Library of Congress Acquires ‘Wizard of Oz’ Materials, Including Only Known Lyric Sketch for ‘Over the Rainbow’
The Library of Congress has acquired rare music and lyric sketches from composer Harold Arlen and lyricist E.Y. “Yip” Harburg, who collaborated on the song score to the iconic 1939 film The Wizard of Oz.
The acquisition includes 35 manuscript items, including the first handwritten drafts of music and lyrics from some of the most beloved songs from the film classic, which starred Judy Garland. The collection also includes draft song lists and correspondence from the film’s director, Mervyn Leroy.
The crown jewel of the collection: the only lyric sketch for “Over the Rainbow” known to exist. “Someday I’ll wish upon a star + wake + find the darkness far behind me,” Harburg scrawled in pencil on a piece of yellow legal paper. This is believed to be the start of his creative process for a song that has proved timeless and universal, recorded by such varied artists as Garland, Ray Charles, Willie Nelson, Patti LaBelle, Barbra Streisand and Placido Domingo.
“Over the Rainbow” won an Oscar for best original song, while Herbert Stothart’s score won best original score – making The Wizard of Oz the first double song/score winner in Oscar history. Garland’s recording of “Over the Rainbow” was voted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1981 and the National Recording Registry in 2016. The full soundtrack album was voted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2006.
The film was inducted into the Library of Congress’ National Film Registry in 1989.
“Over the Rainbow” topped the American Film Institute’s “100 Years…100 Songs,” a 2004 list of the top songs in American film from the 20th century. The Wizard of Oz ranked third (behind Singin’ in the Rain and the original West Side Story) on AFI’s 2006 Greatest Movie Musicals list.
Additional collection highlights include:
- Three pages of music sketches for the “Wonderful Wizard of Oz.”
- Music manuscript of “Off to See the Wizard.”
- Lyrics for the “Lollipop League” song.
- 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.”
- The Oscar that Arlen received in 1940 for “Over the Rainbow.” It was his first of nine nominations for best original song.
“Harold Arlen’s contributions to The Wizard of Oz have profoundly shaped American culture,” Nicholas A. Brown-Cáceres, acting chief of the Library’s Music Division, said in a statement. “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 small display will be featured in the Great Hall of the Thomas Jefferson Building beginning in October that features original music and lyric manuscripts from the creation of The Wizard of Oz and Wicked. These treasures from the Music Division’s Harold Arlen Collection and ASCAP Foundation Collection document the creation of the soundtracks to the iconic films inspired by Frank L. Baum’s classic novel The Wizard of Oz. This display will be on view from Oct. 23 through Jan. 7, 2026.
The recently acquired Wizard of Oz material joins the Harold Arlen Collection, which was donated by Arlen’s sister-in-law, Rita Arlen, beginning in 2022. That collection includes a musical sketchbook, a large notebook of music and lyric sketches for the musical House of Flowers (1954), hundreds of photographs and Arlen’s original typescript screenplay for The Wizard of Oz.
Additionally, the existing Arlen Collection contains correspondence from Arlen’s friends, family and colleagues including Harburg, Mercer, Streisand, Louis Armstrong, Fred Astaire, Irving Berlin, Truman Capote, Bing Crosby, Ira Gershwin, Oscar Hammerstein, Jerome Kern, Cole Porter, Richard Rodgers and Frank Sinatra.
It also includes several artworks such as three portraits by George Gershwin, including a rare self-portrait dated 1929 that Gershwin sent to Arlen. The Library also acquired Arlen’s original sketch for his searing torch song, “Stormy Weather,” and his manuscript for “The Man That Got Away” from Garland’s A Star is Born (1954).
Arlen’s other classic songs included in the 2022 collection include three other Oscar-nominated songs: “Blues in the Night,” “Ac-Cent-Chu-Ate the Positive” and “The Man That Got Away,” as well as “Come Rain or Come Shine,” “Get Happy,” “It’s Only a Paper Moon,” “One for My Baby (and One More for the Road)” and “A Sleepin’ Bee.”
Arlen wrote the liner notes for Streisand’s Grammy-winning 1963 debut album. His notes brought him his only Grammy nomination – in the category of best album notes. (Most of his best work preceded the arrival of the Grammys in 1959). Streisand returned the favor in 1966, when she sang two songs on Arlen’s debut album, Harold Sings Arlen (With Friend). She was the friend, of course, and sang “Ding-Dong! The Witch Is Dead” (from Oz) and “House of Flowers.”
Harburg and Arlen were the first two recipients of the Songwriters Hall of Fame’s Johnny Mercer Award, that organization’s highest honor. They received the award in 1981 and 1982, respectively. Arlen received a trustees award from the Recording Academy posthumously in 1987.
The Harold Arlen Collection joins dozens of other songwriter collections in the Library’s Music Division. These include the manuscripts and papers of Jerome Kern, Irving Berlin, George & Ira Gershwin, Cole Porter, Richard Rodgers & Oscar Hammerstein, Alan Jay Lerner & Frederick Loewe, Billy Strayhorn, Leonard Bernstein, Jeanine Tesori, Leslie Bricusse, Burt Bacharach, Harry Chapin and Judy Collins.
The Library of Congress is the world’s largest library, offering access to the creative record of the United States — and extensive materials from around the world — both on-site and online.
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