Eleanor Roosevelt & Marian Anderson: Voices Over Racism

A Voice that Sang Above Racism

Marian Anderson once remarked, “ 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.” In every aspect of her life and career, racial prejudice and segregation obstructed Marian Anderson’s path to fame. They were relentless forces throughout her life, always finding ways to deny her equality and fair opportunities to share her voice with the nation. However, she did not allow the color of her skin define her career and success. After being denied a stage to perform on in 1939, Marian Anderson used the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C. as her platform to unify and awaken the consciousness of her broken nation. Through her performance, Anderson gained fame, brought to national attention the color barriers and racial discrimination plaguing the country, inspired upcoming generations, and paved the way for future African American musicians.

The color of her skin proved to be a huge, nearly insurmountable, blockade in Anderson’s journey to success. Chiefly, the laws and practices of segregation across the country hugely limited the dreams and aspirations of Anderson as a young artist in the United States. As a teenager, Anderson began dreaming of the career she could have in singing. After years of singing in her church choir and various public performances, she grew to love it and wanted to further pursue it through vocal lessons by attending music school. With the help of her church, Anderson raised the funds to pay for tuition and went to the school to enroll. When recalling her experience, Anderson noted that when she finally reached the front of the line, the woman handing out applications looked past her and called on the person behind her. The young woman continued to do this until no one else was left but Anderson. When Anderson questioned the lady behind the cage, she spat numerous hateful comments at Anderson before finally denying her an application. “The young woman looked at her coldly and replied, ‘ We don’t take colored.’ ” (Freedman 12). This would be the first of many displays of unabashed discrimination against Anderson that would lay the foundation for a career full of rejection and heartache. At the time, most music schools in her city of Philadelphia only accepted white students and very few individually took on black students. This common practice of catering entirely to white artists and ignoring or completely dismissing the talent of aspiring African American artists of this time hugely limited how far black artists could take their careers. Without proper musical training, it was nearly impossible for them to go on and gain opportunities to showcase and promote themselves. The written or unwritten segregationist policies of renowned art schools across the nation were denying black artists the necessary consideration from the public to land venues and concerts, which they could have gained through professional training at these schools they were barred from attending. Further down the road, Anderson saw that racial prejudice was increasingly causing a plateau in her career. She was performing at the same venues with the same audiences because she refused to sing at segregated theaters and was only welcome to perform on a few, select stages. She sang at almost every black college “often for many seasons in a row” and attracted her largest audiences at “black schools and churches”(Freedman 30). While Anderson was performing for the public, she wasn’t gaining the fame and attention she was working towards. The people of America refused to bear witness to the undeniable talent she possessed because of her complexion. Her voice was being confined to the same ears of the black community at small venues, cutting her off from larger, more diverse crowds. Additionally, Anderson could not find a manager who was “willing to take on a young black artist ”(Freedman 30). With no one willing to work with her, Anderson did not have someone to advocate for her spot in the American music industry and was also forced to take on the burdensome task of doing all booking and travel arrangements that touring required. “ The indignities of segregation continued to make travel frustrating and unpleasant” (Freedman 30). Anderson was being “turned away at hotels and restaurants” and constantly unsure of where she would sleep while touring across the country (Kozinn 3). Especially in the South, Anderson had to be mindful of segregation laws that determined what train cars, hotels, theaters, parks, and even drinking fountains she was permitted to utilize. She had to remain increasingly aware of what role her race played in housing, eating, practice spaces, and transportation while on tour. Amid frequent travel, she remarked that she rarely expected her personal needs to be taken care of in a reasonable amount of time, or at all, while away from home (Freedman 23). Touring is an important part of growing and showcasing a musical career. However, segregated America made it exceedingly difficult for Marian to tour, as she was never void of worry for her safety. Traveling across the country alone was inconvenient and distracting from her goals as an aspiring artist. Segregation and racial prejudice continued to be active forces in every aspect of Anderson’s life and career. America wasn’t making room for Anderson to mature and flourish as an artist, so she decided to pursue Europe, like several other African American artists of the time, in search of better opportunities to make her voice known to people. Abroad, Marian Anderson found an escape from the setbacks and unfairness of America, a broken nation so deeply hostile against her because of the color of her skin.

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Despite the constant prejudice and discrimination, she faced in America, Anderson would overcome these obstacles and carve her name in music history. After Anderson returned from Europe, she began performing at an annual concert to benefit Howard University’s School of music. After each year, these benefits became more and more successful, requiring larger venues to hold the event each year. Officials from Howard University petitioned the Daughters of the Revolution (DAR) of Washington D.C. to use their auditorium, Constitution Hall. The DAR was an all-white heritage association with beliefs deeply rooted in a contentious form of patriotism. At the time, Constitution Hall was the largest auditorium in the nation’s capital, seating approximately 4,000 people. They would not allow Anderson to sing on their stage due to her race (“Eleanor Roosevelt and Marian Anderson”). Once again, racial prejudice took away an opportunity for Anderson to showcase her voice to a larger audience, to give herself a name that would be remembered and recorded in history. However, because of this unfortunate display of prejudice, Anderson soon after delivered a performance that would forge her name in American music history for years to come. Outraged at the DAR’s treatment of Anderson, First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt and other prominent women resigned from the organization. From there, Eleanor Roosevelt, the Roosevelt administration, and others worked behind the scenes to promote the idea of Anderson performing an outdoor concert at the Lincoln Memorial (“Eleanor Roosevelt and Marian Anderson”). On April 9, 1939, Anderson performed in front of a crowd of 75,000 people and millions of other Americans listening to the radio broadcast. “It was as diverse a crowd as anyone had seen -black, white, old, young- dressed in their Sunday finest ”(“Eleanor Roosevelt and Marian Anderson”). The people of America were briefly united as they gathered together, without consideration of one another’s race or economic status, to hear the voice of Marian Anderson. In the interest of hearing her voice, people pushed aside the problems of racism and discrimination and stood together as one united people. Her concert was one of the largest interracial events of the time. Amongst the diverse crowd was ten-year-old Martin Luther King Jr. He later recalled the performance saying, “When the words of ‘America’ and ‘Nobody Knows de Trouble I Seen’ rang out over that great gathering, there was a hush on the sea of uplifted faces, black and white, and a new baptism of liberty, equality, and fraternity” (Kozinn 7). Her performance not only brought diverse groups of the nation together, but it also, more importantly, served as a humongous display to the American people of the discrimination and inequality African Americans faced. In opening with the passionately patriotic song,“My Country ’Tis of Thee”, and closing with the Negro spiritual, “Nobody Knows The Trouble I’ve Seen”, Anderson’s protest of the mistreatment of and prejudice against African Americans was evident to all ears who were willing to listen. It opened the eyes of the nation to the epidemic of racism plaguing the nation that was either going unnoticed by the people or simply overlooked. Marian’s performance forced people to look at this issue directly and acknowledge its existence. Newspapers across the country acknowledged the significance of the message her performance spread. One news story labeled it, “Nation’s Capital Gets Lesson in Tolerance”(McDuffee 4). The DAR even later issued a statement commenting on Anderson’s role as the voice for the voiceless African American community. “The beauty of her voice, amplified by her courage and grace, brought attention to the eloquence of the many voices urging our nation to overcome prejudice and intolerance” (McDuffee 4). With grace and serenity, Anderson peacefully fought against segregation and the injustices against herself and other African Americans of her era. Her performance became a symbol of the African American’s struggle for racial equality. Equally important, Anderson’s concert at the Lincoln Memorial also made her an international celebrity and served as the defining moment of her career. Through this concert, Marian Anderson obtained more than modest notoriety, surpassing the previous female African American artists that sang before her. Her name remained plastered on headlines across the nation with stories of her profound, mesmerizing voice. Anderson became a household name across the country and created a legacy for herself that would last for ages.

The impact of her groundbreaking performance on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial would ripple far past her career and life. Anderson’s inspiring humility, dignity, and unwavering determination when faced with the woes of being a black woman and artist in America inspired upcoming generations and forged a path for future black singers. In her memoir, Anderson wrote, “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” (Anderson 84). Marian Anderson broke down racial barriers that would allow future African American artists to not only meet but surpass the success and fame she attained. Because of Anderson’s outdoor concert in 1939, organizations such as the DAR and the Metropolitan Opera Company today allow African American artists to sing on their stages, both of which she performed on in later years. On the organization’s website, the DAR expressed that it “deeply regrets that Marian Anderson was not allowed to perform her 1939 Easter concert in Constitution Hall” (McDuffee 6). Her performance led this organization and more across the nation to see the fault in their segregationist policies and influenced their decision to remove them to allow people of all races to perform on their stages. By bringing forth the issues of the color barrier in America, Marian Anderson opened up opportunities for future black musicians that had been previously closed off to her as an upcoming singer trying to build a career. Furthermore, several African American operatic and concert singers of today, including Leontyne Price, Jessye Norman, and Kathleen Battle, have accredited Anderson with inspiring them to pursue careers in music. In an interview, Leontyne Price, the American soprano, emphasized how Anderson was a role model for her through her unwavering persistence despite the barriers she faced. 'Her example of professionalism, uncompromising standards, overcoming obstacles, persistence, resiliency and undaunted spirit inspired me to believe that I could achieve goals that otherwise would have been unthought of ”(Kozinn 8). Anderson’s performance and career made future black artists feel like they had a place in American music history and justified their aspirations for greatness. She left behind a legacy that proved an African American could overcome the struggles of racism and discrimination to ultimately attain success and be respected in the music industry.

Marian Anderson’s performance at the Lincoln Memorial shattered the chains of racial discrimination and prejudice that were weighing down her life and career. As a result, she carved a path for future generations of black activists, artists, and citizens of the United States. Anderson used her voice to civilly protest the enormous struggles of racial discrimination and segregation in America that were oppressing the black community. She acted as a voice for the African Americans whose voices of protest were not heard or overlooked with indifference. As a country, America no longer tolerates or enforces the practices of segregation, but the subjects of racial prejudice and discrimination still plague the United States today. Marian Anderson contributed immensely to the efforts of dissolving the color barrier, but there is still much change that needs to occur to achieve equality for every citizen in America.

Annotated Bibliography

Primary

1. Anderson, Marian. My Lord, What a Morning. New York City: The Viking Press, 1956. Print.
2. This is a primary source book about Marian Anderson’s life. This source contains photographs and personal stories from Anderson’s life. This book helped me to better understand my topic because it provided many accounts in which her race created obstacles for her.

Secondary

1. “Eleanor Roosevelt and Marian Anderson.” FDR Presidential Library & Museum. fdrlibrary. org/anderson. Accessed 16 Oct. 2019. This is a secondary source website about First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt’s role in the Lincoln Memorial concert and Marian Anderson’s career. This source includes a letter written by Eleanor Roosevelt about Anderson, a photograph, and details on how Roosevelt promoted the concert with the help of her husband. I used this source to learn more information about Eleanor Roosevelt’s contribution to Anderson’s career and impact on the nation.
2. Freedman, Russel. The Voice That Challenged A Nation. New York: Clarion Books, 2004. Print. This is a secondary source book about the life, career, and impact of Marian Anderson. This source contains photographs and information related to Marian’s journey to the steps of the Lincoln Memorial. I used this source to better understand the events leading up to her monumental performance and who was involved in this major event.
3. Kozinn, Allan. “Marian Anderson Is Dead at 96; Singer Shattered Racial Barriers.” The New York Times, 9 Apr. 1993, nytimes.com/1993/04/09/obituaries/marian-anderson -is -dead-at-96-singer-shattered-racial-barriers.html. Accessed 25 Oct. 2019. This is a secondary source newspaper article about the lasting legacy of Marian Anderson. This source is about artists that Anderson impacted and her fight to win her place in American music history. After reading this article, I gained a greater understanding of how monumental all of Anderson’s accomplishments were for an African American woman facing racial prejudice and discrimination in America during the 20th century.
4. McDuffee, Allen. “The First Black Woman to Sing at the Inauguration Had Been Barred from Washington's Largest Concert Hall.” Medium. 18 Jan. 2017. timeline.com/ first-black-singer-inauguration-a029e6675c11. Accessed 24 Oct. 2019. This is a secondary source website about Marian Anderson’s role in invoking social change in America. This source contains an abundance of information on the racial and social unrest of America during this time period and how Marian Anderson sparked change in America through her performance at the Lincoln Memorial. This source showed me that Anderson’s concert was seen as an important moment in the struggle for racial equality and was a seminal moment in the civil rights movement.
5. Stamberg, Susan. “Denied A Stage, She Sang For A Nation.” NPR. NPR, 9 Apr. 2014. npr.org /2014/04/09/298760473/denied-a-stage-she-sang-for-a-nation. Accessed 16 Oct. 2019. This is a secondary source website about Marian Anderson's performance on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial. This source includes a breakdown of all that occurred that Easter Sunday and lots of analysis on how Anderson performed and felt. After reading this transcript, I better understood the concert setting and what it looked like from the perspective of an audience member.