Clotilde Arias: Ford Motor Co.

Arias Dept: After World War II, musician and composer Clotilde Arias, an immigrant from Peru living in New York City, was commissioned by the U.S. State Department to write a translation that could be sung to the tune of the "Star-Spangled Banner." It was sent to U.S. embassies in Latin America and shared with Latin American embassies in Washington, according to Marvette Perez, a curator who researched the translation over the past three years, according to Winnipeg Free Press. Arias, who became a U.S. citizen in 1942, wrote dozens of ad jingles for U.S. companies, including Ford Motor Co., IBM and Coca-Cola for Spanish markets. Arias died in 1959, but her family held on to her music and records and wASHINGTON - A little-known official translation of the U.S. national anthem in Spanish is now part of the Smithsonian Institution's collection. An exhibit opening this weekend, "Not Lost in Translation: The Life of Clotilde Arias," will be on view through April. There are no records of this translation ever being performed, but the National Museum of American History plans performances by a full choir Saturday. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.