Anderson, Marian

Anderson, Marian (1902–1993), contralto.Born in Philadelphia, Anderson sang in a church choir and at age nineteen began formal voice training. At twenty‐three, she made her debut with the New York Philharmonic Orchestra. She later toured in concert in many European and South American capitals. Her foreign acclaim prompted an invitation to tour in the United States, where for two decades she was in demand as a performer of opera and spirituals. In 1939, because she was an African American, Anderson was barred by the Daughters of the American Revolution from performing in Constitution Hall in Washington, D.C., an event that exposed the depth of racism in America. Her open‐air Lincoln Memorial concert that Easter, arranged by Eleanor Roosevelt and Secretary of the Interior Harold Ickes, drew an audience of 75,000 and was broadcast nationally. On 7 January 1955, Anderson became the first African American to sing with the New York Metropolitan Opera Company in its seventy‐five year history. Also the first African American to perform at the White House, Anderson sang at the inaugurations of Presidents Dwight D. Eisenhower and John F. Kennedy. Her many honors included, in 1963, the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

Bibliography

Marian Anderson , My Lord, What a Morning, 1956, reissued in 1992.
Shirlee Petkin Newman , Marian Anderson: Lady from Philadelphia, 1965.

Claudia Durst Johnson