Anderson, Marian (1897-1993), was an African American contralto. She gained fame primarily as a concert singer. In 1955, Anderson became the first black soloist to sing with the Metropolitan Opera of New York City. The famous conductor Arturo Toscanini praised her voice as one “that comes once in a hundred years.”
Anderson was born on Feb. 27, 1897, in Philadelphia and sang in church choirs during her childhood. After graduating from high school, she studied voice and began to make concert tours. Anderson then spent several years studying and performing in Europe, where her singing won wide praise. She became a top concert singer in the United States after performing at Town Hall in New York City in 1935.
Racism affected Anderson’s career. In 1939, the Daughters of the American Revolution would not let her perform in Constitution Hall in Washington, D.C., because she was black. She sang instead at the Lincoln Memorial for over 75,000 people. Anderson won the Spingarn Medal that year. She was a U.S. delegate to the United Nations (UN) in 1958 and won the UN peace prize in 1977. My Lord, What a Morning (1956) is her autobiography. She died on April 8, 1993.
See also African Americans (The Great Depression) .
