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Permission to publish or reproduce is required from the copyright holder. For more information, please see the Permissions and Copyright page on the West Virginia and Regional History Center website.

Conditions Governing Access

No special access restriction applies.

Preferred Citation

[Description and date of item], [Box/folder number], Daniel Decatur Emmett, Composer, Facsimile of Manuscript of "Dixie's Land", A&M 4257, West Virginia and Regional History Center, West Virginia University Libraries, Morgantown, West Virginia.

Biographical / Historical

Daniel Decatur Emmett, more commonly referred to as "Dan Emmett" and occasionally as "Emmy", was born in Mount Vernon, Ohio in 1815. As a member of the Virginia Minstrels, which first performed in 1843, Emmett helped to create and popularize the "minstrel show". However, Emmett is best remembered as the composer of the song "Dixie's Land", which he wrote in 1859. The song quickly acheived popularity, especially in the South. "Dixie's Land" (more commonly "Dixie") would be adopted by the Confederacy as an unofficial anthem during the Civil War and the song is still strongly associated with the South and the Confederate States.
Emmett continued to perform as a musician and was particularly popular in the South. He retired to his hometown of Mount Vernon, Ohio in 1888 and died in 1904.
The original manuscript (a facsimile of which comprises this collection) was lent by Emmett to the magazine "The Confederate Veteran" for reproduction; this manuscript was considered lost after Emmett's death. However, the manuscript was inherited by the descendants of Emmett's second wife May Louise (Brewer) Bird. George Bird Evans was her great-grandson; in cooperation with the Richmond chapter of the Daughters of the Confederacy, Evans published this facsimile of the manuscript with his own historical notes.

Scope and Contents

Actual-size facsimile of Daniel Decatur Emmett's original manuscript of the music and lyrics for the song "Dixie's Land". Emmett composed the song in 1859. The facsimile was created by George Bird Evans, the owner of the original manuscript, circa 1960-1961. The facsimile also includes historical notes by Evans.

Subjects and Indexing Terms

• Dixie.
• Minstrel music
• Music - Confederate songs.