Glad to hear that I'm not the only one who loves the songs of Irish-American Stephen Foster. When I am singing/playing at a local nursing home, or at the local living museum representing the late 1800's frontier days, I sing many of the songs of Foster. When I am performing for children in schools, I might not sing some of the songs which could be misunderstood without conversations about the then&now factor. I do believe that children are completely capable of learning about "olden days" & understanding the differences. I just choose not to cause misunderstandings. I do sing some of Foster' songs and the kids always enjoy them, and often have never heard them before. Our nation's folk music-whether composers are known or not-should be passed down for the benefit of future generations. Sadly, little of our folk music is taught in our scools.