Lawrenceville: Stephen Collins Foster An Address by John Tasker
Howard. Made at the Annual Stephen Foster Memorial Program in
Carnegie Music Hall on 13 January 1934 from The Pittsburgh
Record, March 1934. This meeting commemorates a sad occasion, a
tragic event--the passing, seventy years ago, of one who left us
a legacy of song and melody that may never be forgotten. Stephen
Foster was a man who had but a few pennies to leave in this
world, but those things he had created added to the spiritual
riches of the world a heritage far more precious than the
millions of many an industrial or financial giant. To America
Foster has meant much. His songs are so native in their
character that there need be no hesitation in stating that his
was the most national expression that any of our composers has
yet achieved. Born and raised here in Pittsburgh, he was little
affected by the foreign music that enslaved those who lived on
the seaboard. The voices Stephen heard were those of the
minstrel shows, the singing and danci