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Presidential Medal of Freedom Recipient Marian Anderson
The First Presidential Medal of Freedom Recipient
Marian Anderson, one of the most renown concert vocalists of her time, had planned to perform at Constitution Hall in Washington, D.C. on Easter Sunday 1939. When the Daughters of the American Revolution, who owned Constitution Hall, realized a black woman had been booked in their hall, they refused to allow her to perform.
In response to an outpouring of public support, Marian Anderson was formally invited to perform from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial on April 9th. 75,000 people turned out for the free concert (the largest to date ever assembled at the Memorial) while millions more listed to the radio broadcast. Marian Anderson began the performance with a stirring rendition of "My Country 'Tis Of Thee".
Marian Anderson's performance on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial remains a seminal moment in American history and stands as a touchstone in the struggle for racial equality. In July 1939, Eleanor Roosevelt presented Marian Anderson with the Spingarn Medal of the NAACP, and in 1957 she became the first African American to sing with the New York Metropolitan Opera. She was named a delegate to the United Nations in 1958 and received numerous awards, including the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
Harold L. Ickes, U.S. secretary of the interior; Marian Anderson, American opera singer
Anderson performs at the Lincoln Memorial
"In this great auditorium under the sky all of us are free." (Lincoln Memorial, Washington, D.C., April 9, 1939)
Return to Marian Anderson Medal of Freedom Homepage
Complete list of all 31 Inaugural Presidential Medal of Freedom Recipients 1963
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Medal History
