About this Event
Join us for a discussion of composer-lyricist Irving Berlin’s legacy with Curator Emeritus John Hasse and Cantor Arianne Brown, followed by a singalong screening of his classic 1954 film White Christmas.
Though accounts vary as to when and where Irving Berlin wrote the song “White Christmas,” he recalled finishing it and telling his secretary, “I want you to take down a song I wrote over the weekend. Not only is it the best song I ever wrote, it’s the best song anybody ever wrote.”
The holiday standard is one of the most popular and successful Christmas songs of all time. Composed and written for the 1942 film Holiday Inn, “White Christmas” won Berlin the Academy Award for Best Original Song. Also appearing in the 1954 film White Christmas, it helped cement Americans’ postwar image of the quintessential Christmas celebration, including snowy landscapes, children’s eager anticipation of gifts on Christmas morning, and families gathered in warm kinship.
Born Israel Beilin in Tyumen in what was then the Russian Empire in 1888, Berlin was one of eight children brought by his parents to New York to escape discrimination, poverty, and deadly violence against Jewish people in Russia. He was one of several Jewish songwriters who composed and wrote lyrics for popular Christmas songs from the 1930s to the 1960s—a remarkable testament to the holiday’s transformation to a more secular celebration, tied to commerce and civic life, and observed widely in a multicultural, multiethnic, and religiously diverse United States.
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The National Museum of American History welcomes visitors of all ages and abilities. This event is wheelchair accessible. Additional accommodations are available upon request; please email [email protected]. Two weeks’ notice is preferred.
Please note that your Eventbrite RSVP does not guarantee a seat, and space will be limited. Seats will be filled on a first-come, first-served basis. When we reach maximum capacity, the event will be closed to the public.
Event Venue & Nearby Stays
National Museum of American History, 1300 Constitution Ave NW, Washington, United States
USD 0.00