Administrative Information
Provenance
The George and Ira Gershwin Collection has been assembled over a period of many years from a number of sources, foremost among them, members of the Gershwin family. The first acquisition that would become part of the collection was George's two-page holograph sketch for "Roll Dem Bones" (or, "The Crap Shooter's Song") from Porgy and Bess, donated by Ira in 1939. The next gift, and the first substantial one, was received in 1953 from the estate of Rose Gershwin, consisting of George's holograph scores for six of his seven large-scale orchestral works: An American in Paris, Concerto in F, Cuban Overture, Porgy and Bess, Rhapsody in Blue, and Second Rhapsody. Ira's first major gifts were George’s custom-made desk and Ferde Grofé's holograph score for his symphonic orchestration of Rhapsody in Blue, also in 1953, and George's holograph score for the "I Got Rhythm" Variations, in 1954.
During the 1950s, '60s, and '70s, Ira donated numerous music manuscripts, lyric sheets, photographs, sound recordings, and other materials in his possession, many of them accompanied by his informative explanatory notes. He also donated the drafts for his memoir, Lyrics on Several Occasions, in 1966, and he purchased and donated several items that he considered interesting and appropriate for the collection.
By the early 1980s, as Ira's advancing age was diminishing his activity on behalf of the George and Ira Gershwin Collection, his wife, Leonore, became increasingly involved with collecting and preserving the Gershwins' documentary legacy. In 1983, she purchased George's holograph two-piano score for An American in Paris, which she donated the following year.
After Ira's death in 1983, Leonore continued and expanded her husband’s efforts, donating the remaining music manuscripts and lyric sheets (some 6,000 documents) from their home in 1987. She purchased and donated George's letters to Julia Van Norman in 1988. Her final gift, in the spring of 1991, was a manuscript tunebook of George's dating from the earliest years of his career 1916-1922. Following her death, the Library of Congress received from her estate additional materials including self-portrait oil paintings of both brothers, one of George's pianos, and thirty-one scrapbooks that document the careers of George and Ira and productions and performances of their work from 1913 until 1986.
Many other members of the Gershwin family and friends of the Gershwin brothers have also given materials for the collection. The roster of these generous donors includes: George and Ira’s brother and sister, Arthur Gershwin and Frances Gershwin Godowsky, as well as Judy Gershwin, Marc George Gershwin, Leopold Godowsky III, Elaine Godowsky, Michael and Jean Strunsky, Dorothy Botkin Rosenthal, Daniel Botkin, Albert Sirmay, Kay Swift, Mabel Schirmer, Rosamond Walling Tirana, and Michael Feinstein.
Since 1991, Ira and Leonore's acquisitions work has continued, underwritten by the Ira and Leonore Gershwin Trust for the Benefit of the Library of Congress. In some instances, the Trust has acquired and donated materials; in numerous other instances, the Library has purchased materials using funds provided by the Gershwin Trust.
The most remarkable gift from the Gershwin Trust was a collection of more than 120 previously unknown documents from the estate of Emanuel Alexandre, for many years Rose Gershwin’s attorney, presented to the Library of Congress in 1997. Materials purchased by the Library with funds from the Gershwin Trust include the archival files of the Theatre Guild (1927-1966) concerning Porgy and Bess, purchased in 1992, notable manuscript sketches for Porgy and Bess from the estate of Kay Swift, purchased in 1994, and seven additional music manuscripts, as well as rare printed scores, contracts, and sixty-one letters, postcards, and other documents.
Finally, the Library's acquisitions funds have been used to purchase additional materials including a collection of contracts, letters, and other documents from the files of the law offices of Wattenberg and Wattenberg, (for many years the attorneys for the Gershwins' principal music publisher, Chappell and Co.). The funds have also been used to purchase a remarkable manuscript sketchbook dating from 1929-1931 and a collection of previously unknown correspondence between George and Ira and George’s first biographer, Isaac Goldberg.
Processing History
Items in the Gershwin and Ira Gershwin Collection were processed individually or in groups upon their arrival, beginning with the first acquisition in 1939. The collection was organized into series approximating the present arrangement by Raymond White in 1984. In 1997-1998, the arrangement of the collection was modified somewhat to accommodate acquisitions received since 1984, and the finding aid was created by Valerie MacMurdy. Beginning in 2008, the finding aid was revised by Christopher Hartten, Janet McKinney, Caitlin Miller, and Raymond White and coded for EAD in 2010. Materials received since that time have been processed and coded by Janet McKinney.
Other Repositories
Materials concerning Porgy and Bess are included in the DuBose Heyward Papers at the South Carolina Historical Society. Research and publication materials for The Gershwin Years are included in the Edward Jablonski and Lawrence D. Stewart Collection at the Harry Ransom Humanities Research Center at the University of Texas at Austin.
Related Material
The largest and most important additional collection of archival materials relating to the lives and careers of George and Ira Gershwin is the archives of the Ira and Leonore Gershwin Trusts, transferred to the Music Division in 2013. Consisting of 15,000 items, it contains scores, scripts, correspondence, business papers, photographs, programs, and other documents. The Ira Gershwin Files from the Law Office of Leonard Saxe relate primarily to Ira's personal legal affairs and the activities of the Rose Gershwin Testamentary Trust from 1948 to 1968. Other collections containing related material are: The Ferde Grofé Collection (materials for Rhapsody in Blue, including Grofé's holograph score for his original jazz band scoring), the Serge Koussevitzky Archive, the Moldenhauer Archives at the Library of Congress, the Rose Marie Grentzer and Harold Spivacke Fund Collection, the Vernon Duke Collection, and the Danny Kaye and Sylvia Fine Collection.
Preferred Citation
Researchers wishing to cite this collection should include the following information: [item, date, container number], George and Ira Gershwin Collection, Music Division, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.