'To thee we sing': Historic Marian Anderson concert will be re-created on Independence Mall
ON EASTER SUNDAY, April 9, 1939, Marian Anderson stepped up to a battery of microphones in front of Washington, D.C.'s, Lincoln Memorial, sang "America," and altered American history.
Wearing a mink coat and an orange-and-yellow scarf on that chilly afternoon, she changed the final phrase from "Of thee I sing" to "TO thee WE sing."
This modest African-American contralto had taken the train from her South Philadelphia rowhouse that day with her mother and sisters. Forbidden to stay at any Washington hotel due to segregation, they'd been promised lodging with former Pennsylvania Gov. Gifford Pinchot.
The outdoor venue had been arranged by first lady Eleanor Roosevelt and Secretary of the Interior Harold Ickes, a Quaker, after the Daughters of the American Revolution refused to allow an African-American to sing in their Constitution Hall.
As a result, Roosevelt resigned from the organization, though political pressure kept her from attending the concert....
At 3 p.m. on Easter Sunday, Washington-born mezzo-soprano Denyce Graves, a favorite of Philadelphia opera audiences, will step into Anderson's gigantic shoes to perform at the first concert symbolizing that 1939 affair.
The program, presented by the Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial Commission, will also feature 55 members of the Chicago Children's Choir, the U.S. Marine Band and the a cappella group Sweet Honey in the Rock. Media arrangements were unconfirmed yesterday, but the event may be broadcast on C-SPAN and radio.
"Because of the 200th anniversary of the birth of Lincoln, there's something in the air regarding freedom and fresh meaning," said commission Executive Director Ellen Mackevich. "Marian Anderson spoke to us in the Depression, and there's a parallel now, especially with President Obama in the White House."
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Wearing a mink coat and an orange-and-yellow scarf on that chilly afternoon, she changed the final phrase from "Of thee I sing" to "TO thee WE sing."
This modest African-American contralto had taken the train from her South Philadelphia rowhouse that day with her mother and sisters. Forbidden to stay at any Washington hotel due to segregation, they'd been promised lodging with former Pennsylvania Gov. Gifford Pinchot.
The outdoor venue had been arranged by first lady Eleanor Roosevelt and Secretary of the Interior Harold Ickes, a Quaker, after the Daughters of the American Revolution refused to allow an African-American to sing in their Constitution Hall.
As a result, Roosevelt resigned from the organization, though political pressure kept her from attending the concert....
At 3 p.m. on Easter Sunday, Washington-born mezzo-soprano Denyce Graves, a favorite of Philadelphia opera audiences, will step into Anderson's gigantic shoes to perform at the first concert symbolizing that 1939 affair.
The program, presented by the Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial Commission, will also feature 55 members of the Chicago Children's Choir, the U.S. Marine Band and the a cappella group Sweet Honey in the Rock. Media arrangements were unconfirmed yesterday, but the event may be broadcast on C-SPAN and radio.
"Because of the 200th anniversary of the birth of Lincoln, there's something in the air regarding freedom and fresh meaning," said commission Executive Director Ellen Mackevich. "Marian Anderson spoke to us in the Depression, and there's a parallel now, especially with President Obama in the White House."