African American Heritage

Marian Anderson (February 27, 1897 - April 8, 1993)

Marian Anderson was born in Philadelphia, PA in 1897. She began singing alongside her aunt and with the Union Baptist Church's junior choir at an early age. Anderson received her major break when she won a competition sponsored by the New York Philharmonic, resulting in a successful performance with an orchestra in 1925. Her career then took off, with her first performance at Carnegie Hall in 1928, and broke into Europe in 1930. Throughout the 1930s, Anderson studied languages in Berlin, and garnered much praise while touring throughout Europe performing in front of integrated audiences.

At the time when she was an internationally renowned contralto, Anderson became most famous for being denied the opportunity to perform for an integrated audience at the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) Constitution Hall in 1939. The First Lady, Eleanor Roosevelt, and others in the US Federal government made the steps of the Lincoln Memorial available for a 1939 Easter Sunday performance. She was also a goodwill ambassador for the Department of State, present at the dedication of the future site of the Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library, and involved in the World War II effort.

Marian Anderson sings at Harold Ickes Memorial Service, April 20, 1952 (NAID 348543260)

75000 ppl watch Marian Anderson on the National Mall

75,000 People gathered to hear Marian Anderson sing at Potomac Park, April 9, 1939 (NAID 595378)

Listen to the Easter Sunday Concert on the National Mall

The Concert on the National Mall

On Easter Sunday, April 9, 1939, thousands, upon thousands (an estimated 75,000 people) came out to the National Mall to hear Marion Anderson sing. Despite being an experienced, recognized and highly sought after performer, touring across Europe and America, Anderson was denied use of Constitution Hall in Washington, DC because she was Black. First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt claimed to have put in her resignation from the DAR in protest of their refusal to let Anderson perform in front of an integrated audience. Not only was she denied Constitution Hall, but a performance at the auditorium of Central High School in Washington, DC was refused as well.

With the encouragement of First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt and Walter White (of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, NAACP), Secretary of Interior Harold Ickes arranged to hold a free concert sponsored by Howard University at the Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall. Marian Anderson opened the concert with "My Country, 'Tis of Thee," following an introduction from Secretary Ickes in which he decried prejudice in the United States.

World War II

Like many entertainers of the time, Marian Anderson did her part to support the men and women in uniform and America's war effort. She was one of many personalities photographed by Risdon Tillery taking part in freedom rallies, participated in Voice of America broadcasts, and sang in a Christmas program for troops in 1944. On September 29, 1942, Marian Anderson christened the SS Booker T. Washington before it was launched. The Booker T. Washington was the first Liberty ship to be named for an African American, and was commanded by Hugh Mulzac, the first Black person to earn a US Merchant Marine master's license.

Due to the incident that led to the Easter Sunday concert on the Mall, and her continued acquaintance with Eleanor Roosevelt, Marian Anderson was present at the dedication of Hyde Park as a national monument. President Franklin D. Roosevelt became the first president to formally donate his personal and presidential papers to the Federal government in 1939, preceding the Presidential Libraries Act that was passed in 1955.

Marian Anderson continued to interact with US Presidents, singing at the inaugurations of Dwight Eisenhower and John F. Kennedy in 1957 and 1961, respectively. In 1963, she was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Lyndon B. Johnson, the Congressional Gold Medal in 1977 during the Carter administration, and bestowed with the Kennedy Center Honors in 1978.

In her later career, Marian Anderson also acted as a goodwill ambassador, traveling to many places around the world including: Germany, India, Mexico, Guinea, Malaysia, Thailand, and Taiwan.

Although the incident with the DAR lead to Marian Anderson's most famous concert on the National Mall, that was not the only time she sang there. The man who gave permission for Marian Anderson to have an outdoor concert on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, Harold L. Ickes died February 3, 1952. On April 20, 1952 there was a memorial service for him at the Lincoln Memorial, attended by President Harry S. Truman, First Lady Bess Truman, current Secretary of the Interior Oscar Chapman, and Marian Anderson singing a selection. An encore performance in front of the statue of Abraham Lincoln came on August 28, 1963, when Marian Anderson sang "He's Got the Whole World in His Hands" at the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom.

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Social Networks and Archival Context - Marian Anderson

poster w/picture of Marian Anderson at top, orange background w/Chinese characters