The Collection of The Reverend Samuel Arluck (1882-1953)

Recent Accession

YIVO received items relating to The Reverend Samuel Arluck (1882-1953), father of the famed American composer Harold Arlen whose catalog of over 500 songs includes the beloved “Over the Rainbow” and “Get Happy.” Surely Harold inherited his musical talent from his father, who was born in Vilna in 1882, immigrated to Louisville, Kentucky in 1887, and became a famed cantor leading congregations in Buffalo and Syracuse, New York. The collection consists of ephemera relating to Samuel Arluck’s personal life and career and includes a framed oil painting of Cantor Arluck on the bimah at Temple Adath Yeshurum in Syracuse, New York. This painting was created in the 1950s by Harold Arlen.