DOO DAH NIGHTS

One of Pittsburgh's more interesting festivals celebrates Lawrenceville's favorite son, composer Stephen Foster each July, known as Doo Dah Days! Due to complications with the City’s 200th anniversary celebration (taking place the same day as this event) The Lawrenceville Historical Society is planning an alternate celebration for the annual 2016 event. This year it will be Doo Dah Nights at Spirit (the former 581 Moose Lodge) on Saturday, July 9, 2016 from 7:30 pm to 11:00 pm. There will be three musical performances, featuring a Contra Dance, a fun, social activity. Here is a flyer for the event and the Doo Dah Days site will provide updates as the this unique event is still in the planning stages.

Devilish Merry will perform at Doo Dah Nights with The Haygood Paisleys and Professor Gilbert and the 1913 Blue and Grey Reunion Band. We share a love of old-time music with the Haygood Paisleys, and many of the tunes we have in common come from the mid 18th to mid 19th centuries.

We are planning Stephen Foster songs for this performance, including tunes played for uptempo for dancing such as Camptown Races and Oh Susanna. We will slow others down for full vocal effect, with songs like My Old Kentucky Home and Gentle Annie.

The Haygood Paisleys

Professor Gilbert and the 1913 Blue and Grey Reunion Band

Stephen Foster was born July 4, 1826, on his family’s estate, high on the hillside above the Allegheny River. This estate was located in Lawrenceville, which later became one of the largest, most historic communities in Pittsburgh. He developed a love for music at the age of three or four, and from that point forward there was no stopping him. Foster is considered by many to be the world’s foremost composer, and is the only person to have written two state songs – “My Old Kentucky Home” (Kentucky) and “Swannee River” (Florida).

Today he is considered the founder of “Pop Music”, and his works are played throughout the world. There are many books written on Stephen Foster, and the University of Pittsburgh maintains the Stephen Foster Memorial Center and The Center for American Music. The Center debunks some favorite myths about Foster, including the thought Foster was a Southerner, that he wrote about the "Swanee" River and the old Kentucky home after (or while) visiting those sites, and that Foster got many of his musical ideas by listening to slaves or attending black church services and then simply writing down what he heard.

The Center's website has a section on the Minstrel Shows stating they were "born" about the same time as Foster and quickly became the most popular form of public entertainment in the U.S. Minstrel Shows evolved from two types of entertainment popular in America before 1830: the impersonation of blacks given by white actors between acts of plays or during circuses; and the performances of black musicians who sang, with banjo accompaniment, in city streets.

Stephen Foster is a landmark public sculpture in bronze by Giuseppe Moretti on Schenly Plaza in the Oakland. An interesting wikipedia page describes the statue originally cast in 1900 and placed in Highland Park.

"At least since the African-American Civil Rights Movement (1955-1968), this statue of a white man and slave has periodically stirred public debate. Opponents claim it is inherently racist. Some historians counter that "Uncle Ned", the song whose composition is depicted, is actually one of the first anti-slavery songs, though a subtle one. In 2000, a citizen group petitioned Pittsburgh mayor Tom Murphy to form a task force about the controversy. Some want a new statue. Others suggest a placard be placed on the its base to explain why few white people took offensive a century ago about a sculpture of a slave sitting at a white man's feet. Another controversy over the Foster & Ned statue involves Ned's bare feet. The banjo-strumming slave is depicted with bare feet. Some claim rubbing Ned's "lucky big toe" brings good luck. The practice is even promoted in the article "Statue Burnishing Etiquette" on Roadside America.com: Your Online Guide to Offbeat Tourist Attractions."

I always remember seeing a sock on the exposed foot.

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