Ira Gershwin Files from the Law Office of Leonard Saxe
Catalog Record: http://lccn.loc.gov/2010561020
General International Standard for Archival Description
Music Division Library of Congress Washington, D.C.
Finding aid encoded by Library of Congress Music Division, 2010
Encoded Archival Description
Encoded Archival Description (EAD) Version 2002
collection
Ira Gershwin Files from the Law Office of Leonard Saxe 1935-1967 (bulk 1948-1967)
Saxe, Leonard Spier, 1899-1968
Biographical History for: Ira Gershwin Files from the Law Office of Leonard Saxe 1935-1967 (bulk 1948-1967)
Biographical Note Ira Gershwin obtained the legal services of attorney Leonard Spier Saxe following the death of his mother, Rose Gershwin, on December 16, 1948. Saxe, a distant relative by marriage who owned an established general practice firm in New York City, provided personal legal counsel to Ira, Leonore, and Arthur Gershwin and managed their affairs with the Rose Gershwin Testamentary Trust from 1948-1968. Ira and Leonard also shared a close friendship and corresponded frequently about non-legal matters, including investments, vacations, and real estate opportunities. His legal representation for the Gershwins ceased in 1968 following his own professional retirement and the subsequent change of Ira’s legal representation to attorney Ronald Blanc in Los Angeles.
Scope and Content Note The Ira Gershwin Files from the Law Office of Leonard Saxe spans the period 1948-1967. The collection includes contracts, correspondence, handwritten notes, financial documents, memos, pamphlets, programs, clippings, and other materials related to Saxe’s legal representation of Ira Gershwin and his involvement with the Rose Gershwin Testamentary Trust. Saxe’s efforts on behalf of Ira, Leonore, and Arthur Gershwin are recorded in extraordinary detail in a series of typescript logs entitled “Record of work done for the Gershwins.” These entries contextualize the hundreds of handwritten notes that accompany many of the subject files and provide a thorough account of Ira’s business affairs throughout the 1950’s and 1960’s. It is an invaluable tool, if not an ideal starting point, for navigating the contents of this collection. Saxe arranged his office files principally by subject. His original folder headings have been used to organize the materials thematically by show title, organization, and other general categories. The subjects of these documents range from motion picture production contracts and copyright deposits to estate taxes and personal correspondence. “Royalties and copyrights” contains documents pertaining to the licensing and revenues of compositions by George and/or Ira Gershwin. Porgy and Bess accounts for much of this material, primarily because its acclaimed international productions generated additional licensing agreements. “Litigation” includes materials specifically related to courtroom settlements, the most notable being Breen vs. Goldwyn, Lazar. The voluminous series entitled “Estate of Rose Gershwin” documents Saxe’s actions as liaison to the Rose Gershwin Testamentary Trust, many of which are presented chronologically in his nineteen volume ‘general file.’ The remaining series,’ “Estate of Ira and Leonore Gershwin” and “Arthur Gershwin” describe personal affairs and litigation largely unrelated to musical compositions or royalties.
series
Record of Work Done for the Gershwins, 1948-1966
file
1948 Dec. – 1953 Aug.
1953 Sept. – 1957 Dec.
1958 Jan. – 1962 Dec.
1963 Jan. – 1964 Dec.
1965 Jan. – 1966 Sept.
Royalties and Copyrights
subseries
Shows, 1935-1967
American in Paris [film]
General materials, 1949-1952
Funny Face
Ira Gershwin individually and as George Gershwin’s next-of-kin, including agreements and D (1928), 1955-1957
Girl Crazy
Agreements, contracts, correspondence, 1951-1965
General materials, 1958-1959, 1962
Kiss Me, Stupid [film]
Correspondence, music, contracts, copyrights, etc., 1964
Lady, Be Good!
1956 estate tax - closed 1961 Nov. 14
Ira renewal assignment
Lady in the Dark
Chiefly stock license to Tams-Witmark Music Library Inc., 1965
Of Thee I Sing
General materials, 1951-1952
Stock amateur correspondence
Oh, Kay!
Bolton-Wodehouse agreements
General materials, 1951-1960
Porgy and Bess
Breen contract
Clippings, 1950-1953 and undated
Contracts, 1957 Aug.
Colton – instructions re: album, 1965
Colton's letter of 1964 Mar. 1 re: instructions on distrubution of income from U.S. phonograph record album after 1963 Sept. 28
Davis compromise
General materials, 1950-1951, 1955
General materials, 1954-1956
The Gershwin years (CBS) license, 1961 Jan. 15
Motion picture contract data with Samuel Goldwyn, 1957
New Dawn Music Corp. – U.S. renewal publishing rights sale agreement, 1965 July 1
Papers, including Field 1963 and Summer 1963
Reviews, 1955-1956
Summer 1958 and 1963-1965 and city center
Theatre Guild investment
Waiver of cross accountings and agreement of beneficial interests, 1965 July 1
Strike up the Band
Organizations, 1935-1967
Alfred A. Knopf, Inc.
Contracts dated 1958 Apr. 28, etc.
American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers (ASCAP)
Amended final judgement, 1950
Compromise agreement, 1952
General materials, 1949-1953
General materials, 1950-1965
General materials, 1958-1965
Ira Gershwin – ASCAP list
Proposed royalty agreements
Chappell and Co.
Chappell/Gershwin movie mechanicals royalties modification, 1955 Oct. 31
Leonore S. Gershwin agreement, 1965 July 1
Royalty statements
Selling agency agreements
Columbia Artists Management, Inc.
General materials, 1951-1954
Gershwin Publishing Corporation (GPC)
Chappell and Co. agreements
Co-owner accounting for own use B accounting for license rights on renewals prior to their sale by the next-of-kin
Correspondence and memos
Deal miscellaneous memoranda
Deal royalties
Financial statements, 1949-1952
Personal holding company tax matter
Used material, 1956-1965 [i.e. agreements, contracts, correspondence]
New Dawn Music Corporation
Agreement to sell motion picture renewals and 10% of net profits agreement
Agreements of sale, 1965 Oct. 1 and 1966 July 1
Complete set of deal photocopies given to next-of-kin, 1965 Sept. and additional agreements
Dreyfus deal restrictive agreements
General materials, 1965
Quarterly statements
New World Music Limited
Annual statements
Royalty statements, 1951-1958
Royalty statements, 1958-1960
Royalty statements – also data on possible question of ownership of renewal payments taken from various other files
On-Stage Productions
"Gershwin" [biographical film]
Palestine Conservatory of Music and Dramatic Art
General materials, 1953-1954
T. B. Harms and Co.
Harms/New World Music agreements
Walden Records
General materials, 1953-1960
Miscellaneous, 1935-1967
Copyright renewal and capital gains data
Copyright renewals
Deal correspondence and data relating to Malino to 1965 Oct. 27
Gershwin copyrights
Gershwin correspondence, etc. re: television
Gershwin income for Leonard Saxe
Holograph envelope from IG to Leonard Saxe, 1965 Dec. 23
Index to work on deal, 1957-1965
Ira Gershwin’s renewals, etc. – contract for Ira and Leonore with four publishing corporations, 1965 July 1
Open post-deal matters
Some more or less open Gershwin matters [i.e. agreements, contracts, correspondence]
Working out manner for Ira, Arthur, and Frankie to report next-of-kin deal in 1965 income tax returns
Litigation, 1953-1964
Breen vs. Goldwyn, Lazar
18th report of the judicial council
General materials, 1953-1964
Gershwin vs. U.S.
Distribution of Gershwin vs. U.S., 1958
Gershwin vs. U.S. – The Shocking Miss Pilgrim
General materials, 1956-1957
Tax refund for 1945 and 1946
Schwartz vs. BMI
John Schulman correspondence, memoranda, and agreements
Société de spectacles lumbroso vs. Hug and Sons
Zurich stuff [i.e. Robert Breen contract for Porgy and Bess]
Estate of Rose Gershwin
General files, 1949-1966
Rose Gershwin Testamentary Trust general file #1, 1949-1950
Rose Gershwin Testamentary Trust general file #2, 1950-1952
Rose Gershwin Testamentary Trust general file #3, 1952-1953
Rose Gershwin Testamentary Trust general file #4, 1954-1956
Rose Gershwin Testamentary Trust general file #5, 1956
Rose Gershwin Testamentary Trust general file #6, 1957
Rose Gershwin Testamentary Trust general file #7, 1957-1958
Rose Gershwin Testamentary Trust general file #8, 1958
Rose Gershwin Testamentary Trust general file #9, 1959
Rose Gershwin Testamentary Trust general file #10, 1959-1960
Rose Gershwin Testamentary Trust general file #11, 1960-1961
Rose Gershwin Testamentary Trust general file #12, 1962
Rose Gershwin Testamentary Trust general file #13, 1963
Rose Gershwin Testamentary Trust general file #14, 1964
Rose Gershwin Testamentary Trust general file #15, 1964
Rose Gershwin Testamentary Trust general file #16, 1964
Rose Gershwin Testamentary Trust general file #17, 1965
Rose Gershwin Testamentary Trust general file #18, 1965
Rose Gershwin Testamentary Trust general file #19, 1966
Subject files, 1937-1967
Agendas and meetings in the 1950's
Executor final account, 1952
Federal estate tax
Gershwin estate correspondence, 1937-1943
Gershwin fee agreement
Gershwin miscellaneous trust first intermediate accounting
Income tax
Ira Berlove claim
Jewelry
Leonard Saxe legal services for Gershwin Trust
Miscellaneous law memos
Miscellaneous memoranda of fact, drafts, agendas, etc.
Miscellaneous open matters [i.e. agreements, contracts, correspondence]
New York County Surrogate’s Court – account of proceedings
New York County Surrogate’s Court – claims of Emmanuel Alexandre, Pollock, and Berger, 1948
New York County Surrogate’s Court – memoranda
New York state estate tax
Rose Gershwin Hadassah bequest acknowledgement
Rose Gershwin Testamentary Trust financial statements, 1948 Dec. - 1954 July
Rose Gershwin Testamentary Trust financial statements, 1954 Aug. - 1958 May
Rose Gershwin Testamentary Trust financial statements, 1958 June - 1960 Dec.
Rose Gershwin Testamentary Trust financial statements, 1961 Jan. - 1962 Dec.
Rose Gershwin Testamentary Trust financial statements, 1963 Jan. - 1964 June
Rose Gershwin Testamentary Trust financial statements, 1964 July - 1965 Dec.
Rose Gershwin Testamentary Trust financial statements, 1966 Jan. - 1967 June
Rose Gershwin Testamentary Trust financial statements, 1967 July - 1968 Mar.
Royalties earned, four years ending 1952 Nov. 30
Tax forms, 1970-1972
Trustees first intermediate accounting
Estate of Ira and Leonore Gershwin, 1950-1963
Gershwin material of some interest but to be left in N.Y.
Ira Gershwin personal papers
Leonore and Ira Gershwin trusts – law file
Leonore and Ira Gershwin trusts – material for California
Life and estate planning
Arthur Gershwin, 1950-1966
General materials, 1955-1966
Gershwin vs. Gershwin separation and divorce