BANNED FROM CONSTITUTION HALL IN WASHINGTON, D.C. MARIAN ANDERSON (Feb. 27, 1897 – April 8, 1993), African-American contralto and one of the most celebrated singers of the twentieth century, spent most of her singing career performing in concert and recital in major music venues and with famous orchestras throughout the United States and Europe between 1925 and 1965. She made many recordings that reflected her broad performance repertoire of everything from concert literature to lieder to opera to traditional American songs and spirituals. Anderson became an important figure in the struggle for black artists to overcome racial prejudice in the United States during the mid-twentieth century, when in 1939, the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) refused permission for Anderson to sing to an integrated audience in Constitution Hall. The incident placed Anderson into the spotlight of the international community on a level unusual for a classical musician. With the aid of First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt, Anderson performed a critically acclaimed open-air concert on Easter Sunday, April 9, 1939, on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C. She sang before a crowd of more than 75,000 people and a radio audience in the millions. Here her sing here at the Lincoln memorial: youtube/watch?v=mAONYTMf2pk
Posted on: Sun, 25 Aug 2013 10:51:49 +0000
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