Between the Notes

Episode #14 - Marian Anderson

April 12, 2023 Jack Sharkey Season 1 Episode 14
Between the Notes
Episode #14 - Marian Anderson
Show Notes Transcript

Marian Anderson possessed an amazing voice - considered the finest contralto of the modern era - and she was a quiet force to be reckoned with in the struggle to overcome racism in our entertainment and politics. She is truly an American Hero. 

From time to time we’re going to devote a full episode to the pioneers of music, who more often than not turn out to be pioneers in the culture at large as well. There are very few people who can claim to be important to our current musical and cultural lexicon as Marian Anderson.

 

On Easter Sunday in 1939, 75,000 people listened intently and with awe as Marian Anderson sang My Country Tis of Thee to an integrated crowd who had been invited by First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt. 

 

Considered to be one of the greatest singers in American history, Anderson was a contralto who also happened to be black, so the fact that the crowd was integrated was only surpassed by the presence of Anderson herself. This was a very, very big deal in Washington DC in 1939. Four years later in 1943, as World War Two raged and segregation stepped up its ugly mission, Anderson performed at Constitution Hall in Washington DC. The Daughters of the American Revolution founded the hall and it was a segregated theater. Anderson insisted that she perform for an integrated crowd, and she was one of only a very few artists of any ethnic background with he gravitas to make such a demand. As strong of character as she was of voice, Anderson simply said afterward, “I felt no different than I had in other halls. There was no sense of triumph.” 

 

Anderson was born in Philadelphia in 1897 to a middle-class family (for the day) and by age six she was earning twenty-five cents every time she performed. That’s about $8.00 in today’s money, which is not a bad performance fee for a 6 year-old. Unfortunately, Anderson’s voice was not able to overcome prejudice and as she grew she found getting bookings to support herself to be nearly impossible. In 1930, at age 33 she left for Finland of all places, and soon found an audience throughout the Continent. In 1934, a manager lured her back to the US with the promise of good pay and plenty of venues to earn it. But again, her voice did not overcome the prejudice of the day.

 

In fact, in 1937 she performed at Princeton University’s McCarter Theater but was not allowed to stay at the Nassau Inn – where all performers at the theater stayed – because of its white’s only policy. None other than Albert Einstein invited her to stay with him, and they became fast friends until Einstein’s death 28 years later.

 

By 1957 Anderson was a Goodwill Ambassador for the US Department of State and she was a featured performer at the 1963 civil rights March on Washington. Able to bring her audience to tears with her amazing renditions of Ava Maria, Anderson could follow-up with “Nobody Knows the Trouble I’ve Seen” or Gospel standard with the same energy and mastery. At the height of her popularity in the early 1960s she was asked to sign her name to a letter of other prominent black artists endorsing John Kennedy for President. She declined, stating that it was “just not possible” for her “to be identified by any particular political party.” When you are as powerful and almost otherworldly talented as Anderson, you transcend simple human endeavors like politics – and that’s an amazing thing.

 

We’ll be back to share some of her discography and finish the story of one of America’s greatest artistic and cultural pioneers right after this.

 

Anderson retired in 1968 and lived out her life in Danburg Connecticut. She made very few public appearances after her retirement, but she did sing at Danbury’s Christmas Tree lighting ceremony on occasion. Anderson’s story is way deeper and intricate to cover here in a 40 minute podcast, but I urge anyone listening to check the biography Marian Anderson: A Singer’s Journey which came out in 2000, seven years after she passed at age 96. 

 

TIDAL, Qobuz and presumably Spotify have dozens of albums available, some are contemporary to her heyday and others are compilations that were done in the past twenty years or so, but if you’re interested in hearing one of the greatest contraltos who every lived, who just happened to be a quiet, stoic civil rights hero who followed her compass without compromise just dive in and start listening.