{"id":43,"date":"2019-05-21T19:00:42","date_gmt":"2019-05-21T19:00:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/wcsu.wpengine.com\/mariananderson\/?page_id=43"},"modified":"2021-05-12T13:18:12","modified_gmt":"2021-05-12T13:18:12","slug":"marian-anderson-history","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.wcsu.edu\/mariananderson\/marian-anderson-history\/","title":{"rendered":"Marian Anderson History"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Marian Anderson<\/strong>\u00a0was an African-American\u00a0contralto\u00a0and one of the most celebrated singers of the 20th century.\u00a0She was born on Feb. 27, 1897, in\u00a0Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.\u00a0In 1925, Anderson got her first big break when she won first prize in a singing competition sponsored by the\u00a0New York Philharmonic. As the winner, she was able to perform in concert with the orchestra on Aug.\u00a026, 1925,\u00a0a performance that scored immediate success with both audience and music critics.\u00a0Over the next several years, she made a number of concert appearances in the United States, but racial prejudice prevented her career from gaining much momentum. In 1928, she sang for the first time at\u00a0Carnegie Hall. Eventually, she decided to go to Europe where she spent a number of months studying voice\u00a0before launching a highly successful European singing tour.<\/p>\n

In the late 1930s, Anderson gave about 70 recitals a year in the United States. Although by then quite famous, her stature did not completely end the prejudice she confronted as a young black singer touring the U.S. She was still denied rooms in certain hotels and was not allowed to eat in certain restaurants. Because of this discrimination,\u00a0Albert Einstein, a champion of racial tolerance, hosted Anderson on many occasions, the first in 1937 when she was denied a hotel before performing at Princeton University. She last stayed with him months before he died in 1955.<\/p>\n

In 1939, the\u00a0Daughters of the American Revolution\u00a0(DAR) refused permission for Anderson to sing to an integrated audience in\u00a0Constitution 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\u00a0Eleanor Roosevelt\u00a0and her husband\u00a0Franklin D. Roosevelt, Anderson performed a critically acclaimed open-air concert on Easter Sunday, April 9, 1939, on the steps of the\u00a0Lincoln Memorial\u00a0in Washington, D.C. She sang before a crowd of more than 75,000 people and a radio audience in the millions.<\/p>\n

Anderson continued to break barriers for black artists throughout the United States.\u00a0During World War II and the\u00a0Korean War, Anderson entertained troops in hospitals and bases. In 1943, she sang at\u00a0Constitution Hall\u00a0at the invitation of the DAR to a now-integrated audience as part of a benefit for the\u00a0American Red Cross.<\/p>\n

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On July 17, 1943, in\u00a0Bethel, Connecticut, Anderson married architect Orpheus H. Fisher.\u00a0The couple purchased a 100-acre farm in\u00a0Danbury after an exhaustive search throughout New York, New Jersey and Connecticut. Many purchases were attempted, but thwarted by property sellers who took their homes off the market when they discovered the purchasers would be African-Americans. Through the years, Fisher built many outbuildings on the property, including an acoustic rehearsal studio he designed for his wife. The land, that she named Marianna Farm, was on Joe\u2019s Hill Road, in the Mill Plain section of western Danbury, northwest of what in December 1961 became the interchange between\u00a0Interstate 84,\u00a0U.S. 6\u00a0and\u00a0U.S. 202. In 1996, the farm was named one of 60 sites on the Connecticut Freedom Trail. The studio was moved to downtown Danbury as the Marian Anderson studio. As a Danbury resident, she served on the boards of the Danbury Music Center and supported the\u00a0Charles Ives\u00a0Center for the Arts and the Danbury Chapter of the NAACP.<\/p>\n

On Jan. 7, 1955, Anderson became the first African-American to perform with the\u00a0Metropolitan Opera\u00a0in New York.<\/p>\n

In 1957, she sang for President\u00a0Dwight D. Eisenhower\u2019s inauguration.\u00a0That same year, she was elected a Fellow of the\u00a0American Academy of Arts and Sciences.<\/p>\n

In 1958, she was officially designated a delegate to the United Nations.<\/p>\n

On Jan. 20, 1961, she sang for President\u00a0John F. Kennedy\u2019s inauguration.<\/p>\n

In 1963, Anderson received the\u00a0Presidential Medal of Freedom.<\/p>\n

In 1965, she christened the nuclear-powered ballistic-missile submarine,\u00a0USS\u00a0George Washington Carver. That same year, Anderson concluded her farewell tour, after which she retired from public performance. The international tour began at Constitution Hall on Saturday, Oct. 24, 1964, and ended at\u00a0Carnegie Hall\u00a0on April 18, 1965.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Although Anderson retired from singing in 1965, she continued to appear publicly. Her achievements were honored with many recognitions, including the\u00a0Congressional Gold Medal in 1977,\u00a0Kennedy Center Honors\u00a0in 1978, the\u00a0George Peabody Medal\u00a0in 1981, the\u00a0National Medal of Arts\u00a0in 1986 and a\u00a0Grammy Award\u00a0for\u00a0Lifetime Achievement\u00a0in 1991. In 1980, the\u00a0United States Treasury Department\u00a0coined a half-ounce gold commemorative medal with her likeness, and in 1984 she was the first recipient of the Eleanor Roosevelt Human Rights Award of the City of New York. She has been awarded honorary doctoral degrees from\u00a0Howard University,\u00a0Temple University\u00a0and\u00a0Smith College.<\/p>\n

Anderson remained in residence at Marianna Farm for nearly 50 years until 1992, one year before her death. She died of\u00a0congestive heart failure\u00a0on April 8, 1993, at age 96. She had suffered a stroke a month earlier. Anderson died in\u00a0Portland, Oregon, at the home of her nephew, conductor\u00a0James DePreist, where she had relocated the year prior.<\/p>\n

Although her property was sold to developers, various preservationists, as well as the\u00a0city of Danbury,\u00a0fought to protect Anderson\u2019s studio. Their efforts proved successful and the\u00a0Danbury Museum and Historical Society\u00a0received a grant from the State of Connecticut, relocated the structure, restored it and opened it to the public in 2004. In addition to seeing the studio, visitors can see photographs and memorabilia from milestones in Anderson\u2019s career.<\/p>\n

Awards and honors<\/strong><\/p>\n