Marian Anderson: From Philly to the Lincoln Memorial

On April 9th, 1939, on a Resurrection Sunday, Marian Anderson, an american contralto, took a historic step up to the microphone at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington D.C. and sang to an audience of 75,000 people.

For years, Anderson had been performing concerts at Howard University and Washington's area churches. But when the N.A.A.C.P. named her the Springarn Medalist for 1939, the demand to hear her increased dramatically. Constitutional Hall, a venue owned by the Daughters of the American Revolution (D.A.R.), was chosen for its size. However, when word spread that the hall would be used for an Anderson concert, the D.A.R. refused to lease the space, enacting its segregation policy. Outraged, Howard University and concert impressario Sol Hurok launched a storm of publicity.

After being mildy chastened, the D.A.R. offered the hall with the proviso that Anderson not be allowed to set a precedent. Howard University and Hurok refused, and under mounting pressure, First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt used her newspaper column to resign her D.A.R. membership. But Hurok announced that Anderson would rather perform in the open air than bow to segregation, the secretary of the interior offered the Lincoln Memorial, a projected audience of 7,500 swelled tenfold, and Marian Anderson became an International legend.