Presidential Medal of Freedom awarded to Irving Berlin: Museum Object and Cultural History

The object in the museum catalogue

Presidential Medal of Freedom ensemble awarded to Irving Berlin. Ensemble is made up of a wooden box, containing the broad ribbon with rosette and badge, the star, the miniature medal with gold appurtenance for its suspension ribbon, the ribbon service bar with gold appurtenance, and the gold lapel emblem with narrow ribbon loop or bow.

Composer-lyricist Irving Berlin has been called the dean of American popular song. Berlin wrote more than 3,000 songs, including the standards “God Bless America” and “White Christmas,” helping to create the Great American Songbook. Born Israel Beilin in Tyumen in what was then the Russian Empire in 1888, he was one of eight children brought by his parents to New York to escape discrimination, poverty, and violent programs against Jewish people in Russia. After his father died in 1901, Irving worked to survive, selling newspapers, waiting tables, and plugging songs. Berlin’s first hit song, “Alexander’s Ragtime Band,” became a sensation in 1911; three years later, his first work of musical theater, Watch Your Step, cemented his reputation. He wrote twenty-one Broadway scores, including Annie Get Your Gun (1946), which featured Ethel Merman singing “There’s No Business Like Show Business.” Berlin also wrote seventeen film scores, including Top Hat (1935), Holiday Inn (1947), and Easter Parade (1948).

The Presidential Medal of Freedom is considered the foremost and highest honor awarded to U.S. civilians, alongside the Congressional Gold Medal. It is awarded to individuals who have made “an especially meritorious contribution to the security or national interests of the United States, world peace, cultural or other significant public or private endeavors.” The Presidential Medal of Freedom was established by President John F. Kennedy in 1963, redesignating the World War II-era Medal of Freedom by executive order to be awarded by the president to recognize notable service to the nation by civilians, including achievements in culture and the arts. The medal is comprised of a gold medallion attached to a blue and white ribbon, designed to be worn around the neck. The medallion design features a prominent white enamel star on a red enamel pentagon surrounded by gold eagles, with a circular inset in the center of the star featuring 13 smaller gold stars on a blue enamel field. The awardee’s name is engraved on the medallion’s verso. Accoutrements presented alongside the medal include a service ribbon, miniature ribbon, and lapel badge, all featuring the same design elements. The Insignia was designed by the Army's Institute of Heraldry. As of March 2024, 647 citizens have received the Presidential Medal of Freedom. President Gerald Ford awarded Berlin the Presidential Medal of Freedom with Distinction in 1977. The medal citation reads, in part: "Musician, Composer, Humanitarian, And Patriot, Irving Berlin Has Captured The Fondest Dreams And Deepest Emotions Of The American People In The Form Of Popular Music."

Materials, dates and provenance

• user: Berlin, Irving
• Object Name: award
• Physical Description: wood (box material)
• Physical Description: metal (box; awards material)
• Physical Description: satin (box lining material)
• Physical Description: velvet (box lining material)
• Measurements: box: 2 1/4 in x 7 3/4 in x 12 3/4 in; 5.715 cm x 19.685 cm x 32.385 cm
• associated subject: Awards and Prizes
• associated subject: Music
• user's community: Jews
• ID Number: 2024.0090.02
• catalog number: 2024.0090.02
• accession number: 2024.0090
• Credit Line: Gift of Elizabeth Matson, Mary Ellin Barrett Lerner, Katherine Swett, and Irving Barrett
• 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.