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Stephen Collins Foster (1826)close

Stephen Collins Foster, considered to be the first professional songwriter in the United States, was born in Lawrenceville, Pennsylvania . His first hit was "Oh! Susanna". Many of his best-known songs were written between 1850 and 1860. Although he only made one trip to the south, Foster wrote lyrics that touch upon southern plantation life before the Civil War. Despite his popularity, Foster received little income for his work and he died penniless in 1861.

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