Marian Anderson: “Sometimes I feel like a motherless child”. Anderson (1897 – 1993), African-American contralto and one of the most celebrated singers of the 20th century was banned from performing in Constitution Hall in 1939 because of her race. Most of her singing career was spent performing in concert and recital in major music venues and with famous orchestras throughout the United States and Europe between 1925 and 1965. She became an important figure in the struggle for Black artists to overcome racial prejudice in the US, 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. instead. She sang before a crowd of more than 75,000 people and a radio audience in the millions. Anderson worked for several years as a delegate to the United Nations Human Rights Committee and as a goodwill ambassadress for the United States Department of State, giving concerts all over the world. She participated in the civil rights movement in the 1960s, singing at the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom in 1963. youtube/watch?v=QedPOq2gi7U
Posted on: Thu, 01 Jan 2015 12:20:33 +0000
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