God Bless America

Found the following at http://rs7.loc.gov/exhibits/treasures/trm019.html

God Bless America

America's unofficial national anthem was composed by an immigrant who left
his home in Siberia for America when he was only five years old. The
original version of "God Bless America" was written by Irving Berlin
(1888-1989) during the summer of 1918 at Camp Upton, located in Yaphank,
Long Island, for his Ziegfeld-style revue, Yip, Yip, Yaphank. "Make her
victorious on land and foam, God Bless America..." ran the original lyric.
However, Berlin decided that the solemn tone of "God Bless America" was
somewhat out of keeping with the more comedic elements of the show and the
song was laid aside.

In the fall of 1938, as war was again threatening Europe, Berlin decided to
write a "peace" song. He recalled his "God Bless America" from twenty years
earlier and made some alterations to reflect the different state of the
world. Singer Kate Smith introduced the revised "God Bless America" during
her radio broadcast on Armistice Day, 1938. The song was an immediate
sensation; the sheet music was in great demand. Berlin soon established the
God Bless America Fund, dedicating the royalties to the Boy and Girl Scouts
of America.


Irving Berlin (1888-1989)
"God Bless America"
Manuscript score, 1938
Music Division


Copyright 1938, 1939 by Irving Berlin
Copyright renewed 1965, 1966 by Irving Berlin
Copyright assigned to Winthrop Rutherfurd, Jr., Anne Phipps
Sidamon-Eristoff, and Theodore R. Jackson as Trustees of the God Bless
America Fund. International copyright secured. All rights reserved.
Berlin's file of manuscripts and lyric sheets for this quintessentially
American song includes manuscripts in the hand of Berlin's longtime musical
secretary, Helmy Kresa (Berlin himself did not read and write music), as
well as lyric sheets, and corrected proof copies for the sheet music.

These materials document not only the speed with which Berlin revised this
song, but also his attention to detail. The first proof copy is dated
October 31, 1938; the earliest "final" version of the song is a manuscript
dated November 2; and Kate Smith's historic broadcast took place on November
11. These documents show the song's step-by-step evolution from the original
version of 1918 to the tune we now know.

These manuscripts are part of the Irving Berlin Collection, a remarkable
collection that includes Berlin's personal papers as well as the records of
the Irving Berlin Music Corp. It was presented to the Library of Congress in
1992, by Berlin's daughters, Mary Ellin Barrett, Linda Louise Emmet, and
Elizabeth Irving Peters.

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