Marian Anderson began singing at age six in the junior choir of the local Baptist church. By age 13, she joined the senior choir, began visiting other churches and became very well known. She often sang at three different locations in an evening. At the age of 22, Ms. Anderson sang at the 1919 National Baptist Convention.
In December of 1928, Ms. Anderson performed at Carnegie Hall and received a glowing review from the New York Times. She studied in Britain on a National Association of Negro Musicians scholarship. On September 16, 1930, she performed at London’s Wigmore Hall. She returned to the U.S. and shortly there after returned to Europe on a Julius Rosenwald Fund Scholarship.
Ms. Anderson made several trips abroad. During one trip to Europe she performed 142 concerts in Scandinavia alone between 1933 and 1934. While in Europe, she was welcomed in the finest hotels and restaurants. However in the U.S., she was often given third or fourth-class accommodations.
In 1939, Ms. Anderson was denied the opportunity to sing at Constitution Hall in Washington, DC, a building owned by the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR). The director of the hall refused to allow any Black person the opportunity to perform in Constitution hall. The First Lady, Eleanor Roosevelt resigned from the Daughters of the American Revolution in protest. The First Lady, however, along with Walter White, Executive Secretary of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, (NAACP) convinced Harold Ickes, the Secretary to the Interior to allow Ms. Anderson the opportunity to sing in front of the Lincoln Memorial.
On Easter Sunday, April 9, 1939, Marian Anderson performed on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial to a crowd of more that 75,000 people. Thousands more listened on the radio.
Following her performance at the Lincoln Memorial Ms. Anderson gave a private concert at the White House, for President Franklin D. Roosevelt, the First Lady, King George VI and Queen Elizabeth of Britain.
Throughout her career she performed at many of the country’s and the world’s most distinguished venues. In 1943, she gave a rectal at Constitution Hall. She insisted that DAR suspend its segregated seating policy for the concert. By 1956, Ms. Anderson had performed more than a thousand times.
In January 1955, Ms. Anderson debuted at the New York Metropolitan Opera. She was the first black singer to perform as a regular member of the company.
In 1957, as a goodwill ambassador for the U.S. State Department and the American National Theater and Academy, she toured India and the Far East. She sang at the inauguration of President Dwight Eisenhower and John F. Kennedy. In 1963, she sang at the March on Washington for Job and Freedom. On April 19, 1965, Easter Sunday, Ms. Anderson gave her final concert at Carnegie Hall.
During her career, Ms. Anderson received many awards, including: 1939 - The Spingarn Medal
1941 - The Bok award, given annually to an outstanding Philadelphia citizen.
1963 - The American Medal of Freedom.
1977 - Congress awarded her a gold medal for her 75th birthday.
1980 - The U.S. Treasury Department coined a half-ounce gold commemorative medal with her likeness.
1986 - The National Medal of Arts. Early in her career Ms. Anderson insisted on a seating arrangement in segregated cities that allowed for black to be seated in all parts of the auditorium. It was often the first time blacks would sit in the orchestra section. By 1950, she would not sing in venues where the audience was segregated.
On April 8, 1993, Marian Anderson died of heart failure, at the age of 96. In June of the same year, more than 2,000 admirers attended her memorial service at Carnegie Hall.
PICTURES: L: Marian Anderson, photographed by Carl Van Vechten. R: Grave marker for Marian Anderson's mother, Anna Anderson; middle sister, Alyse Anderson; Marian Anderson; younger sister, Ethel DePreist and Ms. DePreist's husband James. Video: Marian Anderson at the Lincoln Memorial 1939.
INTERRED: Eden Memorial Cemetery, 1434 Springfield Road, Collingdale, PA 19023. Phone: 610-583-8737. Map of cemetery. SUBMITTED: May 2, 2009. Picture taken April 30, 2009.
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