Paul Duggan14:14, Jul 09 2021
Nearly half a century ago, a story in Catholic University's student newspaper described a "precious gift" bestowed on the US school by Oscar-winning actress Mercedes McCambridge, then an artist-in-residence in the university's drama department.
Here was a rare piece of Tinseltown memorabilia, a farm girl's blue gingham dress, one of several - though not many - worn by Judy Garland in her role as Dorothy Gale in the classic 1939 movie
The Wizard of Oz. It wasn't quite the famed ruby slippers, but the garment was a fascinating artefact just the same.
One of just six of Dorothy's famous blue gingham pinafores has turned up, not in Kansas, but at Catholic University in Washington DC.