College Finds Manuscript of Song That Inspired 'Happy Birthday'

A college librarian in Kentucky has found the 19th-century manuscript of a musical number that gave rise to one of the most widely performed songs in the world, "Happy Birthday to You," University of Louisville officials said on Monday.


The discovery will likely intensify interest in a high-profile U.S. court case over whether Warner Music Group has a valid copyright to the "Happy Birthday" song and can continue to reap from it an estimated $2 million in royalties every year.


The university said its library director, James Procell, recently found the only known manuscript of "Good Morning to All," a melody that the public eventually began to sing with the familiar tribute, "Happy Birthday to You."The document was found in a sketch book belonging to Louisville native Mildred Hill, who wrote the "Good Morning" song along with her sister Patty, a kindergarten teacher, and published it in a children's song book in 1893.


The manuscript and other papers were donated to the library in the 1950s by a friend of the Hill sisters, but were not cataloged. They remained hidden in its archives for decades.