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{{Short description|Composer of the melody of Happy Birthday to You (1859-1916)}}
{{Short description|Composer of the melody of "Happy Birthday to You"}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=May 2024}}
{{Infobox person
{{Infobox person
| honorific_prefix =
| honorific_prefix =
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| birth_place = [[Louisville, Kentucky]], U.S.
| birth_place = [[Louisville, Kentucky]], U.S.
| death_date = {{Death date and age|1916|06|05|1859|06|27}}
| death_date = {{Death date and age|1916|06|05|1859|06|27}}
| death_place = [[Chicago|Chicago, Illinois]], U.S.
| death_place = [[Chicago, Illinois]], U.S.
| death_cause =
| death_cause =
| resting_place = [[Cave Hill Cemetery]]<br />Louisville, Kentucky, U.S.
| resting_place = [[Cave Hill Cemetery]]
| resting_place_coordinates = <!-- {{Coord|LAT|LONG|display=inline}} -->
| resting_place_coordinates = <!-- {{Coord|LAT|LONG|display=inline}} -->
| monuments =
| monuments =
| nationality = American
| other_names =
| other_names =
| education =
| education =
| alma_mater =
| alma_mater =
| occupation = {{hlist|[[Composer]]|[[teacher]]|[[Musicology|musicologist]]}}
| occupation = {{hlist|[[Composer]]|[[teacher]]|[[musicologist]]}}
| employer =
| employer =
| organization =
| organization =
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Mildred Jane Hill, born in [[Louisville, Kentucky]], was the oldest of three sisters, Mildred, [[Patty Hill|Patty]], and Jessica. She learned [[music]] from her father, Calvin Cody, and Adolph Weidig.
Mildred Jane Hill, born in [[Louisville, Kentucky]], was the oldest of three sisters, Mildred, [[Patty Hill|Patty]], and Jessica. She learned [[music]] from her father, Calvin Cody, and Adolph Weidig.


It has been reported that Mildred Hill was a [[kindergarten]] and [[Sunday-school]] [[teacher]], like her younger sister [[Patty Hill|Patty]].{{citation needed|date=June 2013}} Prof. Robert Brauneis, after extensively researching the Hill family, has concluded that she was not a kindergarten teacher.<ref>[http://ssrn.com/abstract=1111624 "Copyright and the World's Most Popular Song."] Robert Brauneis. October 14, 2010. Retrieved July 4, 2013.</ref> She moved into music, teaching, composing, performing, and specializing in the study of [[Negro spirituals]]. Hill and her sister were honored at the [[World's Columbian Exposition|Chicago World's Fair]] (1893) for their work in the [[progressive education]] program at the experimental kindergarten, the Louisville Experimental Kindergarten School.
It has been reported that Mildred Hill was a [[kindergarten]] and [[Sunday-school]] [[teacher]], like her younger sister [[Patty Hill|Patty]].{{citation needed|date=June 2013}} Prof. Robert Brauneis, after extensively researching the Hill family, has concluded that she was not a kindergarten teacher.<ref>[http://ssrn.com/abstract=1111624 "Copyright and the World's Most Popular Song."] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200511210411/https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1111624 |date=May 11, 2020 }} Robert Brauneis. October 14, 2010. Retrieved July 4, 2013.</ref> She moved into music, teaching, composing, performing, and specializing in the study of [[Negro spirituals]]. Hill and her sister were honored at the [[World's Columbian Exposition|Chicago World's Fair]] (1893) for their work in the [[progressive education]] program at the experimental kindergarten, the Louisville Experimental Kindergarten School.


She wrote about music using the [[pen name]] Johann Tonsor,<ref>{{Cite episode
She wrote about music using the [[pen name]] Johann Tonsor,<ref>{{Cite episode
| title = New Nations and New Worlds
| title = New Nations and New Worlds
| url = http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01778mc
| url = http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01778mc
| accessdate = 2011-11-17
| accessdate = November 17, 2011
| series = Symphony
| series = Symphony
| credits = Simon Russell Beale
| credits = Simon Russell Beale
| network = BBC
| network = BBC
| airdate = 2011-11-17
| airdate = November 17, 2011
| number = 3
| number = 3
| archive-date = March 28, 2019
}}
| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20190328205341/https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01778mc
⚫
</ref> and her 1892 article "Negro Music", suggesting that the existing body of [[black music]] would be the basis of a distinctive American musical style, influenced [[Antonín Dvořák|Dvořák]] in composing the [[Symphony No. 9 (Dvořák)|New World Symphony]].<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2002/11/17/arts/music-dvorak-as-prime-mover-sitting-duck-and-more.html?pagewanted=all&src=pm|accessdate=16 March 2012|title=MUSIC; Dvorak as Prime Mover, Sitting Duck and More|newspaper=New York Times|date=17 November 2002|author=Michael Beckerman}}</ref>
| url-status = live
⚫
}}</ref> and her 1892 article "Negro Music", suggesting that the existing body of [[black music]] would be the basis of a distinctive American musical style, influenced [[Dvořák]] in composing the [[New World Symphony]].<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2002/11/17/arts/music-dvorak-as-prime-mover-sitting-duck-and-more.html?pagewanted=all&src=pm|accessdate=March 16, 2012|title=MUSIC; Dvorak as Prime Mover, Sitting Duck and More|newspaper=New York Times|date=November 17, 2002|author=Michael Beckerman|archive-date=March 23, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190323024135/https://www.nytimes.com/2002/11/17/arts/music-dvorak-as-prime-mover-sitting-duck-and-more.html?pagewanted=all&src=pm|url-status=live}}</ref>


Hill died in [[Chicago, Illinois]], in 1916,<ref>{{cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EVninY59ul0C&q=Mildred+J.+Hill+death&pg=PA267 | title=The Book of World-Famous Music: Classical, Popular and Folk | publisher=Courier Dover Publications | year=2000 | accessdate=April 4, 2013 | author=Fuld, James J. | pages=267| isbn=9780486414751 }}</ref> long before her song became famous. She is buried with her sister in [[Cave Hill Cemetery]] in Louisville, Kentucky.
Hill died in [[Chicago, Illinois]], in 1916,<ref>{{cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EVninY59ul0C&q=Mildred+J.+Hill+death&pg=PA267 | title=The Book of World-Famous Music: Classical, Popular and Folk | publisher=Courier Dover Publications | year=2000 | accessdate=April 4, 2013 | author=Fuld, James J. | pages=267 | isbn=9780486414751 | archive-date=May 24, 2024 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240524090315/https://books.google.com/books?id=EVninY59ul0C&q=Mildred+J.+Hill+death&pg=PA267#v=onepage&q=Mildred%20J.%20Hill%20death&f=false | url-status=live }}</ref> long before her song became famous. She is buried with her sister in [[Cave Hill Cemetery]] in Louisville, Kentucky.


Mildred Hill's manuscripts and papers are held by the [[University of Louisville]] Music Library in [[Louisville, Kentucky]].
Mildred Hill's manuscripts and papers are held by the [[University of Louisville]] Music Library in [[Louisville, Kentucky]].
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=="Happy Birthday to You"==
=="Happy Birthday to You"==
{{Main article|Happy Birthday to You}}
{{Main article|Happy Birthday to You}}
While teaching at the Louisville Experimental Kindergarten School, the Hill sisters wrote the song "Good Morning to All"; Mildred wrote the melody, and [[Patty Hill|Patty]] the lyrics. The song was first published in 1893 in ''Song Stories for the Kindergarten''<ref>{{cite book |last=Hill |first=Mildred J. |url=https://archive.org/details/SongStoriesForTheKindergarten |title=Song Stories for the Kindergarten |year=1896 |publisher=Internet Archive |accessdate=2013-12-07}}</ref> as a greeting song for teachers to sing to their students.<ref>{{Citation | last=Brauneis | first=Robert | title=Copyright and the World's Most Popular Song | ssrn=1111624 | date=2008-03-21 | pages=4–15}}</ref> ''Song Stories for the Kindergarten'' had over 20 editions, and the words were translated into French, German, Italian, Spanish, Chinese, Japanese, and Swedish.<ref name="Biographical Extracts relating to Prominent Artists of Louisville and Kentucky">{{cite book|title=Biographical Extracts relating to Prominent Artists of Louisville and Kentucky|year=1939|location=Louisville, Kentucky|publisher=Louisville Free Public Library|pages=107|url=https://exploreuk.uky.edu/catalog/xt7dbr8mfs9h_116}}</ref>
While teaching at the Louisville Experimental Kindergarten School, the Hill sisters wrote the song "Good Morning to All"; Mildred wrote the melody, and [[Patty Hill|Patty]] the lyrics. The song was first published in 1893 in ''Song Stories for the Kindergarten''<ref>{{cite book |last=Hill |first=Mildred J. |url=https://archive.org/details/SongStoriesForTheKindergarten |title=Song Stories for the Kindergarten |year=1896 |publisher=Internet Archive |accessdate=December 7, 2013}}</ref> as a greeting song for teachers to sing to their students.<ref>{{Citation | last=Brauneis | first=Robert | title=Copyright and the World's Most Popular Song | journal=Gw Law Faculty Publications & Other Works | ssrn=1111624 | date=March 21, 2008 | pages=4–15 | doi=10.2139/ssrn.1111624 | url=https://scholarship.law.gwu.edu/faculty_publications/260 | access-date=December 24, 2023 | archive-date=March 11, 2024 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240311220823/https://scholarship.law.gwu.edu/faculty_publications/260/ | url-status=live }}</ref> ''Song Stories for the Kindergarten'' had over 20 editions, and the words were translated into French, German, Italian, Spanish, Chinese, Japanese, and Swedish.<ref name="Biographical Extracts relating to Prominent Artists of Louisville and Kentucky">{{cite book|title=Biographical Extracts relating to Prominent Artists of Louisville and Kentucky|year=1939|location=Louisville, Kentucky|publisher=Louisville Free Public Library|pages=107|url=https://exploreuk.uky.edu/catalog/xt7dbr8mfs9h_116|access-date=March 4, 2017|archive-date=March 23, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190323023913/https://exploreuk.uky.edu/catalog/xt7dbr8mfs9h_116|url-status=live}}</ref>


"[[Happy Birthday to You]]" first appeared in print in 1912 using the melody of "Good Morning to All" with different lyrics.<ref>{{Citation | last=Brauneis | first=Robert | title=Copyright and the World's Most Popular Song | ssrn=1111624 | date=2008-03-21 | page=31}}</ref> Its popularity continued to grow through the 1930s, with no author identified for the new lyrics, nor credit given for the melody from "Good Morning to You". Based on 1935 copyright registrations by the Summy Company, and a series of court cases (which all settled out of court),<ref>{{Citation | last=Brauneis | first=Robert | title=Copyright and the World's Most Popular Song | ssrn=1111624 | date=2008-03-21 | page=28}}, ''The Myth of a Court Ruling''</ref> the sisters became known as the authors of "Happy Birthday to You". In September 2015, a federal judge declared that "Happy Birthday to You" is in the public domain.
"[[Happy Birthday to You]]" first appeared in print in 1912 using the melody of "Good Morning to All" with different lyrics.<ref>{{Citation | last=Brauneis | first=Robert | title=Copyright and the World's Most Popular Song | ssrn=1111624 | date=March 21, 2008 | page=31}}</ref> Its popularity continued to grow through the 1930s, with no author identified for the new lyrics, nor credit given for the melody from "Good Morning to You". Based on 1935 copyright registrations by the Summy Company, and a series of court cases (which all settled out of court),<ref>{{Citation | last=Brauneis | first=Robert | title=Copyright and the World's Most Popular Song | ssrn=1111624 | date=March 21, 2008 | page=28}}, ''The Myth of a Court Ruling''</ref> the sisters became known as the authors of "Happy Birthday to You". In September 2015, a federal judge declared that "Happy Birthday to You" is in the public domain.


==Legacy ==
==Legacy ==
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==See also==
==See also==
* [[Kenwood Hill]] – Louisville neighborhood where Mildred and sister Patty occasionally resided<ref>{{cite web |url=https://history.ky.gov/markers/the-little-loomhouse |title=The Little Loomhouse - Marker Number: 2298 |website=Kentucky Historical Society |access-date=May 25, 2024}}</ref>
*[[Kenwood Hill]] – Louisville neighborhood in which Patty Hill lived.
*[[List of people from the Louisville metropolitan area]]
* [[List of people from the Louisville metropolitan area]]


== References ==
== References ==
{{Reflist}} praneeth
{{Reflist}}
7730849151


==External links==
==External links==
{{Library resources box|by=yes|onlinebooksby=yes|viaf=78013965}}
{{Library resources box|by=yes|onlinebooksby=yes|viaf=78013965}}
*[http://library.louisville.edu/music/special-collections/mildred_hill Mildred Hill Collection - University of Louisville Music Library]
* [https://library.louisville.edu/music/special-collections/mildred_hill Mildred Hill Collection – University of Louisville Music Library]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20070604165918/http://www.littleloomhouse.org/happybirthday.htm The Happy Birthday Song and The Little Loomhouse]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20120722163516/http://www.littleloomhouse.org/happy-birthday-song/ The Happy Birthday Song and The Little Loomhouse]
* {{snopes|link=http://www.snopes.com/music/songs/birthday.htm|title=Happy Birthday, We'll Sue}}
* {{IMDb name|id=0384530|name=Mildred J. Hill}}
* {{IMDb name|id=0384530|name=Mildred J. Hill}}
* {{Discogs artist|Mildred J. Hill}}
* {{Discogs artist|Mildred J. Hill}}

Latest revision as of 19:43, 11 September 2024

Mildred J. Hill
Born
Mildred Jane Hill

(1859-06-27)June 27, 1859
Louisville, Kentucky, U.S.
DiedJune 5, 1916(1916-06-05) (aged 56)
Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
Resting placeCave Hill Cemetery
Occupations
Known forComposing "Happy Birthday to You"
RelativesPatty Hill (sister)

Mildred Jane Hill (June 27, 1859 – June 5, 1916) was an American songwriter and musicologist, who composed the melody for "Good Morning to All", later used as the melody for "Happy Birthday to You".[1]

Biography

[edit]

Mildred Jane Hill, born in Louisville, Kentucky, was the oldest of three sisters, Mildred, Patty, and Jessica. She learned music from her father, Calvin Cody, and Adolph Weidig.

It has been reported that Mildred Hill was a kindergarten and Sunday-school teacher, like her younger sister Patty.[citation needed] Prof. Robert Brauneis, after extensively researching the Hill family, has concluded that she was not a kindergarten teacher.[2] She moved into music, teaching, composing, performing, and specializing in the study of Negro spirituals. Hill and her sister were honored at the Chicago World's Fair (1893) for their work in the progressive education program at the experimental kindergarten, the Louisville Experimental Kindergarten School.

She wrote about music using the pen name Johann Tonsor,[3] and her 1892 article "Negro Music", suggesting that the existing body of black music would be the basis of a distinctive American musical style, influenced Dvořák in composing the New World Symphony.[4]

Hill died in Chicago, Illinois, in 1916,[5] long before her song became famous. She is buried with her sister in Cave Hill Cemetery in Louisville, Kentucky.

Mildred Hill's manuscripts and papers are held by the University of Louisville Music Library in Louisville, Kentucky.

"Happy Birthday to You"

[edit]
Main article: Happy Birthday to You

While teaching at the Louisville Experimental Kindergarten School, the Hill sisters wrote the song "Good Morning to All"; Mildred wrote the melody, and Patty the lyrics. The song was first published in 1893 in Song Stories for the Kindergarten[6] as a greeting song for teachers to sing to their students.[7] Song Stories for the Kindergarten had over 20 editions, and the words were translated into French, German, Italian, Spanish, Chinese, Japanese, and Swedish.[8]

"Happy Birthday to You" first appeared in print in 1912 using the melody of "Good Morning to All" with different lyrics.[9] Its popularity continued to grow through the 1930s, with no author identified for the new lyrics, nor credit given for the melody from "Good Morning to You". Based on 1935 copyright registrations by the Summy Company, and a series of court cases (which all settled out of court),[10] the sisters became known as the authors of "Happy Birthday to You". In September 2015, a federal judge declared that "Happy Birthday to You" is in the public domain.

Legacy

[edit]

Hill and her sister were posthumously inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame on June 12, 1996.

See also

[edit]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ James J. Fuld (2000). The Book of World-famous Music: Classical, Popular, and Folk. Courier Dover Publications. pp. 267–. ISBN 978-0-486-41475-1.
  2. ^ "Copyright and the World's Most Popular Song." Archived May 11, 2020, at the Wayback Machine Robert Brauneis. October 14, 2010. Retrieved July 4, 2013.
  3. ^ Simon Russell Beale (November 17, 2011). "New Nations and New Worlds". Symphony. Episode 3. BBC. Archived from the original on March 28, 2019. Retrieved November 17, 2011.
  4. ^ Michael Beckerman (November 17, 2002). "MUSIC; Dvorak as Prime Mover, Sitting Duck and More". New York Times. Archived from the original on March 23, 2019. Retrieved March 16, 2012.
  5. ^ Fuld, James J. (2000). The Book of World-Famous Music: Classical, Popular and Folk. Courier Dover Publications. p. 267. ISBN 9780486414751. Archived from the original on May 24, 2024. Retrieved April 4, 2013.
  6. ^ Hill, Mildred J. (1896). Song Stories for the Kindergarten. Internet Archive. Retrieved December 7, 2013.
  7. ^ Brauneis, Robert (March 21, 2008), "Copyright and the World's Most Popular Song", Gw Law Faculty Publications & Other Works: 4–15, doi:10.2139/ssrn.1111624, SSRN 1111624, archived from the original on March 11, 2024, retrieved December 24, 2023
  8. ^ Biographical Extracts relating to Prominent Artists of Louisville and Kentucky. Louisville, Kentucky: Louisville Free Public Library. 1939. p. 107. Archived from the original on March 23, 2019. Retrieved March 4, 2017.
  9. ^ Brauneis, Robert (March 21, 2008), Copyright and the World's Most Popular Song, p. 31, SSRN 1111624
  10. ^ Brauneis, Robert (March 21, 2008), Copyright and the World's Most Popular Song, p. 28, SSRN 1111624, The Myth of a Court Ruling
  11. ^ "The Little Loomhouse - Marker Number: 2298". Kentucky Historical Society. Retrieved May 25, 2024.
[edit]
Library resources about
Mildred J. Hill
By Mildred J. Hill
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Mildred_J._Hill&oldid=1245229604"