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Marian Anderson...
Marian Anderson...
Item # 590519
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April 10, 1939
THE NEW YORK TIMES, April 10, 1939
* Marian Anderson
* African American Contralto
* Famous Lincoln Memorial concert
This 36 page newspaper has two column headlines on page 19: "Throng Honors Marian Anderson In Concert at Lincoln Memorial", "Estimated 75,000, Gathered at Monument to Emancipator, Rush Toward Negro Singer at End--Ickes Introduces Her" with about 2/3 of a column of text. Other news, sports and advertisements of the day throughout. Rag edition in great condition.
wikipedia notes: 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 ensuing furor, thousands of DAR members, including First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt, resigned.
The Roosevelts, with Walter White, then-executive secretary of the NAACP, and Anderson's manager, impresario Sol Hurok, then persuaded Secretary of the Interior Harold L. Ickes to arrange an open air Marian Anderson concert on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial. The concert, commencing with a dignified and stirring rendition of "My Country, 'Tis of Thee" attracted a crowd of more 75,000 of all colors and was a sensation with a national radio audience of millions.
Anderson performing at the Lincoln Memorial, 1939
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.[5] 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 his magnitude, who felt that she had been able to penetrate the Nordic soul.
Category: The 20th Century
No Longer Available
