ANDERSON, MARIAN

Marian Anderson (February 27, 1897–April 8, 1993), best known as an opera singer, broke the color barrier when she performed on Easter Sunday in 1939 at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C., marking the symbolic beginning of the civil rights movement. Born in Philadelphia, Anderson began her singing career in church, where her congregation dubbed her the "baby contralto." She gained public recognition in 1924 after winning a New York Philharmonic voice competition. Racism, however, forced her to study and perform in Europe, where she met the impresario Sol Hurok, who became her manager. While she was performing at the Salzburg Festival in 1935, conductor Arturo Toscanini, impressed by her voice, said, "A voice like yours is heard once in a hundred years." That year, Hurok brought her back to the United States for a successful New York concert. Thereafter, she toured the United States, singing at the White House in 1936 and performing seventy recitals in 1938.

Although Anderson had become an internationally famous recitalist and opera singer, racism denied her many opportunities. Hurok tried to shelter her from mounting racial hostilities by only booking her in certain cities. In 1939, the Daughters of the American Revolution refused to allow her to perform at Constitution Hall in Washington, D.C., claiming that the venue was for "white artists only." The incident created such a surge of protest that First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt publicly resigned from the organization. The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), along with African-American leaders at Howard University and Mrs. Roosevelt, worked to find Anderson another setting for her concert. In the end, Secretary of Interior Harold L. Ickes invited Anderson to perform at the Lincoln Memorial. On Easter Sunday, April 9, 1939, Anderson sang before a crowd of 75,000. The performance was broadcast over national radio, making it one of the most noteworthy concerts in American history. In addition to inspiring a generation of African-American artists and activists, Anderson's performance at the Lincoln Memorial caught the attention of Hollywood. Twentieth Century Fox, which was producing John Ford's Young Mr. Lincoln starring Henry Fonda, invited her to sing at the film's premiere in Spring-field, Illinois, on May 30, 1939. On July 2, at the NAACP conference in Richmond, Virginia, Anderson was reunited with Mrs. Roosevelt, who presented her with the Spingarn Medal to celebrate her accomplishments as a singer.

After World War II, Anderson resumed touring abroad and in 1952 made her television debut on the Ed Sullivan Show. In 1955 she sang the role of Ulrica in Verdi's A Masked Ball, making her the first African American to perform with New York's Metropolitan Opera. In 1957, she traveled throughout Asia as a goodwill cultural ambassador for the U.S. Department of State. She also performed at the inaugurations of presidents Dwight D. Eisenhower and John F. Kennedy. In 1963, Anderson returned to the Lincoln Memorial to sing at the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, at which Martin Luther King, Jr., delivered his "I Have a Dream" speech. That same year, she won the presidential Medal of Freedom. She died from congestive heart failure in 1993.

See Also: AFRICAN AMERICANS, IMPACT OF THE GREAT DEPRESSION ON; ELLINGTON, DUKE; HOLIDAY, BILLIE; MUSIC.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Anderson, Marian. My Lord, What a Morning: An Autobiography. 1956.

Keiler, Allan. Marian Anderson: A Singer's Journey. 2000.

Sims, Janet L., ed. Marian Anderson: An Annotated Bibliography and Discography. 1981.

Mary L. Nash