Marian Anderson
(1900-1993)

Marian Anderson was considered the greatest contralto of her generation and one of the golden voices of the century. She was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on February 27, 1900. At a young age, Anderson began singing at the Union Baptist Church. She further developed her voice during her high school years, when she joined the Philadelphia Choral Society and sang at nearby churches.

Marian graduated from Philadelphia High School for Girls in 1921, and by 1924 she felt competent enough to make a New York concert debut. Her early experiences taught her that she must study and develop a strong language proficiency in European languages, in order to be an acclaimed opera singer. In 1928, Marion Anderson had saved enough money to go to England to study German. A Rosenwald Fellowship allowed her to study in Berlin, where she lived with a German family in order to absorb and master the German language.

In October 1930, Marion Anderson had a concert in Berlin that brought her critical acclaim. She embarked on an extensive European career, making occasional returns to the United States. Her most renowned performance in the United States was in September 1955 at the Metropolitan Opera House in New York City. In 1939, she was forced to perform in front of the Lincoln Memorial, not Constitutional Hall as she was contracted for because whites refused to allow her to sing there. To her everlasting credit, Miss Anderson was the first performer of note who steadfastly refused to perform before segregated audiences.

In 1943, Marion married Orpheus Hodge Fisher, a New York architect. Ironically, Anderson's farewell tour began in 1964 at Constitution Hall in Washington D.C., and ended with a concert at Carnegie Hall on Easter Sunday, 1965. Throughout her career, organizations honored her gifted voice. Marion Anderson received the ten thousand dollar Bok Award in 1940, which she used to establish a scholarship award for young singers. Recordings by Marion span four decades from the mid-1920s to the long playing albums of Brahms and Schubert, now on CDs.

In 1998, concert pianist Blanche Burton-Lyles, a protégé of Miss Anderson, privately purchased Miss Anderson's residence on former South Martin Street. Mrs. Burton-Lyles has made the residence into an historical site for visitors worldwide at 762 S. Marian Anderson Way, renamed by Mrs. Burton-Lyles in 1997.