An American Awakening

AN AMERICAN AWAKENING, EASTER MORNING, 1939, may be the most significant story you will read this year. Marian Anderson, a world renowned African American contralto was barred from performing in Washington DC because of her race. An uprising in the political arena won Miss Anderson the right to sing at Lincoln Memorial, on Easter morning, 1939. For the first time in history, 75, 000 Americans flooded the nation's capital in support of civil rights. The young Martin Luther King was there and later proclaimed that the appearance of Marian Anderson gave him the courage to raise the banner for freedom across America. The American Civil Rights Movement was born! Twenty - five years later, Dr. King raised that same banner at the very same venue before a half million hopeful Americans. Marian Anderson was at his shoulder. Yet, unlike Martin Luther King, Marian Anderson was a reluctant hero. Born in poverty in South Philadelphia, Marian rose to great theatrical heights before the crowned heads of Europe. When informed by her manager, the celebrated impresario, Sol Hurok, of the decision to bar black artists in Washington by America's most prestigious organization, the Daughters of the American Revolution (the group which controlled Washington's major concert venue). Marian was reluctant to spearhead the ensuing political conflict. She was certain that artistic integrity would prevail over the American mindset. Our story tells of Marian's reluctance and final decision amidst racial and the political intrigue that snared the potentates in Washington, a battle between Franklin Delano Roosevelt, a president fighting for his political life and a block of racist senators and congressmen who threatened partisan mutiny. Driven to action, Marian's final decision was a seminal moment in American Civil Rights history. Her voice was heard throughout America, from the streets of Los Angeles to the White House in Washington. Marian Anderson is part of the thread which weaves the fabric of our civil rights. This is her story.