Marian Anderson

With a rich, encompassing contralto voice and dignified persona, Marian Anderson was one of the most celebrated American singers of the mid-20th century—elevated to iconic status for her pioneering role as a Black artist in the struggle for racial equality. Born in 1897 in Philadelphia, she started singing at a local Baptist church. But, in the first of many obstacles to overcome, she was then refused admission to the (segregated) Philadelphia Musical Academy, and forced to study abroad. Her career took off in Europe, with a 1933 debut at London’s Wigmore Hall. And it was in Europe that she gathered champions, including the composer Sibelius. But by then she’d started to appear back in America, building a profile there with difficulties that reached crisis-point in 1939 when she was denied permission to sing at Washington’s Constitution Hall. With assistance from Eleanor Roosevelt, the concert was relocated to the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, playing to an open-air audience of 75,000 and millions listening on the radio. A pivotal moment in the Civil Rights movement, it propelled her to enduring fame. She sang for several presidential inaugurations and was the first Black artist to appear at the New York Met in 1955—although that proved her only venture into opera. Her essential repertoire was oratorio and song, with understated but profoundly moving power in spirituals. Retired by 1965, she lived on until 1993: a legendary figure, showered with honours.