Catholic University Wins Legal Right to Auction Dress From ‘Wizard of Oz’
NEW YORK — A New York judge’s ruling this week authorizes Catholic University of America to auction a gingham dress worn by Judy Garland in the 1939 movie “The Wizard of Oz.”
Ownership of the dress was contested by the niece of the priest who had been given the dress by a friend and co-worker. The priest, Gilbert Hartke, donated all his possessions to the Dominican Order of the Catholic clergy, according to the university.
Although nothing in his estate specifically mentions the dress, it was found among his other belongings inside a trash bag above faculty mailboxes in the drama department of the Washington, D.C.-based university. Hartke had been chairman of the drama department until his retirement in 1974.
Catholic University said in a court filing that as a Dominican Order priest, Hartke took a vow when he entered the priesthood in 1933 making himself “incapable of possessing temporal goods as my own or of using them with a private right.”
A New York federal judge ruled there is no evidence the niece, Barbara Ann Hartke, is the true representative of her uncle’s estate or heir to his property. He dismissed her lawsuit.
The dress has a pre-auction assessment value between $800,000 and $1.2 million.
“Although the [lawsuit] alleges that plaintiff brings this suit as ‘the closest living heir of the decedent,’ this allegation is not sufficient to demonstrate standing,” U.S. District Judge Paul G. Gardephe wrote in his order of dismissal.
Hartke, who died in 1986, was given the dress by Oscar-winning actress Mercedes McCambridge in 1973. She was then an artist-in-residence at the university.
McCambridge expressed gratitude in the publicized gift to Hartke for counseling her as she recovered from drug and alcohol addiction.
McCambridge was a personal friend of Garland, who died in 1969 at 47 years old.
When workers during a renovation project at the school found the dress, Catholic University administrators made no effort to find Hartke’s family members, the lawsuit’s complaint says.
Barbara Ann Hartke said she suffered “great emotional harm” when she learned through news reports that university officials decided to keep it.
They contacted Bonhams & Butterfields Auctioneers Corp. to auction the dress.
It is one of only two remaining among the five gingham dress outfits Garland wore in “The Wizard of Oz.” The other one sold at auction in 2015 for $1.5 million.
“The property in question is clearly unique and injury suffered to the estate is not measurable in monetary damages,” Hartke’s 2022 court filing said. “The property’s value cannot be measured with anything comparable on the market and the auction is no guarantee that the price obtained reflects its actual value.”
Initially the judge granted a preliminary injunction against auctioning the dress. It was scheduled to be auctioned one day after the injunction was granted.
The ruling this week eliminates the injunction, thereby allowing the sale to proceed.
Catholic University said in a statement that it “is very encouraged and pleased that the motion to dismiss was granted and looks forward to reaching finality in this case in the coming weeks.”
Hartke’s attorney said he plans further legal action to have her declared a representative of her uncle’s estate in another attempt to reclaim the dress.
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