Joplin

Joplin jŏp´lĬn , city (1990 pop. 40,961), Jasper and Newton counties, SW Mo., at the edge of the Ozarks; settled c.1839, inc. 1873. It is a railroad center, the shipping and processing point of a grain and livestock region with dairy and fruit farms, and the industrial center of a former lead and zinc area. Joplin has a solid manufacturing base, producing transportation equipment; plastic, metal, paper, and leather products; processed foods; machinery; and chemicals. The city has a mineral museum and is the seat of Missouri Southern State College and Ozark Bible College. The George Washington Carver National Monument is nearby.

Joplin, Scott (1868–1917) US composer. He wrote ragtime piano music, such as Maple Leaf Rag (1900) and The Entertainer (1902), and the opera Treemonisha (1911).

Joplin, Scott (b nr. Marshall, Texas, ?1868; d NY, 1917). Black Amer. composer and ragtime pianist. Played pf. in brothels of St Louis and Chicago. Formed Scott Joplin Ragtime Opera Co. 1903 to perf. his ragtime opera A Guest of Honour. Settled in NY, 1907. Pf. rags incl. Maple Leaf Rag, The Entertainer, and Wall Street Rag. Wrote 3-act opera, Treemonisha (1908–11, orchestrated 1915). It received a single perf. without scenery in 1915 and its failure contributed largely to the composer's death. Revival of popular enthusiasm for Joplin's mus. in mid–1970s due mainly to efforts of Amer. pianist and musicologist Joshua Rifkin. Treemonisha was first staged Atlanta 1972 (orig. orch. is lost). Posthumous Pulitzer Prize 1976.