HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Marion Welch ( Foster; April 18, 1851 – July 9, 1935) was the only child of composer
Stephen Collins Foster Stephen Collins Foster (July 4, 1826January 13, 1864), known also as "the father of American music", was an American composer known primarily for his parlour and minstrel music during the Romantic period. He wrote more than 200 songs, inclu ...
and, together with her daughter, Jessie Rose, was the caretaker of the Stephen S. Foster Memorial Home, located at 3600 Penn Avenue,
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Wester ...
, from 1914 until her death in 1935. She taught the piano and occasionally composed music.


Early life

Marion Foster was born on April 18, 1851, at the home of her uncle, William Barclay Foster Jr. Her parents,
Stephen Collins Foster Stephen Collins Foster (July 4, 1826January 13, 1864), known also as "the father of American music", was an American composer known primarily for his parlour and minstrel music during the Romantic period. He wrote more than 200 songs, inclu ...
and
Jane Foster Jane Foster is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character was introduced as a love interest of the superhero Thor Odinson until becoming a superhero in her own right. Created by writers Stan Lee an ...
, then moved with her to the home of her paternal
grandfather Grandparents, individually known as grandmother and grandfather, are the parents of a person's father or mother – paternal or maternal. Every sexually-reproducing living organism who is not a genetic chimera has a maximum of four genetic ...
, and a few months later they moved back to her grandparents' home. In 1861, Jane and Marion moved to
Lewistown, Pennsylvania Lewistown is a borough in and the county seat of Mifflin County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is the principal city of the '' Lewistown, PA Micropolitan Statistical Area'', which encompasses all of Mifflin County. It lies along the Juniata Ri ...
, where Welch began attending school. In 1864, she was joined by five cousins whose father had died in an accident, cousins who subsequently moved in with her and her mother. Her grandmother also moved in at this time. Around 1870, Welch married Walter Welsh, with whom she had three children. Welch did not raise her first child, Jessie, who was raised to adulthood by her grandmother.


Cultural contributions

In 1879, Welch and her mother secured the copyright for "I Would Not Die in the Summertime." When the copyright expired on "Old Folks at Home", they renewed it for a fourteen-year period. In 1893, she and her mother filed a suit alleging copyright violation of Stephen Foster's song, "Old Folks at Home". In 1895, Welch was living in
Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...
. In 1900, she unveiled the Stephen Foster Memorial in Highland Park. In 1906, Welch unveiled a model of the statue then being built in Frankfort, in honour of Stephen Foster and his song "My Old Kentucky Home". In a ceremony in
Louisville, Kentucky Louisville ( , , ) is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky and the 28th most-populous city in the United States. Louisville is the historical seat and, since 2003, the nominal seat of Jefferson County, on the Indiana border ...
, a
chorus Chorus may refer to: Music * Chorus (song) or refrain, line or lines that are repeated in music or in verse * Chorus effect, the perception of similar sounds from multiple sources as a single, richer sound * Chorus form, song in which all verse ...
of 1,000 children sang some of her father's works. In 1913, citizens in Pittsburgh initiated fundraising to preserve Stephen Foster's place of birth in the city as a memorial to him.
Philanthropist Philanthropy is a form of altruism that consists of "private initiatives, for the Public good (economics), public good, focusing on quality of life". Philanthropy contrasts with business initiatives, which are private initiatives for private goo ...
James H. Park bought the property outright the following year and asked Welch and Jessie Rose to become the live-in caretakers of the house. The city of
Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Wester ...
assumed financial responsibility for the property, helping to upkeep and preserve it. Park gave the house at 3600 Penn Avenue, known as the Stephen S. Foster Memorial Home, to the city of Pittsburgh in July 1916. In 1926, Welch visited
Canonsburg Canonsburg is a Borough (Pennsylvania), borough in Washington County, Pennsylvania, southwest of Pittsburgh. Canonsburg was laid out by Colonel John Canon in 1789 and incorporated in 1802. The population was 9,735 at the 2020 census. The town li ...
, where the community celebrated Foster's music and shared reminiscences about her father. In 1929, she was Canonsburg's guest of honor in a celebration of her father's work, where she played both her own music and her father's. She was described by the local paper as having a youthful outlook on life, despite being more than seventy-seven years old. After Josiah Lilly built the
Stephen Foster Memorial The Stephen Collins Foster Memorial is a performing arts center and museum which houses the Stephen Foster Archives at the University of Pittsburgh in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA. It is dedicated to the life and works of American songwriter Ste ...
in 1937, staff from the memorial spoke to Welch about her family's genealogy. Fletcher Hodges, Jr., who was the first curator of the Foster Hall Collection at the memorial, noted in 1948 that Marion Welch had "provided a link between her father and the present". In her later years she spent her time with her daughter and granddaughter.


Music

Welch taught music and piano. Fletcher Hodges noted that Foster Welch was "long known as a piano teacher" in Pittsburgh, and that "many Pittsburghers have received their first instruction in the art of music" from her. She occasionally composed music of her own. Welch and Frank S. Bracken composed the songs "The Whole Woods Ring" and "On the Hills of Hollywood" together. She continued to write and interpret musical scores for her friends "even in the last months of her life." However, since few were found later, it was suspected that her musical writing may have been destroyed. Some say that she was "not able to attain fame of a like order" when compared to her father.


Legal disputes

Welch twice attempted to force the US government to honor the contract that was established years before in court. The basis of the legal action was that the US military did not pay for their use of Foster property during the War of 1812. She also filed suit against at least one publisher who was infringing upon her copyrights.


Archived content

Primary source material including family letters concerning the life of Welch are housed in the
University of Pittsburgh Library System Archives Service Center The Archives Service Center (ASC) is one of the main repositories within the University Library System at the University of Pittsburgh and houses collections of various manuscripts, media, maps, and other materials of historical, social and scie ...
. These have been digitized and are accessible remotely. The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette also maintains archives of numerous newspaper articles about Welch.


Philanthropic activities

On September 12, 1900, Welch unveiled one of the first monuments created to commemorate her father. She appeared at one of many commemorative events as far away as Kentucky where she appeared before a crowd of about one thousand to unveil a statue of her father.


Death

Welch's cause of death in 1935, aged 84, was a
heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when blood flow decreases or stops to the coronary artery of the heart, causing damage to the heart muscle. The most common symptom is chest pain or discomfort which may tr ...
brought on by
asthma Asthma is a long-term inflammatory disease of the airways of the lungs. It is characterized by variable and recurring symptoms, reversible airflow obstruction, and easily triggered bronchospasms. Symptoms include episodes of wheezing, cou ...
.


References


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Foster, Jane 1851 births 1935 deaths 20th-century women American women curators American curators Burials at Allegheny Cemetery Musicians from Pittsburgh