Dan Emmett composed Dixie in the spring of 1859*, while playing with Bryant's Minstrels. It was first performed on April 4, 1859, at Mechanic's Hall in New York City.
When the Civil War began troops of both armies marched to the tune of Dixie. However, by the end of 1861 Dixie had become identified as a Southern tune. Nevertheless, it remained one of President Lincoln's favorites. He reportedly ordered an army band to play it for crowds gathered outside the White House when news of Lee's surrender at Appomattox was received in Washington.
Emmett was born in Mount Vernon, Ohio in 1815. He taught himself how to play the fiddle and served in the army as a fifer. In 1842 along with three friends he formed the Original Virginia Minstrels. Their first performance was February 6, 1843 at the Bowery Amphitheater in New York City. Although popular in the United States they met with financial disaster when they toured England. The group disbanded in 1844.
Dan Emmett continued to tour and perform with various minstrel groups until 1895. He died June 28, 1904 in Mount Vernon, Ohio.
*Unsubstantiated claims have been made over the years that Dan Emmett learned the song Dixie from the Snowden Family of Clinton, Ohio.
The Snowdens were an African-American family of musicians who performed banjo and fiddle tunes throughout central Ohio from the 1850s to the early twentieth century. Dan Emmett knew the Snowdens in the 1890's, but there is nothing linking him to them in the 1850's. The story is considered not credible by most historians.
see also Minstrel Show Notes
Department of Special Collections Davidson Library, University of California, Santa Barbara
Listen to an early recording of
Byron G. Harlan and Frank C. Stanley.
Edison Records (1904)
Hetzler's Fakebook
a
resource
for
fiddle, banjo,
guitar, mandolin and dulcimer players who want to learn traditional
music.
Dan Emmett (1815 -1904)
in blackface...
