Marian Anderson

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Marian Anderson 2/27/1897-4/8/1993
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• Born in Philadelphia, PA
• Joined church choir at age 6
• Applied to an music school after graduation in
  1921, but was turned away because she was black
• She debuted with the New York Philharmonic in
  1925
• She toured Europe in the 1930s. She did not
  encounter the same racial prejudice there as she
  did in the United States

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• In 1939 the Daughters of the American Revolution
  (DAR) refused permission for her to sing to an
  integrated audience at Constitution Hall. The DC
  Board of Ed also refused to let her use the
  auditorium of an all-white high school. As a
  result, thousands of DAR members, including First
  Lady Eleanor Roosevelt, resigned.

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• The Roosevelts then persuaded the Secretary of
  the Interior, Harold Ickes, to arrange an open
  air concert on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial
• The concert was held on Easter Sunday, 1939
• The crowd was over 75,000 people strong of all
  races
• The concert concluded with a rendition of My
  Country, Tis of Thee
• Was heard by millions over the radio

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(No Transcript)
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• In 1943, she was invited by the DAR to perform to
  an integrated audience at Constitution Hall as a
  fundraiser for the American Red Cross
• The Federal Government still would not let her
  use the public high school gymnasium in DC
• 1943 she married architect
• Orpheus Fisher

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• Anderson and Fisher tried to buy a farm, were
  barred many times because they were black
• Finally bought 100 acre farm near Danbury,
  Connecticut. Named it Marianna Farm
• Built an acoustic rehearsal studio on the farm
• Couple remained on the farm until Fishers death
  in 1986. Anderson stayed until 1992, one year
  before her death

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• 1972 was awarded the UN Peace Prize
• Retired from singing in 1965
• Kennedy Center Honors in 1978
• Lifetime achievement Grammy in 1991
• Has an award named after her. The Marian
  Anderson Award is given to an artist who exhibits
  leadership in a humanitarian area
• Died in 1993 of heart failure at the age of 96 in
  Portland, Oregon