Marian Anderson: The Voice That Defied Segregation (1939) 🎙️

On April 9, 1939, after being denied the use of every indoor auditorium in Washington, D.C., because of her race, world-renowned Black opera singer Marian Anderson instead performed for an audience gathered outside the Lincoln Memorial. Ms. Anderson, a contralto, had been invited to sing at the nation’s capital on this day as part of a concert series hosted by Howard University. Because Ms. Anderson was already well known at the time, having spent years touring in Europe and the U.S., the univer