at least the first half of the twentieth century. While some of the shows in which "My Old Kentucky Home" depicted slavery as wrong and the enslaved people sympathetically, most of these shows hewed to the common demeaning traditions and tropes of blackface minstrelsy. The song held popularity for over a decade and throughout the American Civil War. The song's reach throughout the United States and popularity has been attributed to soldiers of the war, who passed the tune from location to location during the war's tenure. The song remained popular through the nineteenth century. The typical reduction of the song's title from "My Old Kentucky Home, Good-Night!" to "My Old Kentucky Home" occurred after the turn of the century. The song's first verse and chorus are recited annually at the Kentucky Derby. Colonel Matt Winn introduced the song as a Derby tradition. As early as 1930, Foster's song was played to accompany the post parade; the University of Louisville Marching Band has played the song for all but a few years since 1936. In 1982, Churchill Downs honored Foster by establishing the Stephen Foster Handicap. The University of Kentucky, University of Louisville, Murray State University, Eastern Kentucky University, and Western Kentucky University bands play the song at their schools' football and basketball games. Kentucky state song During the first decades of the twentieth century, the song became increasingly popular nationwide and the state legislature of the Commonwealth of Kentucky sought to utilize the song's popularity by establishing it as Kentucky's state song. On March 11, 1986, a group of students from the Sendai Christian Educational Institute in Miyagi, Japan sang the song on their field trip to the Kentucky General Assembly, using the original lyrics that included the word "darkies." Legislator Carl Hines was infuriated by this, and subsequently introduced a resolution that would substitute the word "people" in place of "darkies" whenever the song was used by the House of Representatives. State Senator Georgia Davis Powers introduced a similar resolution in the Kentucky State Senate. Both chambers adopted the resolution. Modern impact Today, the song "My Old Kentucky Home" remains an important composition due to its role in the evolution of American songwriting and is an influential song in American culture. According to popular-song analysts, the appeal of the theme of "returning home" is one in which listeners of "My Old Kentucky Home" are able to personally relate