It’s Black History Month and we’re kicking off our educational series in historical style. We polled some of our followers on Twitter, and, we got quite the response as to whom we should profile this month. In our first profile,
Enter: Marian Anderson. Anderson, born in 1897, quickly became quite the hit in music. Throughout most of her career,
- Anderson famously and quite controversially performed on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in 1939. With the help of President Roosevelt and his wife,
she, would go onto define that moment as a major first for any singular black artist. - By the
1990’s ,she, had become the recipient of almost every major civilian award one could possibly receive. The Congressional Gold Medal; Grammys Lifetime Achievement Award, The Presidential Medal of Freedom, and many others. - She was an ambassador for the United Nations Human Rights Committee.
- In 1933, she discovered that unlike America, she would go on to thrive while touring in Europe. She did not experience the same racial prejudice in EU as she did in the U.S
- She was famously refused a concert at Constitution Hall by DAR (Daughters of the American Revolution) but with the help of the President and the NAACP, she, would go on to make music history on that day in 1933.
- 1939: NAACP Spingarn Medal
- 1963: Presidential Medal of Freedom
- 1973: University of Pennsylvania Glee Club Award of Merit
- 1973: National Women’s Hall of Fame[
- 1977: United Nations Peace Prize
- 1977: New York City – Handel Medallion
- 1977: Congressional Gold Medal
- 1978: Kennedy Center Honors
- 1980:
United States Treasury Department gold commemorative medal - 1984: Eleanor Roosevelt Human Rights Award of the City of New York
- 1986: National Medal of Arts
- 1991: Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award
- Honorary doctorate from Howard University, Temple University, Smith College
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