Marian Anderson Sings
In early 1939, the Daughters of the American Revolution denied internationally famed contralto Marian Anderson the opportunity to sing at Constitution Hall in Washington, D.C., because of her race. First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt was so dismayed by the injustice that she resigned her own D.A.R. membership in protest. On Easter Sunday, April 9, Anderson, at the invitation of Secretary of the Interior Harold L. Ickes, sang a triumphant outdoor concert at the Lincoln Memorial before a crowd of 75,000 and a radio audience of millions.
Photo: Library of Congress