What is the reason that Antonin Dvorak made the new world symphony?

According to the liner notes from the Columbia Records release (1950?), Dvorak wrote the New World Symphony from December 19, 1892 through May 25, 1893, while he was the director of the (at that time recently founded) National Conservatory of Music in New York.

Among his students at the Conservatory was H. T. Burleigh, later to become a prominent baritone, composer and arranger. Burleigh spent long hours with Dvorak, singing and playing for him many Negro spirituals and slave songs. These completely captivated the master and served as an important inspiration for him to compose his New World Symphony.