Some say he has received more posthumous honors than most American presidents. Stephen Foster, composer of more than 200 works, had and continues to have an impact on the works of other composers. From such popular tunes as “Beautiful Dreamer,” “Oh! Susanna,” and “My Old Kentucky Home,” to his instrumental compositions of waltzes, polkas, schottisches, Sunday school songs, and arrangements of works by Donizetti, Mozart, Johann Strauss Sr., and Franz Schubert, Foster became America’s first and best-known professional composer.

Yet there remains controversy regarding the composer. Was he a racist? Was he an abolitionist? If he was so successful, why do some reports say he died destitute?

University of Michigan musicologist Calvin Elliker has the answers to those questions and many more about Foster. A Presidential Proclamation by Harry S. Truman in 1951 declared Jan. 13 to be Stephen Foster Memorial Day. Elliker can be reached at (734) 764-2512 or 764-9376 or at [email protected].