Marian Anderson

Marian Anderson (February 27, 1897-April 8, 1993) displayed vocal talent as a child, but her family could not afford to pay for formal training. Members of her church congregation raised funds for her to attend a music school for a year, and in 1955 she became the first African-American singer to perform as a member of the Metropolitan Opera in New York City.

Anderson worked for several years as a delegate to the United Nations Human Rights Committee and as a "goodwill ambassadress" for the United States State Department giving concerts all over the world. She participated in the civil rights movement in the 1960s, singing at the March On Washington for Jobs and Freedom in 1963. The recipient of numerous awards and honors, Anderson was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1963, the Kennedy Center Honors in 1978, the National Medal of Arts in 1986, and a Grammy’s Lifetime Achievement Award in 1991.