"God Bless America": Museum Object and Cultural History
"God Bless America": publishing date: 1939. composer; lyricist: Berlin, Irving. publisher: Irving Berlin, Inc..
The object in the museum catalogue
This sheet music is for the song “God Bless America,” written and composed by Irving Berlin, and published by Irving Berlin, Inc in 1938. Irving Berlin (1888–1989) wrote the song in 1918, at the end of World War I. In 1938, with war again approaching, Berlin revised the work as a “peace song.” Kate Smith’s recording of the updated “God Bless America” became the number three hit in 1939.
Materials, dates and provenance
- publishing date: 1939
- composer; lyricist: Berlin, Irving
- publisher: Irving Berlin, Inc.
- Object Name: sheet music
- Physical Description: paper (overall material)
- Physical Description: ink (overall material)
- Measurements: overall: 12 in x 9 1/4 in; 30.48 cm x 23.495 cm
- place made: United States: New York, New York
- Subject: Church and State
- related event: World War I
- ID Number: 1983.0320.07
- accession number: 1983.0320
- catalog number: 1983.0320.07
- Data Source: National Museum of American History
Sources and reuse
Catalogue descriptions and facts adapted from National Museum of American History through the Smithsonian's official Open Access dataset. This record explicitly marks its metadata CC0 1.0; formatting and selection have been changed.
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