Editing Ira Gershwin (section)

== Legacy ==
Ira Gershwin was a joyous listener to the sounds of the modern world. "He had a sharp eye and ear for the minutiae of living." He noted in a diary: "Heard in a day: An elevator's purr, telephone's ring, telephone's buzz, a baby's moans, a shout of delight, a screech from a 'flat wheel', hoarse honks, a hoarse voice, a tinkle, a match scratch on sandpaper, a deep resounding boom of dynamiting in the impending subway, iron hooks on the gutter."{{sfn|Rosenberg|1991|p=31}}

In 1987, Ira's widow, Leonore, established the Ira Gershwin Literacy Center at University Settlement, a century-old institution at 185 Eldridge Street on the Lower East Side, New York City. The center is designed to give English-language programs to primarily Hispanic and Chinese Americans. Ira and his younger brother George spent many after-school hours at the Settlement.<ref>[https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9B0DE5DB1231F936A15750C0A961948260 Widow of Ira Gershwin Endows Literacy Center"], ''[[The New York Times]]'', March 25, 1987</ref>

The George and Ira Gershwin Collection and the Ira Gershwin Files from the Law Office of Leonard Saxe are both at the [[Library of Congress]] Music Division.<ref>[https://www.loc.gov/loc/lcib/9809/gershwin.html The Library of Congress Gershwin Collection] The Library of Congress. Retrieved March 17, 2009</ref> The Edward Jablonski and Lawrence D. Stewart Gershwin Collection at the [[Harry Ransom Humanities Research Center]] at the University of Texas at Austin holds a number of Ira's manuscripts and other material.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://norman.hrc.utexas.edu/fasearch/findingAid.cfm?eadid=00062|title=Edward Jablonski and Lawrence D. Stewart: An Inventory of Their Collection|publisher=[[Harry Ransom Humanities Research Center]] at the University of Texas at Austin|access-date=December 19, 2024}}</ref>

In 2007, the United States [[Library of Congress]] named its [[Library of Congress Gershwin Prize for Popular Song|Prize for Popular Song]] after him and his brother George. Recognizing the profound and positive effect of American popular music on the world's culture, the prize will be given annually to a composer or performer whose lifetime contributions exemplify the standard of excellence associated with the Gershwins.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.loc.gov/today/pr/2007/07-010.html |title=Paul Simon to Be Awarded First Annual Gershwin Prize for Popular Song by Library of Congress|work=The Library of Congress |date=March 1, 2007 |access-date=March 18, 2013}}</ref>