Little Alabama coon (NYPL Hades-448973-1157413)

Hattie Starr was an American songwriter popular in the late 19th and early 20th century. Her best known song and a popular hit of its day was "Little Alabama Coon" (1893).Goldberg, Isaac
Tin pan alley; a chronicle of American popular music
p. 99 (1930)Boyden, Frank L
Popular American Composers
pp. 47-48 (1902) It was a

coon song Coon songs were a genre of music that presented a stereotype of black people. They were popular in the United States and Australia from around 1880 to 1920, though the earliest such songs date from minstrel shows as far back as 1848, when they we ...

, but not considered racist or negative at the time compared to more coarse

vaudeville Vaudeville (; ) is a theatrical genre of variety entertainment born in France at the end of the 19th century. A vaudeville was originally a comedy without psychological or moral intentions, based on a comical situation: a dramatic composition ...

fare, even being recorded by

Mabel Garrison Mabel Garrison Siemonn (April 24, 1886 – August 20, 1963), was an American coloratura soprano who sang at the Metropolitan Opera from 1914 to 1921. Biography Garrison was born in Baltimore, Maryland on April 24, 1886. She graduated from We ...

of the New York

Metropolitan Opera The Metropolitan Opera (commonly known as the Met) is an American opera company based in New York City, resident at the Metropolitan Opera House at Lincoln Center, currently situated on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. The company is oper ...

.Brooks, Tim
Lost Sounds: Blacks and the Birth of the Recording Industry, 1890-1919
p. 367 (2004) Originally an actress, her songwriting proved successful enough that she left the stage. Her other compositions included ''Somebody Loves Me'' which was successfully performed by

Josephine Sabel Josephine Domingue Sabel (October 3, 1866 – December 24, 1945) was an American singer and comedian, billed as "The Queen of Song" in vaudeville. Early life Josephine Domingue was born in Lawrence, Massachusetts."Josephine Sabel" ''New York Ti ...

.Cullen, Frank, et al
Vaudeville old & new, Vol. I
p. 987 (2006)Dahl, Linda
Stormy Weather: The Music and Lives of a Century of Jazzwomen
p. 7 (1984, 1995)

References

External links

*
Little Alabama Coon
sheet music at Levy Sheet Music Collection
Somebody Loves Me
sheet music at Levy Sheet Music Collection {{DEFAULTSORT:Starr, Hattie American women songwriters Place of birth missing Year of birth missing Year of death missing