Did you know...

That Marian Anderson, the celebrated African American contralto, was invited to Modesto by the Modesto Symphony to perform a recital on February 15, 1956? A “living legend” as described by journalist Pat Morrison of the Modesto Bee, Marian Anderson is famously known for her 1939 Lincoln Memorial concert, performed in front of a crowd of more than 75,000 people, after being denied Constitution Hall as a venue due to racial segregation.

*Marian Anderson in New York Philharmonic Stadium Concerts program, August 26, 1925.*

*Program page from Anderson's August 26, 1925 concert.*

Born in 1897 in Philadelphia, Anderson was quickly recognized for her talent as a singer. Her church choir raised money for her to study with Giuseppe Boghetti. In 1925, she won First Prize in a singing contest sponsored by the New York Philharmonic. This contest won her the opportunity to perform at Lewisohn Stadium with the orchestra, which was an immediate success with audience and critics. In 1928, she gave a recital in Carnegie Hall and in 1933 she made her debut in London, launching her tour throughout Europe. Anderson was most well received in Scandinavia, where she also befriended composer, Jean Sibelius who composed songs just for her. She returned to New York to great acclaim and performed another successful concert at Carnegie Hall.

In 1939, she received national attention when the Daughters of the American Revolution refused to let her perform at Constitution Hall in Washington D.C. She was invited to sing in Washington by Howard University however, the D.A.R-run Constitution Hall, was the only venue that could accommodate the large crowds that Anderson attracted. She was “filling the largest concert halls in the nation, sometimes five or six thousand people.” according to Dr. Ray Arsenault, author of The Sound of Freedom. Constitution Hall at the time was racially segregated and Black people were not allowed to attend shows nor perform in the hall.

First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt upon hearing this news was outraged and immediately resigned from the D.A.R. She wrote in her weekly column, “My Day,” “They have taken an action which has been widely criticized in the press... to remain as a member implies approval of that action, and therefore I am resigning.” Her reaction garnered a lot of attention and helped catalyze what would become an iconic concert held at the Lincoln Memorial.

Upon the suggestion of NAACP executive secretary, Walter White, it was arranged by Secretary of the Interior Harold Ickes for Anderson to sing at the Lincoln Memorial on Easter Sunday, April 9, 1939. She performed before an integrated crowd of more than 75,000 people and a radio audience in the millions.

Anderson became a symbol of the long battle of the Civil Rights Movement, decades before Martin Luther King Jr made his famous “I Have A Dream” speech in front of the same monument she performed in front of. However, this attention and fame on Anderson’s end was not intentional as she saw herself as first and foremost a classical singer.

By 1956, despite her legendary status, she remained humble and focused on her craft. She came to Modesto in February 1956 under the sponsorship of the Modesto Symphony Orchestra to perform in the Strand Theater (where Brenden Theaters now resides downtown). The audience was at full capacity and according to Morrison of the Modesto Bee, “Her direct and reverent style, deep in feeling and calm in confidence lends a spiritual tone to her voice. To hear Marian Anderson is more than a musical experience.”

And when asked by Morrison “if it is difficult to be a living legend,” Anderson graciously responded, “That is difficult to say. We have never been one.”