Marian Anderson

Marian Anderson 1897-1993, American contralto, b. Philadelphia. She was the first African American to be named a permanent member of the Metropolitan Opera Company, as well as the first to perform at the White House. Anderson first sang in Philadelphia church choirs, then studied with Giuseppe Boghetti. She began her concert career in 1924 and achieved her first great successes in Europe. Her rich, wide-ranged voice was superbly suited to opera, lieder, and the spirituals that she included in her concerts and recordings. In 1939, when the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) refused to allow her to perform at Constitution Hall in Washington, D.C., Eleanor Roosevelt resigned her DAR membership in protest and sponsored Anderson's concert at the Lincoln Memorial. In 1955 Anderson made her debut with the Metropolitan Opera. She was appointed an alternate delegate to the United Nations in 1958 and in 1963 was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

Bibliography: See her autobiography, My Lord, What a Morning (1956); biography by A. Keiler (2000).

Anderson, Marian (1902–93) US contralto. She secured her reputation as a singer by touring America and Europe in recitals (1925–35). In 1955, she made her debut with the Metropolitan Opera Company (as Ulrica in Verdi's Un Ballo in Maschera) – the first appearance of a black singer in a leading role at the Metropolitan Opera.

Anderson, Marian (b Philadelphia, 1897; d Portland, Oregon, 1993). Amer. contralto. Won comp. to appear with NYPO 1925. First NY recital 1929. London début 1930. Sang mainly in concert repertory but became first black singer at NY Met 1955 (Ulrica in Un ballo in maschera). Delegate to United Nations 1958. Sang at Inauguration of Pres. D. Eisenhower (1953) and at Inauguration Ball of Pres. J. F. Kennedy, 1961. Retired 1965. Autobiography My Lord, What a Morning (NY, 1956).