Marian Anderson( 1897 – 1993) was an American contralto.

She performed a wide range of music, from

pieces to spirituals, in major concert and recital venues between 1925 and 1965. Anderson was an important
figure in the struggle for African- American artists to overcome racial prejudice in the United States during
themid- twentieth century. In 1939, after being banned from performing for an integrated cult in Constitution
Hall in Washington,D.C., First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt and her hubby President FranklinD. Roosevelt
arranged for Anderson to perform an open- air concert on Easter Sunday on the Lincoln Memorial way in the
capital which was broadcast to a radio cult of millions and was featured in a documentary film. In 1955,
Anderson came the first African- American singer to perform at the Metropolitan Opera. She worked as a
delegate to the United Nations Human Rights Committee and as a Goodwill Ambassador for the United
States Department of State, giving concerts all over the world. She participated in the civil rights movement
in the 1960s, singing at the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom in 1963. The philanthropist of
numerous awards and honors, Anderson was awarded the first Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1963, the
Congressional Gold Medal in 1977, the Kennedy Center Honors in 1978, the National Medal of trades in
1986, and a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 1991.

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