DC History Center

Before an integrated audience, Marion Anderson, an African American contralto, performed on Easter Sunday 1939 in front of over 75,000 people on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial.

Anderson had been scheduled to sing at Constitution Hall, but the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) cancelled the performance because of her skin color.

As the controversy spread across the news, President FDR and Eleanor Roosevelt stepped in and invited her to perform the Lincoln Memorial concert on Easter, which included the song "My Country, 'Tis of Thee." Eleanor Roosevelt spoke at the NAACP conference later that year about the significance of Anderson’s performance.

Anderson’s performances became an important symbol in fighting for equality for African American artists. In 1955, she was the first African American to sing with the Metropolitan Opera in New York.

📸 Marion Anderson performing at her concert on Easter Sunday, April 8, 1939 on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial. View northeast over the Reflecting Pool to the Washington Monument (Miller-Gillette Washington Seen photograph collection, MG 14.12)