200 years after his birth, controversial composer Stephen Foster still sings to America’s contradictions

Though many of Foster's songs were written to be performed in racist minstrel shows, the lyrics were ambiguous enough to find fans among antislavery Americans. Lyn Alweis/The Denver Post via Getty Images

The 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence happens to also coincide with the 200th birthday of composer Stephen Collins Foster.

A songwriter who achieved remarkable success in the late 1840s and 1850s with “Oh! Susanna,” “My Old Kentucky Home” and many others, Foster was born near Pittsburgh on July 4, 1826.