Minnesota Now and Then: Judy Garland's life in Grand Rapids, Minn.
Judy Garland in 'Meet Me in St. Louis.'
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We love history here on Minnesota Now and we've got a little seasonal history here for you about an entertainment legend who hails from Grand Rapids, Minn. Minnesota Now producer Gretchen Brown spoke with Janie Heitz about Judy Garland, who performed for the first time ever in Grand Rapids on Dec. 26, 1924.
Use the audio player above to listen to the full conversation.
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Audio transcript
CATHY WURZER: Now you know we love history here on Minnesota Now, and we've got a little seasonal history nugget for you today about an entertainment legend who hails from Grand Rapids, Minnesota. I bet you know who this is. Our producer Gretchen Brown has the story.
[AUDIO PLAYBACK]
- Have yourself a merry little Christmas. Let your heart be light. Next year all our troubles will be
GRETCHEN BROWN: Judy Garland is regarded
[END PLAYBACK]
as one of the greatest entertainers of the 20th century. She sang, she danced, she starred in hit classic films like Easter Parade and A Star is Born. These days, if younger generations remember Judy, it's as Dorothy in the 1939 classic, The Wizard of Oz.
[AUDIO PLAYBACK]
- Somewhere over the rainbow, way up high, there's a land that I heard
GRETCHEN BROWN: But today in our "Minnesota Now and Then"
[END PLAYBACK]
we look back 100 years ago. That's when Garland had her debut performance in her hometown of Grand Rapids, Minnesota.
Janie Heitz is the Executive Director of the Judy Garland Children's Museum in Grand Rapids, and she's here to tell us the story. Thanks for being here, Janie.
JANIE HEITZ: Yeah, thank you for having me.
GRETCHEN BROWN: So history has it that Judy Garland gave her first-ever performance in Grand Rapids on December 26th, 1924?
JANIE HEITZ: Yes, that is correct. So there's differing stories over the years, but for the most part, the two sisters were on the stage doing their performance, and Judy was backstage being watched by grandma.
And Judy was enviously watching her sisters perform, and after they were done, she went out on the stage. And mom was in the piano area playing and said, Baby, get off. They always called her Baby.
And she just started singing "Jingle Bells" over and over again until dad or grandma came off and picked her up and threw her over their shoulder and walked her off the stage.
Of course, the crowd loved it and applauded it, and Baby came back and said, "but Daddy, I like it." And so from there on out, it was clear that she liked the stage and wanted to be there and then started performing more regularly with her sisters all across northern Minnesota.
GRETCHEN BROWN: Oh?
JANIE HEITZ: The parents owned the New Grand Theatre, which was downtown.
GRETCHEN BROWN: Yeah, I mean, who were Judy Garland's parents, and how did they end up in Minnesota?
JANIE HEITZ: Sure. So Frank and Ethel Gumm were Judy's parents. Judy was born as Frances Ethel Gumm on June 10th, 1922. Frank was originally from Tennessee and was a traveling performer, a singer.
Legend has it that he was in the Superior area and that Ethel was the piano player at this theater. And that is how they met and fell in love and eventually made their way to Grand Rapids to buy into the theater.
GRETCHEN BROWN: What happened to her childhood home?
JANIE HEITZ: They purchased a home in Grand Rapids in 1919, white clapboard, two-story home here in Grand Rapids, and it was actually located next to the old Central School, which is right in the heart of Grand Rapids. Would have been where the current mall is located.
The house was built in 1892. They lived in that house from 1919 to 1926, and then in 1938, it was actually moved across town. And then in 1994, a new development was going to be going in on a new location, and, luckily, John Minor, a local person here in town, had the idea to buy it and turn it into a museum.
And they moved it again across town, off of Highway 169 here in Grand Rapids, and we have that house on our museum property.
GRETCHEN BROWN: Yeah, I mean, tell me a little bit more about the museum. What sorts of memorabilia do you have in the collection?
JANIE HEITZ: We've been here since 1994. It was fully restored to be of the 1920s era, and we have a handful of original items from the house. The original door was there, and we had eyewitness accounts of people that had been in the house when the Gumm family lived there.
So the inside of the house, I would say, is the main attraction here at the museum. It's very well done, and people love walking through there. We have Judy Garland music going to really bring you back to your own childhood and to that era.
And then on the other side of the museum, we have the Judy Garland Gallery, where we have different memorabilia. So over the years, people have donated essentially every single item in this museum.
We have things like pictures, make up cases. We have an original test dress from The Wizard of Oz. We have the original carriage from The Wizard of Oz, programs from performances, clothing items that she wore from her personal collection.
GRETCHEN BROWN: And if I remember right, there's also a pair of ruby slippers that famously went missing. Is that right?
JANIE HEITZ: Yes. So we are the location of where the ruby slippers were stolen. That, unfortunately, happened in 2005. They were on loan to us. They were recovered in 2018 but have not been returned to their original owner as of right now.
The case is still open. And who knows? Maybe someday they can come back here, but they don't have a home as of right now.
GRETCHEN BROWN: Wow. OK. Judy Garland's parents moved the family to California in 1926, and we know that Judy and her sisters traveled as the Gumm Sisters. And by 1935, Judy had a film contract with MGM, but did she ever come back to Grand Rapids?
JANIE HEITZ: Yes, she did, in 1938, but she was not allowed to sing, unfortunately, because of her contract. So she went to the high school and spoke. They had a dance and a dinner for her that night.
And legend has it that the doctor that delivered her was Dr. Binet, and his son attended the dance that Judy was at and gave Judy his college pin. And Judy said that she would wear it in her next movie, and she did. She wore it in a movie.
GRETCHEN BROWN: Oh, my gosh. She must have had some fond memories of Grand Rapids. Did she ever talk about it?
JANIE HEITZ: Yeah, so there is recordings of her talking about her time in Grand Rapids, and she does recall it as being a quote unquote "terribly happy time in her life." She was with her sisters, and they had the theater, and that was her happy place, was being on stage with her sisters and her mom and performing. It was stage performance that really she was drawn to and loved.
GRETCHEN BROWN: I'm curious. Do younger generations know who Judy is?
JANIE HEITZ: Yes, younger audiences do know Judy Garland. So we had an outdoor stage set up and did an open mic night, and several women in their 20s were up on that stage belting Judy Garland with tears of joy in their eyes while they sang Judy Garland music.
And I thought to myself, wow, it's as if they know her. Like, they were just as if they had these fond memories of Judy Garland and them spending time together. And they are, they're spending time through her music when, especially locals, come back, it's Dorothy's house. Let's go see Dorothy's house, is kind of what it's called.
I think there's a connection people make, too. She had a lot of ups and downs in her life. We do focus on a lot of the positive things that Judy Garland accomplished in her time here. And I think it's just a really nostalgic, happy place to come.
GRETCHEN BROWN: That's awesome. It definitely feels like The Wizard of Oz has endured for all kinds of generations. There's something for everyone there.
JANIE HEITZ: Yeah, it's pretty amazing. It's still considered one of the most watched movies in the entire world. And "Over the Rainbow" is still one of the most played songs as well.
So I think Judy Garland's legacy lives on through The Wizard of Oz, but I think more than that, of course, all of her performances. She resonated, her voice resonated with a lot of people. It's a very memorable voice, I would say, so it's really great to see.
[MUSIC - JUDY GARLAND, "HAVE YOURSELF A MERRY LITTLE CHRISTMAS"]
GRETCHEN BROWN: All right, we're going to leave it there. Janie, thank you so much for being here.
JANIE HEITZ: Yeah, thank you for your time.
[AUDIO PLAYBACK]
- So have yourself a merry--
CATHY WURZER: That was our producer, Gretchen Brown, talking with Janie Heitz. Janie is the Executive Director of the Judy Garland Children's Museum in Grand Rapids. You can find more information online at judygarlandmuseum.com.
[END PLAYBACK]
[AUDIO PLAYBACK]
- Have yourself a merry little Christmas. Let your heart be light. Next year all our troubles will be
GRETCHEN BROWN: Judy Garland is regarded
[END PLAYBACK]
as one of the greatest entertainers of the 20th century. She sang, she danced, she starred in hit classic films like Easter Parade and A Star is Born. These days, if younger generations remember Judy, it's as Dorothy in the 1939 classic, The Wizard of Oz.
[AUDIO PLAYBACK]
- Somewhere over the rainbow, way up high, there's a land that I heard
GRETCHEN BROWN: But today in our "Minnesota Now and Then"
[END PLAYBACK]
we look back 100 years ago. That's when Garland had her debut performance in her hometown of Grand Rapids, Minnesota.
Janie Heitz is the Executive Director of the Judy Garland Children's Museum in Grand Rapids, and she's here to tell us the story. Thanks for being here, Janie.
JANIE HEITZ: Yeah, thank you for having me.
GRETCHEN BROWN: So history has it that Judy Garland gave her first-ever performance in Grand Rapids on December 26th, 1924?
JANIE HEITZ: Yes, that is correct. So there's differing stories over the years, but for the most part, the two sisters were on the stage doing their performance, and Judy was backstage being watched by grandma.
And Judy was enviously watching her sisters perform, and after they were done, she went out on the stage. And mom was in the piano area playing and said, Baby, get off. They always called her Baby.
And she just started singing "Jingle Bells" over and over again until dad or grandma came off and picked her up and threw her over their shoulder and walked her off the stage.
Of course, the crowd loved it and applauded it, and Baby came back and said, "but Daddy, I like it." And so from there on out, it was clear that she liked the stage and wanted to be there and then started performing more regularly with her sisters all across northern Minnesota.
GRETCHEN BROWN: Oh?
JANIE HEITZ: The parents owned the New Grand Theatre, which was downtown.
GRETCHEN BROWN: Yeah, I mean, who were Judy Garland's parents, and how did they end up in Minnesota?
JANIE HEITZ: Sure. So Frank and Ethel Gumm were Judy's parents. Judy was born as Frances Ethel Gumm on June 10th, 1922. Frank was originally from Tennessee and was a traveling performer, a singer.
Legend has it that he was in the Superior area and that Ethel was the piano player at this theater. And that is how they met and fell in love and eventually made their way to Grand Rapids to buy into the theater.
GRETCHEN BROWN: What happened to her childhood home?
JANIE HEITZ: They purchased a home in Grand Rapids in 1919, white clapboard, two-story home here in Grand Rapids, and it was actually located next to the old Central School, which is right in the heart of Grand Rapids. Would have been where the current mall is located.
The house was built in 1892. They lived in that house from 1919 to 1926, and then in 1938, it was actually moved across town. And then in 1994, a new development was going to be going in on a new location, and, luckily, John Minor, a local person here in town, had the idea to buy it and turn it into a museum.
And they moved it again across town, off of Highway 169 here in Grand Rapids, and we have that house on our museum property.
GRETCHEN BROWN: Yeah, I mean, tell me a little bit more about the museum. What sorts of memorabilia do you have in the collection?
JANIE HEITZ: We've been here since 1994. It was fully restored to be of the 1920s era, and we have a handful of original items from the house. The original door was there, and we had eyewitness accounts of people that had been in the house when the Gumm family lived there.
So the inside of the house, I would say, is the main attraction here at the museum. It's very well done, and people love walking through there. We have Judy Garland music going to really bring you back to your own childhood and to that era.
And then on the other side of the museum, we have the Judy Garland Gallery, where we have different memorabilia. So over the years, people have donated essentially every single item in this museum.
We have things like pictures, make up cases. We have an original test dress from The Wizard of Oz. We have the original carriage from The Wizard of Oz, programs from performances, clothing items that she wore from her personal collection.
GRETCHEN BROWN: And if I remember right, there's also a pair of ruby slippers that famously went missing. Is that right?
JANIE HEITZ: Yes. So we are the location of where the ruby slippers were stolen. That, unfortunately, happened in 2005. They were on loan to us. They were recovered in 2018 but have not been returned to their original owner as of right now.
The case is still open. And who knows? Maybe someday they can come back here, but they don't have a home as of right now.
GRETCHEN BROWN: Wow. OK. Judy Garland's parents moved the family to California in 1926, and we know that Judy and her sisters traveled as the Gumm Sisters. And by 1935, Judy had a film contract with MGM, but did she ever come back to Grand Rapids?
JANIE HEITZ: Yes, she did, in 1938, but she was not allowed to sing, unfortunately, because of her contract. So she went to the high school and spoke. They had a dance and a dinner for her that night.
And legend has it that the doctor that delivered her was Dr. Binet, and his son attended the dance that Judy was at and gave Judy his college pin. And Judy said that she would wear it in her next movie, and she did. She wore it in a movie.
GRETCHEN BROWN: Oh, my gosh. She must have had some fond memories of Grand Rapids. Did she ever talk about it?
JANIE HEITZ: Yeah, so there is recordings of her talking about her time in Grand Rapids, and she does recall it as being a quote unquote "terribly happy time in her life." She was with her sisters, and they had the theater, and that was her happy place, was being on stage with her sisters and her mom and performing. It was stage performance that really she was drawn to and loved.
GRETCHEN BROWN: I'm curious. Do younger generations know who Judy is?
JANIE HEITZ: Yes, younger audiences do know Judy Garland. So we had an outdoor stage set up and did an open mic night, and several women in their 20s were up on that stage belting Judy Garland with tears of joy in their eyes while they sang Judy Garland music.
And I thought to myself, wow, it's as if they know her. Like, they were just as if they had these fond memories of Judy Garland and them spending time together. And they are, they're spending time through her music when, especially locals, come back, it's Dorothy's house. Let's go see Dorothy's house, is kind of what it's called.
I think there's a connection people make, too. She had a lot of ups and downs in her life. We do focus on a lot of the positive things that Judy Garland accomplished in her time here. And I think it's just a really nostalgic, happy place to come.
GRETCHEN BROWN: That's awesome. It definitely feels like The Wizard of Oz has endured for all kinds of generations. There's something for everyone there.
JANIE HEITZ: Yeah, it's pretty amazing. It's still considered one of the most watched movies in the entire world. And "Over the Rainbow" is still one of the most played songs as well.
So I think Judy Garland's legacy lives on through The Wizard of Oz, but I think more than that, of course, all of her performances. She resonated, her voice resonated with a lot of people. It's a very memorable voice, I would say, so it's really great to see.
[MUSIC - JUDY GARLAND, "HAVE YOURSELF A MERRY LITTLE CHRISTMAS"]
GRETCHEN BROWN: All right, we're going to leave it there. Janie, thank you so much for being here.
JANIE HEITZ: Yeah, thank you for your time.
[AUDIO PLAYBACK]
- So have yourself a merry--
CATHY WURZER: That was our producer, Gretchen Brown, talking with Janie Heitz. Janie is the Executive Director of the Judy Garland Children's Museum in Grand Rapids. You can find more information online at judygarlandmuseum.com.
[END PLAYBACK]
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