| "My Old Kentucky Home" | |
|---|---|
 Early draft of My Old Kentucky Home by Foster | |
| Song | |
| Written | c. 1852–1853 |
| Published | January 1853 |
| Genre | Traditional / Folk |
| Songwriter(s) | Stephen C. Foster |
| Composer(s) | Stephen C. Foster |
| Lyricist(s) | Stephen C. Foster |
"My Old Kentucky Home, Good-Night!", typically shortened to "My Old Kentucky Home", is a sentimental ballad written by Stephen Foster, probably composed in 1852.[1][2][3] It was published in January 1853 by Firth, Pond, & Co. of New York.[1][4] Foster was likely inspired by Harriet Beecher Stowe's anti-slavery novel Uncle Tom's Cabin, as evidenced by the title of a sketch in Foster's sketchbook, "Poor Uncle Tom, Good-Night!"
Interpretations of the song vary widely. Frederick Douglass wrote in his 1855 autobiography My Bondage and My Freedom that the song "awakens sympathies for the slave, in which antislavery principles take root, grow, and flourish".[5][6] However, the song's publication by Firth & Pond as a minstrel song and its use in "Tom shows" (stagings of Stowe's novel of varying degrees of sincerity and faithfulness to the original text), and other settings, have clouded its reception.[2][3]
- ^ a b Richard Jackson (1974). Stephen Foster song book: original sheet music of 40 songs. Courier Dover Press. p. 177.
- ^ a b "My old Kentucky home, good night | Digital Pitt". digital.library.pitt.edu. Archived from the original on April 26, 2024. Retrieved June 7, 2021.
- ^ a b Austin, William (1987) [1975]. Susannah Jeanie and the Old Folks at Home: Stephen Foster from his Time to Ours (2nd ed.). Champaign: University of Illinois Press.
- ^ "My Old Kentucky Home, Good Night!". 2008. Archived from the original on January 15, 2020. Retrieved October 1, 2016.
- ^ PressRoom (April 9, 2001). "American Experience on KET profiles "My Old Kentucky Home" author, Stephen Foster". KET. Archived from the original on May 27, 2012. Retrieved July 11, 2011.
- ^ Douglass, Frederick (1855). My Bondage and My Freedom. New York, NY: Miller, Orton and Mulligan. p. 461 – via Alexander Street.