Profiles
Personal narratives of the war and its music
The profiles below examine the ways in which musicians navigated the music industry during the Second World War working alongside the war effort. Profiles are added periodically and reflect holdings in the collection.
The Ink Spots' Music of Escapism
In the midst of a market saturated with music in support of the war the group remained one of the most popular musical acts, even though the content of their songs remained largely apolitical. The Ink Spots music served as a romantic escape with wartime hits such as “Don’t Get Around Much Anymore,” “Maybe,” and...
Irving Berlin and Tin Pan Alley At War
One of the most well-known and venerated writers of popular song in the United States, Irving Berlin played an outsized role in shaping the sonic landscape of wartime America. Immigrating from Russia as a boy, Berlin began his career as a singing waiter in saloons of The Bowery...
Gene Autry's Propaganda on the Range
One of the progenitors of the American archetype of the singing cowboy, Gene Autry was active in an often-overlooked arena of popular music with propagandistic content, Country music. Autry was well established as one of the faces of the new generation of western film and music stars having already scored hits with the singles "That Silver-Haired Daddy of Mine" and his signature song, "Back In the Saddle Again"...
Glenn Miller and the Military Dance Bands
By the time the United States formally entered World War II in 1941, Glenn Miller (1904-1944) had established himself as one of the most popular entertainers in the country. A defining figure of big-band swing,...
Top photo: Billy Rose Theatre Division, The New York Public Library. "Irving Berlin entertains WACs [Women's Army Corps] in New Guinea." New York Public Library Digital Collections. Ink Spots Promotional photo, Rolling Stone Fed. 9, 1989, Keesing Collection on Popular Music and Culture, Special Collections in Performing Arts. Billy Rose Theatre Division, The New York Public Library. "Irving Berlin" New York Public Library Digital Collections. Gene Autry Promotional photo, 1944, Keesing Collection on Popular Music and Culture, Special Collections in Performing Arts. Glenn Miller Promotional Photo, 1943, Keesing Collection on Popular Music and Culture, Special Collections in Performing Arts.