
Marian Anderson, 1944
Laura Wheeler Waring
Oil on canvas
National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution; gift of the Harmon Foundation
Listen: Marian Anderson Live Performance (1939) - 29 minutes, 35 seconds
Marian Anderson Performs On The Steps Of The Lincoln Memorial (1939)
Marian Anderson was the first African American to sing at the White House (1936) and with New York's Metropolitan Opera (1955). Listen to a recording of Anderson performing on the steps on the Lincoln Memorial in 1939 after she was refused the largest indoor stage in Washington, D.C., because she was Black.