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A federal decide on Monday blocked Catholic College from auctioning off a memorable white-and-blue costume worn by Judy Garland in “The Wizard of Oz” after a Wisconsin girl filed a lawsuit claiming she was the rightful proprietor of the gingham pinafore garment donned by Dorothy.
Decide Paul G. Gardephe of U.S. District Courtroom in Manhattan granted a preliminary injunction a day earlier than the costume was scheduled to be auctioned in Los Angeles, the place it had been anticipated to promote for greater than $1 million. Catholic College had deliberate to make use of that cash to endow a brand new college place within the Rome Faculty of Music, Drama and Artwork.
Decide Gardephe dominated that the costume couldn’t be offered by Catholic College till the lawsuit was resolved. Each side are set to satisfy in courtroom on June 9.
In her lawsuit, filed earlier this month, Barbara Ann Hartke claims the costume belonged to the property of her uncle, the Rev. Gilbert Hartke, who was as soon as chairman of the college’s drama division and acquired the costume as a present in 1973 from the Academy Award-winning actress Mercedes McCambridge, who was additionally an artist in residency on the college.
Ms. McCambridge had “particularly and publicly” given the costume to Mr. Hartke as an illustration of gratitude for “serving to her battle alcohol substance abuse,” the lawsuit states.
Mr. Hartke died in 1986, and Ms. Hartke says she is his closest residing inheritor.
The lawsuit states that Ms. McCambridge was a “shut confidant” of Ms. Garland, however it’s unclear precisely how she obtained the costume.
The college has contended that the costume was a present from Mr. Hartke, and that it was his want for it to be stored throughout the establishment.
Shawn Brenhouse, a lawyer for Catholic College, mentioned in a press release on Monday evening that the decide’s determination “was preliminary and didn’t get to the deserves of Barbara Hartke’s declare to the costume.”
“We look ahead to presenting our place, and the overwhelming proof contradicting Ms. Hartke’s declare, to the courtroom in the midst of this litigation,” Mr. Brenhouse mentioned.
Anthony Scordo III, a lawyer for Ms. Hartke, didn’t instantly reply to an electronic mail looking for touch upon Monday evening.
The delicate costume has change into legend ever since Ms. Garland wore it within the Technicolor basic in 1939, complementing the plaid look with ruby-red slippers sought by the Depraved Witch. Ms. Garland wore a number of variations of the costume, however just one different is understood to nonetheless exist. It was offered in 2012 by Julien’s Auctions for $480,000. In 2015, it offered once more for almost $1.6 million.
The situation of the second costume had been a thriller till it was discovered by probability final yr in a shoe field, inside a bag, sitting on prime of school mailboxes. Matt Ripa, a lecturer and operations supervisor on the drama faculty, discovered the bag when he was cleansing up the realm in preparation for renovations of the Hartke Theater.
The Smithsonian’s Nationwide Museum of American Historical past helped authenticate the costume, which features a fitted bodice, a high-necked shirt and a full skirt, with a cloth label inside inscribed “Judy Garland 4223.”
Ms. Hartke claims in her lawsuit that her household was by no means made conscious of the invention by the college. They’d recognized a costume existed, and had been stunned to learn headlines about preparations to public sale it off “with none compensation to its rightful homeowners,” the lawsuit states.
“There isn’t any documentation demonstrating that” Mr. Hartke ever donated the costume to Catholic College, in accordance with the lawsuit.
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