Reply #35: What she Did for Marian Anderson Alone [View All]

[msanthrope]

would have won my vote; the fact that it was one of just many instances of great personal character is a testament to the fortitude and forthrightness of that Great Lady.....

"In 1939, the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) refused permission for Anderson to sing to an integrated audience in Constitution Hall. The District of Columbia Board of Education declined a request to use the auditorium of a white public high school. As a result of the furor which followed, thousands of DAR members, including First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt, resigned.

At the suggestion of Walter White, then-executive secretary of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) and with the support of Eleanor Roosevelt, Secretary of the Interior Harold L. Ickes organized an open air concert for Anderson on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial. The concert, commencing with a dignified and stirring rendition of "America" attracted a crowd of more 75,000 of all colors and was a sensation with a national radio audience.

The concert mentioned above was held on Easter Sunday in 1939. Anderson was accompanied by the Finnish accompanist Kosti Vehanen, who introduced Marian to Jean Sibelius in 1933. Sibelius was overwhelmed with Anderson's performance and asked his wife to bring champagne in place of the traditional coffee. At this moment Sibelius started altering and composing songs for Anderson, who was delighted to have met a musician of Sibelius' magnitude, who felt that she had been able to penetrate the Nordic soul."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marian_Anderson

Never seen Ms. Anderson? Video and Audio....

http://www.library.upenn.edu/exhibits/rbm/anderson/lincoln.html