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America's First Composer! (Sorta...)

WCRB | By Greg Ferrisi
Published October 2, 2023 at 12:23 PM EDT
Cartoon of a white man with an 18th-Century hairstyle, on an American flag background. Text reads "Meet founding father Francis Hopkinson. Lawyer! Judge! Declaration of Independence signer! And... America's first composer! (Sorta...)"
Comic panel with three cartoon hands holding up steins of beer in the foreground. In the background, a cartoon colonial-era man sits at a piano. Text reads "My Days have been so Wondrous Free -- the (possibly) first song penned by an america-born colonist -- was a hit in the 1760s."
Cartoon panel of an opera being staged, with text reading "He sent off the French to Yorktown with perhaps America's first opera!"
Comic panel with cartoon George Washington in the foreground. In the background, another 18th-Century man with a speech bubble that reads "Ta-Da!" Caption text reads "In "A Toast" Hopkinson helped build the legend of his friend George Washington."
Comic panel of Hopkinson standing atop a black star, in a parody of the "Hamilton" musical logo. Text reads "A founding father who could've written his own Broadway hit!"

Francis Hopkinson, alongside musical contemporaries like William Billings and James Hewitt, played a vital role in shaping the early musical identity of America.

But ol' Hoppie had an ace up his sleeve.

Among his many accomplishments — as a lawyer, judge, and other self-proclaimed deeds — Hopkinson could also brag about his place in history as a signer of the Declaration of Independence.

And, maybe one day, as a Broadway sensation...

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Blog Comic
Greg Ferrisi
Greg is the weekday afternoon host on WCRB.
See stories by Greg Ferrisi