During these last two weeks I have given a lot of thought to monuments in our area and in other places as well. It seems that the only monument that has drawn any attention locally has been the statue of Stephen Foster in Oakland. It is located outside of the Carnegie Library on Forbes Avenue and includes a depiction of an African American slave. It seems like the statue has been there for over 120 years. I have never been bothered by it and actually forgot about it until recently. When I was part of the Stages in History Acting Company at the John Heinz History Center we had an actor that portrayed Stephen Foster. We strolled throughout the History Center and told the stories of Pittsburgh via brief plays. If you are saying to yourself, ‘Who is Stephen Foster?’ Well, place these tunes in your head; “O Susanna don’t you cry for me,” or “Camp town races sing this song do dah do dah.” There is now a debate over what to do with the statue. Are you kidding me right now? Renee Piechocki, director of Public Art for the non-profit Pittsburgh Arts Council says the statue is not appropriate for public property. I took a good look at the statue, Black man playing banjo, no shoes but happy, White man above him seems to be looking down. I say keep the statue up, make it a teachable moment. Foster is a part of Pittsburgh history. Perhaps the slave is the co-author of the song.
(Email Debbie at debbienorrell@aol.com)
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