Scott Joplin

Black composer Scott Joplin, often called the "King of Ragtime Music," was born in Texarkana, Texas, five years before the townsite was platted in 1873. His family lived in this vicinity, and he attended nearby Orr School on Laurel Street. His early musical training came from his father, Giles Joplin, an ex-slave who played the fiddle, and his mother, Florence Givens Joplin, who played the banjo. By tradition, a German music teacher realized Joplin's talent and gave him lessons. Joplin left home at age 14 and wandered through the Midwest entertaining in saloons and honky-tonks. In the 1890s, he was one of the originators of ragtime, a rhythmic new musical form that combined black and white musical traditions. His "Maple Leaf Rag," published in 1899, launched ragtime as a national fad. He defended ragtime against those who called it frivolous and worked constantly to refine his music, which included over 30 piano rags. Demand for ragtime had declined by 1917, when Joplin died in New York City. Joplin's background is revealed in his most ambitious work, the black folk opera "Treemonisha," set on a plantation "northeast of the town of Texarkana." It was not produced until the 1970s, when a revival of Joplin's music inspired public recognition of his genius.

Texarkana, Texas · United States