Marian Anderson, 1940.
Legendary conductor Arturo Toscanini described Anderson's voice as one that comes along “once in a hundred years.”
Marian Anderson
American singer
Marian Anderson (born February 27, 1897, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.—died April 8, 1993, Portland, Oregon) was an American singer, one of the finest contraltos of her time. Her 1939 Easter Sunday concert on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial—after she was denied the right to sing at Constitution Hall because of her race—became one of the defining moments of the civil rights movement in the United States. Growing up in Philadelphia, Anderson displayed vocal talent as...