The Library of Congress is much more than just a library. The larges library in the world, it houses thousand ds of artifacts throughout the history of the United States…and the world.
It’s most recent acquisition is musical sketches by Harold Arlen from the 1939 film “The Wizard of Oz”. Among those artifacts are handwritten lyric sketch for “Over the Rainbow” – the only copy known to exist.
The new acquisitions will be added to the Harold Arlen Collection. “E.Y. “Yip” Harburg wrote the lyrics for the song with Arlen providing the music. The hand written sketch allows historians a glimpse into the minds of the songwriters for a song that has become a generational favourite.
The scrawled lyrics read, “Some day I’ll wish upon a star + wake + find the darkness far behind me,” became “Some day I’ll wish upon a star and wake up where the clouds are far behind me.”
Also included in the artifacts are “three pages of musical sketches, the manuscript for ‘Off the See the Wizard’, lyrics for the ‘Lollipop League’, lyric sketches for ‘Ding Dong the Witch is Dead’. music sketches for the ‘Mayor of Munchkin Land’, seven pages of music sketches of preliminary concepts labeled ‘Oz possibilities’, Arlen’s Academy Award statue for ‘Over the Rainbow’, draft song lists, and correspondence from one of the film’s directors, Mervyn Leroy.”
In a statement acting chief of the Music Division for the Library of Congress Nicholas A. Brown-Caceres said, “Harold Arlen’s contributions to The Wizard of Oz have profoundly shaped American culture. The donation of these manuscripts and papers represents a treasured addition in conjunction with our various Oz-themed holdings. This gift not only honors Arlen and Harburg’s imaginative genius but also preserves the legacy of the music that has captured the hearts of generations. The Library is grateful to the late Mrs. Arlen and the Arlen family for sharing these artifacts with the American people.”
A display following the creation of “The Wizard of Oz” is planned for the Great Hall of the Thomas Jefferson Building beginning October 23, 2025 and running through January 7, 2026.
Also included in the collection is a self-portrait of George Gershwin from 1929 that Gershwin had gifted to Arlen.
The Arlen Collection includes materials from the musical “House of Flowers”, photographs, the screenplay for “The Wizard of Oz”, a musical sketchbook, artwork, the sketch for “Stormy Weather”, the manuscript for “The Man Who Got Away”, and correspondence to and from Arlen including Louis Armstrong, Fred Astaire, Irving Berlin, Truman Capote, Bing Crosby, Ira Gershwin, Oscar Hammerstein, Yip Harburg, Jerome Kern, Johnny Mercer, Cole Porter, Richard Rodgers, Frank Sinatra and Barbra Streisand.
photos courtesy of the Library of Congress