Although it was a cold and blustery winter day in our nation's
capital when we gathered at the headquarters building of the Daughters
of the American Revolution (DAR) to pay homage to Marion Anderson and
her legacy, the warmth and compassion of her life's story reached out to
touch us with the richness of her voice and the fabric of her soul. It
was not only Anderson's musical talent and genius, but her personal
struggle to be heard, to attain the basic human rights of equality and dignity, that
underscored her gift to the world.
Anderson's determination to be successful allowed her to deliver that gift without hesitation or reservation.
The location of the ceremony for the official launch of the
Marion Anderson stamp was aptly chosen. The DAR had at one time refused to
allow her to perform in concert at its Constitution Hall because she
was black. Undaunted by the public sting of rejection, Anderson famously shared her
great musical talent with the nation on Easter Sunday, 1939 at an epoch outdoor performance at the Lincoln Memorial.
First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt helped arrange the concert in response to
the DAR after first resigning her own society membership in protest and
disgust at their "white artists only" policy.
Anderson's landmark concert became a milestone of the black civil rights movement in America.
Twenty four years later, in 1963, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.,eloquently proclaimed in a speech resounding through the ages from the
very same steps of the Lincoln Memorial, "I have a dream." Marion Anderson
also had a dream, and she made that dream a reality. By so doing, she helped pioneer the way for others and she enriched our lives.
In the words of James Weldon Johnson, "Lift every voice and sing"
Supplemental ceremonies were held for this issue. Two examples are Philadelphia and Boston.
