Marian Anderson A power-point on how her quotes exemplified the events of her life and their importance to history. By: Kate Allebach

Background Information Born in Philadelphia in 1897, Marian Anderson began singing as a child and her love of music grew from there. After training, she made many national and international music tours. By 1955, she was the first African American female vocal soloist to appear at the Metropolitan Opera as Ulrica in Verdi’s Un Ballo in Maschera. In her lifetime, she tackled many prejudicial obstacles and lived to be one of America’s most influential singers.

“As long as you keep a person down, some part of you has to be down there to hold him down, so it means you cannot soar as you otherwise might.” When Anderson was not accepted into a Philadelphia music school, because of her color, she was discouraged. But her autobiography described her mentality as strong-willed and courageous. She was not going to let any person or thing stand in her way of becoming a great singer. AfRKH0&feature=related AfRKH0&feature=related Marian Anderson singing Schubert’s “Ave Maria”

“When you stop having dreams and ideals- well, you might as well stop altogether.” After getting private lessons, her professional career started out rough. When she performed a concert at New York’s Town Hall, it was poorly attended and she had received bad reviews. She contemplated ending her career until she won a singing contest that stimulated her dreams and Marian continued to sing on.

“When I sing, I don’t want them to see that my face is black. I don’t want them to see that my face is white. I want them to see my soul. And that is colorless.” Marian’s Carnegie Hall debut occurred in 1928, and her audience fell in love with her voice. She was working at her dream, but noticed that she was only performing for black audiences. She wanted her voice and songs to reach more people, despite prejudiced viewpoints. Music is a depiction of the soul, and Marian wanted people to see that, not the color of her skin.

“Fear is a disease that eats away at logic and makes man inhuman.” In 1939, the DAR denied admittance of Anderson to sing in Washington D.C.’s Constitutional Hall because she was African American. The DAR and the Hall manager were prejudiced people that held their ideals on the basis of fear- not of reason. This did not leave Marian down-trodden. YTMf2pk YTMf2pk Marian Anderson singing “My Country ‘Tis of Thee”

“I suppose I might insist on making issues of things. But that is not my nature, and I always bear in mind that my mission is to leave behind me the kind of impression that will make it easier for those who follow.” After hearing of this, First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt, resigned from the DAR and convinced the president to have Marian sing on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial for a free, open-air concert on Easter Sunday. Marian accepted and remarked that she is a leader of her people and basically did not want a big uproar. She certainly wanted to make the race fight easier in not creating a commotion, with similar ideas as Dr. King’s non-violent protests. Marian Anderson just wanted to sing.

“I forgave the DAR many years ago. You lose a lot of time hating people.” Just four years later in 1943, Marian had accepted an apologetic invitation to sing at Constitution Hall, after insisting there be no segregated seating. Anderson described her experience singing there with no sense of triumph; she truly just wanted to sing because it was a beautiful concert hall. _4&feature=related _4&feature=related Marian Anderson singing “Deep Rivier”

“Leadership should be born out of the understanding of the needs of those who would be affected by it.” After her Metropolitan Opera debut, in 1957, President Eisenhower appointed her as a delegate to the United Nations Human Rights Committee and she travelled around the world singing and promoting goodwill.

“Prejudice is like a hair across your cheek. You can’t see it, you can’t find it with your fingers, but you keep brushing at it because the feel of it is irritating.” One of the shining qualities of Anderson is that while she toured, she combated segregation and consequently, advocated for the race cause. During her tours, she insisted on “Vertical” seating in segregated seating, which meant that black audience members would be able to get seats anywhere in the concert hall. By 1950, Anderson refused to sing where the audience was segregated.

“A singer starts by having his instrument as a gift from God… When you have been given something in a moment of grace, it is sacrilegious to be greedy.” Before Anderson, many blacks tried to involve themselves in music and opera as a career, but did not have success in their lifetime. These people are recognized today. Anderson pioneered the movement of occupational singing for African Americans when the Met hired her. All the men and women that came before and after her, understood that their gifts were necessary to life and happiness. Therefore, these musicians were never greedy.

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Bibliography history-blacks-opera?page=0,1 history-blacks-opera?page=0,1 mar.htm mar.htm