| Mildred J. Hill | |
|---|---|
| Born | June 27, 1859 Louisville, Kentucky, USA |
| Died | June 5, 1916 (aged 56) Chicago, Illinois, USA |
| Resting place | Cave Hill Cemetery, Louisville, Kentucky |
| Nationality | American |
| Occupation | |
| Known for | Composing "Happy Birthday to You" |
Mildred J. 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".
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Mildred J. 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.
Mildred Hill was a kindergarten and Sunday-school teacher, like her younger sister Patty. 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 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.[1]
Hill died in Chicago, Illinois, in 1916. She is buried with her sister in Cave Hill Cemetery in Louisville, Kentucky.
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 as a greeting song for teachers to sing to their students.[2]
"Happy Birthday to You" first appeared in print in 1912 using the melody of "Good Morning to All" with different lyrics.[3] Its popularity continued to grow through the 1930's, 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)[4], the sisters became known as the authors of "Happy Birthday to You". The Hill Foundation today shares royalties on public performances of the song.
Hill and her sister were posthumously inducted into the Songwriter's Hall of Fame on June 12, 1996.