'God Bless America' was born on Long Island
Composer Irving Berlin sings his song "God Bless America" for service members at the Stage Door Canteen in New York City, July 9, 1942. Inset: Sheet music for the song, which is sung far and wide. Credit: AP
Jeanne Knudsen is a retired social studies teacher in the Longwood school district who was on the National Constitution Center's Teacher Advisory Council.
Growing up in a military family, I had plenty of opportunities to sing “God Bless America.” Forty years ago, when I eventually set down roots after moving all over the country with the Navy, I found out that our unofficial national anthem was written right here on Long Island.
More than 100 years ago, Irving Berlin wrote the song as the finale for a show he was producing at Camp Upton in Suffolk County, now Brookhaven National Laboratory, when he was a sergeant in the Army and training there for World War I, then called the Great War. He cut the song from the camp show “Yip, Yip, Yaphank” but saved the sheet music. Berlin was born in Russia and immigrated to New York City as a child.
In 1938, singer Kate Smith’s agent reached out to Berlin for a song to commemorate the 20th anniversary of Armistice Day, now called Veterans Day. Berlin remembered the song he wrote in Yaphank about his adopted country, tweaked it a bit and sent it to Smith. She sang “God Bless America” on her popular radio show on Nov. 10 (the day before the holiday) and said afterward, “It’s something more than a song. . . . I feel it’s one of the most beautiful compositions that was ever written. . . . A song that will never die.”
“God Bless America” became the patriotic song of World War II and beyond. Both Berlin and Smith used the song for the war effort and for American charities. Today, the song is sung at many different kinds of events: patriotic ceremonies, sorrowful commemorations, baseball and football games, in churches and schools. Berlin’s sheet music and Smith’s recording of the song are preserved in the Library of Congress.
As we celebrate America’s 250th birthday and sing our unofficial anthem at local events, “God Bless America” reminds me of the beauty and resolve of the United States. Written on Long Island during one world war and publicized just before the next, “God Bless America” stands the test of time because its themes of gratitude and pride for our nation still ring true:
“Let us all be grateful for a land so fair. . . . God bless America.”
Jeanne Knudsen is a retired social studies teacher in the Longwood school district who was on the National Constitution Center’s Teacher Advisory Council.
