Largely self-taught, Stephen Foster wrote songs ‘of hearth and home’ and minstrel songs, some of which now have the familiarity of folk-music in America.

Songs

Foster’s minstrel songs, with texts in Negro dialect, reveal a debt to black Americans. These include songs such as Massa’s in de Cold Ground, Old Folks at Home, Camptown Races and Old Black Joe. Songs for home entertainment include Jeanie with the Light Brown Hair and My Old Kentucky Home, among many others.