Anderson, Marian 135For the balance of her career, Anderson was a prominent
fi gure performing around the world and representing the
United States as a sort of “good will” ambassador. Th at role
became offi cial in 1958 when Anderson was offi cially des-
ignated as a delegate to the United Nations. Th roughout the
Cold War, though, Anderson’s strong beliefs and work as a
civil rights and peace activist sometimes put her at odds with
the U.S. government and African American community lead-
ers. Signing the World Peace Appeal (Stockholm Appeal) of
1950, an antinuclear movement from the Eastern Bloc coun-
tries, was highly suspect during the Cold War. Even while
carrying out her UN duties or speaking on U.S. policy, An-
derson made her personal views known as well. For example,
aft er delivering a policy statement in 1955 on her delegation’s
position to the General Assembly concerning the U.S. posi-
tion on the newly formed Nigeria’s claim on the Cameroons,
Anderson did not hesitate to publicize her opposition to
that policy. She also broke ranks by speaking publicly about
race relations in America while on a concert tour in Asia.
Anderson broke many race barriers in the United States.
She became the fi rst African American to sing at the Met-
ropolitan Opera in New York in 1955. In 1961, AndersonStreets—and her earliest musical education and voice les-
sons, as a teenager, were provided through the generosity of
her church and members of her community. Studying fi rst
under local contraltos, by 1920 Anderson began to study
under Giuseppe Boghetti, benefi ting from a fundraising
concert sponsored by the Union Baptist Church.
In the 1920s, Anderson established her career sing-
ing in African American communities around the United
States, making her fi rst recording of spirituals in 1924, win-
ning a contest to sing with the New York Philharmonic in
1925, and performing at Carnegie Hall in 1928. By the late
1920s and throughout the 1930s, she performed at concert
halls and with opera companies across Europe and Asia.
Anderson, like her mentor Roland Hayes, valued the legacy
of African American music and established a repertoire
in excess of 100 African American spirituals from which
she would choose closing numbers for her recitals. Th is
element, which became a signature of her concert perfor-
mances, has become a tradition continued since by many
well-versed African American classical singers, including
Jessye Norman, William Warfi eld, and Kathleen Battle.
Anderson returned from performing and studying
around the globe with a newfound fame and recognition of
her talent. In 1938, she made an intensive tour of the South-
ern states, with over 70 concert dates and was awarded an
honorary doctorate of music from Howard University. In
1939, her manager booked Anderson to perform in concert
at Constitution Hall in Washington, D.C. When the manage-
ment of Constitution Hall reported that the original concert
date was previously booked and that the hall was unable to
make another booking for Ms. Anderson, it became publicly
known that the owner of the concert hall, the Daughters of
the American Revolution (D.A.R.), held a policy that did not
allow African American artists to perform on its stage. Th e
D.A.R.’s public discrimination against the world-renowned
singer drew widespread criticism. Th e public resignation of
First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt from the D.A.R. and her com-
ments about the group’s policy in her weekly newspaper col-
umn elevated awareness of the slight against Anderson to an
international level. Th rough the secretary of the interior, the
Roosevelt administration invited Anderson to give a con-
cert on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial. On April 9, 1939,
Easter Sunday, Anderson performed live from the Lincoln
Memorial for 75,000 people, with an audience of 1 mil-
lion plus watching the live televised broadcast. Anderson
was a recipient of the Spingarn Medal that same year.
Marian Anderson, internationally celebrated opera singer,
performed at the Lincoln Memorial in 1939 ; an event viewed
as symbolic in the Civil Rights movement. (Library of Congress)