Marian Anderson(1902 - 1993)
Born in 1902, Anderson displayed great vocal talents from childhood, often performing in her Union Baptist Church choir. At 19, members of her church raised money to send her to Giuseppe Boghetti's music school for a year, but then he offered Anderson another year of free lessons. In 1925, Anderson entered a competition and won first prize to sing at New York City's Lewisohn Stadium. This kicked off her career and Anderson went on to appear in symphonies, Southern black colleges and did a few tours in Europe with monarchs present sometimes. She was still barred off from many opportunities here in the U.S. due to her race. After touring South America, she tried to sing for Daughters of the American Revolution and was denied for her skin. Eleanor Roosevelt caught wind and organized for her to sing at the Lincoln Memorial on Easter Sunday. She went on to be the first African American to perform in the Metropolitan Opera and her autobiography, My Lord, What a Morning, was published in 1957. In 1958, Anderson was declared a goodwill ambassador for the United States and in 1963, President Johnson awarded her the Presidential Medal of Freedom. In 1986 she received a Grammy Award.
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