Mills Music
1934 Stephen Foster’s Songs of the Sunny South – Mills Collective Edition
1934 Stephen Foster’s Songs of the Sunny South – Mills Collective Edition
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AT A GLANCE
- Title:
- "Stephen Foster's Songs of the Sunny South"
- Performance medium:
- Piano, guitar, voice
- Type:
- Sheet music
- Composer:
- Stephen Collins Foster (1826 - 1864)
- Era:
- Jazz Age (1920 - 1935)
- Date:
- 1934 (Originally composed in mid-19th century)
- Publisher:
- Mills Music Inc., New York
- Material:
- Paper
- Dimensions:
- 9" x 12"
- Condition:
- Excellent
Low stock: 1 left
Stephen Foster’s “Songs of the Sunny South” — Mills Collective Edition with NRA Emblem
A 1934 Depression-era compilation of Stephen Foster standards, issued by Mills Music as part of its Collective Edition series and bearing the NRA “We Do Our Part” emblem — a distinctive marker of early New Deal publishing.
Published in 1934 by Mills Music Inc., New York, this Mills Collective Edition brings together several of the most enduring songs by Stephen Collins Foster (1826–1864), often called the “father of American music.”
Included in this collection are well-known Foster compositions such as:
- Old Folks at Home
- My Old Kentucky Home
- Old Black Joe
- Massa’s in the Cold, Cold Ground
- Nelly Was a Lady
The black ink cover illustration presents a stylized antebellum scene: a grand plantation house framed by trees, a woman in period dress, and a gentleman in top hat and cane. The design reflects the romanticized Southern imagery frequently used in early 20th-century marketing of Foster’s works. The back cover contains advertising for additional Mills Music publications of the era.
Notably, the cover bears the NRA “We Do Our Part” insignia, used between 1933–1935 during the National Recovery Administration program under President Franklin D. Roosevelt. The emblem helps precisely date this edition to the early New Deal period, adding historical context beyond the music itself.
Excellent vintage condition with light age-related browning. Clean and well preserved. Protective sleeve included.
This publication includes songs historically associated with 19th-century minstrelsy and imagery that reflects racial stereotypes of the period. Such material is presented for historical documentation and educational context. Museums and scholars preserve these works to better understand the cultural and social history surrounding American music and its evolution.
The dramatic black silhouette artwork and bold typography create a striking graphic presentation. Matted in ivory and framed in dark wood, it works well in a music room, study, or historically themed Americana collection.
Listen to the Paul Robeson recording of My Old Kentucky Home here.
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