University of Pittsburgh Library System

About the Library

The Center for American Music, a part of the University of Pittsburgh Library System,  engages in research, teaching, interpretive presentations, and conservation of music of the United States of America. We expand and document knowledge of American music, as well as its cultural and social roles in American life. 

Our Foster Hall Collection reflects a broad cross-section of American popular culture, especially from the 1840s to the 1930s. In addition to containing one of the most significant collections of 19th-century American music, we are also the principal repository for materials concerning the life and music of Stephen Collins Foster, a Pittsburgh native who was America's first professional songwriter.

The Center for American Music is housed in the Stephen Foster Memorial building alongside the Stephen Foster Memorial Museum and two theatres. 

Voices Across Time, the Center's education project, is creating tools for middle and high school social studies and language arts teachers to use music every day in their classrooms.

Our Collections

• 19th Century Popular Music
• 19th Century Popular Culture
• Stephen Foster Collection Guide
• Ethelbert Nevin Collection Guide
• Robert Schmertz Collection Guide
• Adolph M. Foerster Collection Guide
• Joe Negri Collection Guide
• Pace Gospel Collection Guide
• Charles Hamm Collection Guide