americanmusic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6284"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/pages.stolaf.edu\/americanmusic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6284\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6290,"href":"https:\/\/pages.stolaf.edu\/americanmusic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6284\/revisions\/6290"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pages.stolaf.edu\/americanmusic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6284"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pages.stolaf.edu\/americanmusic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6284"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pages.stolaf.edu\/americanmusic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6284"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}