A New Documentary On Opera Singer Marian Anderson Is Coming To PBS

Marian Anderson, an opera singer known as "The Lady From Philadelphia" and "The People's Princess," will soon be getting the documentary treatment. A new, non-fiction film about the singer, who broke down barriers for African Americans in the arts, is coming to PBS as part of its American Masters series. 

Anderson was the first Black artist to perform at the White House (in 1936), and, in 1955, she became the first African American to take the stage at the Metropolitan Opera House. Besides her incredible voice, Anderson was known to use her platform to speak up against injustice. She sparked a fledgling civil rights movement with a 1939 concert at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington in a protest against racial intolerance.