Marian Anderson, a renowned classical music singer was one of the best contraltos of all time. Born in 1897 to John Berkley Anderson and Annie Delilah Rucker, in Philadelphia, Marian was a great cultural figure in Black History. Anderson discovered her talent at the early age of six at their local church, Union Baptist Church. She would join the choir to sing parts written for soprano, bass, tenor, and alto, a skill that earned her a spot at a music school. Her first brush with racial discrimination was after high school when Anderson applied to join Philadelphia Musical Academy, an all-white music school. Her application was rejected, but it didn’t dampen her spirit as she went on to look for opportunities to showcase her talent. With the help of her principal, she met Guiseppe Boghetti. She presented the song, ‘Deep River,’ during an audition moving Boghetti to tears. This impeccable performance prompted him to give her free music lessons for a year and a chance to perform a recital at The Town Hall in 1924. Although few people attended the recital, Marian recorded two songs- Deep River and My Way’s Cloudy.
Racial prejudice feels like hair across the cheek. You can feel it with your fingers,
Marian Anderson
you can’t see it, but you keep brushing it because it feels irritating.
Anderson’s first big break was in 1925 when she won first prize at a recital at the Lewisohn Stadium in New York against 300 contestants. The huge win paved the way for her to perform at the 1925 orchestra and appear in many concerts. However, the widespread racial strife meant she could only perform in African-American spaces like the African-American Southern college campuses. This led her to look for other platforms where she felt more welcome. In 1930 she seized an opportunity to launch a singing tour in Europe while studying. It was an immense success. She appeared before the monarchs of England, Norway, Sweden, and Denmark, and interacted with prominent people including Kosti Vehanen, a Finnish pianist. However, in 1934 she met Impresario Sol Hurok who offered a better contract and convinced
Anderson to return to America to perform. Although she was a household name in the music scene, she wasn’t immune to discrimination. On several occasions, she was turned away by some American restaurants and hotels further shaping African American History.
Anderson’s most memorable performance was in 1939 when she drew an audience of 75,000 people of mixed races. At the time, she had asked to rent concert facilities owned by the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR), but as history would have it they refused on the basis of race. The decision sparked unrest prompting the First Lady, Eleanor Roosevelt, her husband President Franklin D. Roosevelt, and other prominent women to resign from the Daughter of the American Revolution. Eleanor Roosevelt then Anderson performed an open-air concert at the Lincoln Memorial on Easter Sunday.
Nobody is responsible for their skin complexion; it’s a fact of nature that hardly determines one’s character or the quality of the person underneath.
Marian Anderson
This performance made an indelible mark in Anderson’s life and Black History Online. She was the first African American to sing with the Metropolitan Opera in New York City and win the Grammy (1991). Her resilience in showcasing her talent to the world inspires women of color to live fearlessly, rising above racial prejudice. Marian Anderson died in 1993.