Irving Berlin Collection Span: 1895-1990 Bulk: 1915-1990 English collection 200 ft. 700 boxes Irving Berlin (1888-1989) wrote more than 1,200 songs that gave a musical voice to much of the American experience of the twentieth century. For the great majority of these songs, he wrote both the music and the lyrics. Three songs alone would assure his lasting fame: "White Christmas," "There's No Business Like Show Business," and "God Bless America." But much of his reputation also justifiably rests on his great ballads of the 1920s and '30s, including "Always," "Cheek to Cheek," "How Deep Is the Ocean (How High Is the Sky)," "Let's Face the Music and Dance," and "What'll I Do." Berlin's career was not limited to songwriting, however. He was also a music publisher, theater owner, and a founding member of the American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publlishers, and the materials in the Berlin Collection document all of those aspects of his extraordinary career. The breadth of his activity coupled with his longevity (he died at age 101) produced one of the largest collections in the custody of the Music Division, with some 750,000 documents. These include music scores, many of them in the hand of Berlin's longtime musical secretary, Helmy Kresa (1905-1991), Berlin's handwritten and typewritten lyric sheets, personal and professional correspondence, legal files, financial records, and 45 scrapbooks filled with press clippings that detail Berlin's personal as well as professional accomplishments. Music scores, lyric sheets, correspondence, legal files, financial records, and scrapbooks. Irving Berlin Collection, Music Division, Library of Congress Papers of American popular song composer Irving Berlin. Researchers wishing to work with special collections are advised to inquire in advance about availability of material since many special collections are stored off-site. Certain restrictions to use or copying of materials may apply. American Musical Theater Composers Popular Music Berlin, Irving Arlen, Harold Astaire, Fred Gershwin, Ira Hammerstein, Oscar Rodgers, Richard Ruby, Harry Zannuck, Darryl Performing Arts Encyclopedia Now It Can Be Told: The Unknown Irving Berlin with Jeffrey Magee http://www.loc.gov/today/cyberlc/feature_wdesc.php?rec=4540 web cast scdb Music Division, Library of Congress IHAS 110125 loc.natlib.scdb.200033879