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The
story of how the song Happy Birthday to You came to be, began as a sweet one that later sourced. Two sisters,
Mildred Hill, a teacher at the Louisville, Kentucky Experimental Kindergarten, and
Dr. Patty Hill, the headmaster of the same school, together wrote a song for
the children, called Good Morning to All.
As the local expert on spiritual songs, and as the organist（风琴师）
for her church, Mildred combined her musical talents with her
sister's knowledge in the area of Kindergarten Education, Good Morning to All was sure to be a success.
The
sisters published the song in a collection named "Song Stories of the
Kindergarten" in 1893.Thirty-one years later, after Dr. Patty Hill became
the head of the Department of Kindergarten Education at Columbia University's
Teacher College, a gentleman by the name of Robert H. Coleman published the song,
without the sisters'permission. What was worse, he added a second verse（歌词） Happy Birthday to You.
Mr. Coleman's
addition of the second verse made the song become well known and, gradually, the
sisters' original first verse disappeared. Happy Birthday to You, the one and
only birthday song, had altogether replaced the sisters' original title Good
Morning to All.
After
Mildred died in 1916, Patty, together with a third sister, Jessica, discussed
the issue together and took Mr. Coleman to court（法庭）,
they proved that they, indeed, owned the melody（曲调）. The
court finally decided that the family legally（合法地） owns
the song, whenever it is sung for commercial purposes（商业目的）.
