A Love Letter from ”Way Down Upon the Suwannee River “

A Love Letter from ”Way Down Upon the Suwannee River “. Legends and Legacies. Stephen Collins Foster (July 4, 1826-January 13, 1864), supposedly never laid eyes on the dark, tannic waters of the Suwanee River that he immortalized in his 1851 composition "Old Folks at Home", but when he took his pen and shortened the three syllable "Suwannee" to the two syllable "Swanee", history was made., It was at a Convention of the National Federation of Music Clubs in White Springs in 1952 at the Colonial Hotel that the, then, President of the National Federation of Music Clubs, the late Mrs. Ada Holding Miller, of Rhode Island, suggested that the Stephen Foster Memorial Commission consider the production of a Folk Festival featuring the diverse cultures and music of the Sunshine State., In early May of 1953 with the ring of the old school bell and the call of a Town Crier, the Florida Folk Festival opened against a backdrop of huge pines and moss draped oaks and magnolias. By the time the last program ended at sunset two and a half days later, the Festival had presented Minorcans, Seminole and Miccosukee Indians, Greek-Americans, Jewish-Americans, Czech-Americans, Spanish-Americans, African-Americans, and Florida Crackers., The Director for the Florida Folk Festival for 1953 and 1954 was Sarah Gertrude Knott, director and founder of the National Folk Festival. In 1955, the late Miss Thelma A. Boltin, Gainesville, Florida, became the Director of Programming at the Stephen Foster Memorial, a position she held till 1986., After the Florida Department of State, established the Bureau of Florida Folklife Programs in White Springs in 1976, they coordinated the Festival until 1995. In 2002, the Florida Park Service assumed full responsibility for coordinating and producing the Florida Folk Festival., Today, the legend and the legacy lives on as a love letter from those who lovingly created, sustained, and perpetuated a truly beautiful event in the life of our nation.