Reminiscences of Robert P. Nevin (1867)

Abstract Foster family acquaintance Robert P. Nevin wrote these reminiscences over the three years following the composer’s death and relied heavily on information provided by Stephen Foster’s brother Morrison Foster. Nevin, a Republican writing for the progressive magazine the Atlantic, omitted Foster’s Democratic political affiliations and aligned Foster with Republican ideals. Probably influenced by Frederick Douglass, Nevin provides a sketch of Foster’s life and career that portrayed Foster as a composer of minstrel songs that were sympathetic portraits of their imagined Black subjects and contributed to the cause of abolition. Christopher Lynch provides an introduction and annotations with notes and corrections.