On April 9, 1939, a crowd of more than 75,000 people gathered along the National Mall’s reflecting pool for an impromptu concert organized by the NAACP and the Department of the Interior. Before them, on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, stood African American singing virtuoso, Marian Anderson, wearing the blouse and skirt pictured above. In front of the racially integrated crowd, Anderson opened her concert with a moving version of “My Country, ‘Tis of Thee,” a fitting choice considering the racial tensions that led to the event and its symbolic importance to the growing Civil Rights Movement.

Born in South Philadelphia in 1897, Marian Anderson began singing at an early age. Following her high school graduation in 1921, she applied to several music conservatories, only to be turned away due to her race. Despite these rejections, Anderson auditioned with famed voice teacher Giuseppe Boghetti and earned a spot as his student, later making her debut at Carnegie Hall, New York.

In 1939, the Daughters of the American Revolution denied a request for Anderson to perform at Constitution Hall in Washington, D.C. This slight so infuriated First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt, she publically resigned her membership in the organization. Roosevelt supported the efforts of Walter White on behalf of the NAACP, and Harold Ickes, then U.S. Secretary of the Interior, to move Anderson’s proposed concert to the Lincoln Memorial.

The success of the Easter morning concert exposed Americans to Anderson’s immense talent and brought attention to institutionalized segregation in the United States.

The outfit pictured above is now in the collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture. Visitors to the museum can view these objects in the “Musical Crossroads” exhibition.

Credits and Sources:

2014.27.2 - Jacket and skirt worn by Marian Anderson for her 1939 Lincoln Memorial concert, 1939; modified 1992-1993. Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, Gift of Ginette DePreist in memory of James DePreist.

NARA-595378 - Photograph of 75,000 People Gathered to Hear Singer Marian Anderson in Potomac Park, 1939. National Archives, No known restrictions.

"American Experience: TV's Most-watched History Series." PBS. Accessed January 6, 2016. http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/biography/eleanor-anderson/. 

Keiler, Allan. Marian Anderson: A Singer's Journey. Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 2002.