George and Ira Gershwin collection, 1895-2008

Collection Summary

Title	George and Ira Gershwin collection, 1895-2008
Span Dates	1895-2008
Bulk Dates	(bulk 1920-1960)
Call No.	ML31.G38
Creator	Gershwin, George, 1898-1937
Creator	Gershwin, Ira, 1896-1983
Extent	60,705 items
Extent	8 mapcase folders
Extent	145 containers
Extent	71 linear feet
Language	Collection material in English
Location	Music Division, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.
Finding Aid Permalink	Cite or bookmark this finding aid as: https://hdl.loc.gov/loc.music/eadmus.mu010014
LCCN Permalink	LC Catalog record: https://lccn.loc.gov/2010561028
Summary	Composer George Gershwin (1898-1937) and his lyricist brother Ira (1896-1983) wrote some of the most significant American popular songs of the first half of the twentieth century. Working with novelist and poet DuBose Heyward, they created the great American opera Porgy and Bess. Additionally, George Gershwin composed several singularly American concert works, including An American in Paris and Rhapsody In Blue, and both brothers produced many distinguished songs working with other collaborators. The George and Ira Gershwin Collection contains music manuscripts, handwritten and typewritten lyric sheets, printed music, correspondence, photographs, programs and publicity materials, legal and financial documents, and thirty-one scrapbooks, which present nearly a complete record of the Gershwins' lives and work as they were chronicled in the contemporary press.