Stephen Foster Memorial

The Stephen Foster Memorial in Pittsburgh is a major performing arts center and a museum dedicated to the life and work of the American songwriter Stephen Collins Foster. The building stands in the Oakland neighborhood on the University of Pittsburgh campus along Forbes Avenue and is part of the Schenley Farms National Historic District. It houses two theater stages used by the university's theater department: the 478-seat Charity Randall Theatre and the smaller, 151-seat Henry Heymann Theatre. Besides serving as a performance venue, the memorial is home to the Center for American Music and the Society for American Music, both devoted to researching and documenting the history of American music.

Architecturally, the building, dedicated in 1937, is a steel-frame structure with a façade of Indiana limestone, the same material used for the neighboring Cathedral of Learning. It was designed by Charles Klauder, who conceived the memorial as a complement to his main work, the Cathedral of Learning. Inside, in the foyer of the Charity Randall Theatre, you'll find historic details such as stained-glass windows by Charles Connick and light fixtures by the metalworker Samuel Yellin. The seats in the auditorium were restored during a renovation in 2003, and their deep red upholstery matches the originals from the 1930s.

The heart of the building for music lovers is the left wing, which houses the Stephen Foster Memorial Museum and the Foster Shrine. Here you'll find the extensive Stephen Foster Collection, which includes more than 200 copies of his compositions, manuscripts, recordings, songbooks, and personal mementos, among them one of his pianos. The collection goes back to Josiah Kirby Lilly, who donated his private collection of more than 10,000 objects to the university. You can view these historic artifacts in the Gothic-style chapel, whose stained-glass windows depict motifs from Foster's songs. The building also houses the Ethelbert Nevin Collection, which offers further insight into music history.