Lincoln Memorial Rededication: Marian Anderson Tribute Concert

“In 1939, on Easter Sunday, contralto Marian Anderson performed on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial after the Daughters of the American Revolution barred her from singing at Constitution Hall due to the color of her skin.

On April 12, 2009, seventy years after Anderson set the stage for the modern civil rights era, acclaimed mezzo-soprano Denyce Graves performs at the Lincoln Memorial in a joyous Easter Sunday Concert paying tribute to Marian Anderson's performance.

Graves will be joined by the internationally renowned a capella ensemble Sweet Honey in the Rock. Recently nominated for a Grammy award in 2008, Sweet Honey has come in song to communities across the U.S., and around the world raising her voice in hope, love, justice, peace, and resistance.

Also enhancing the celebration will be the world famous Chicago Children’s Choir, founded in 1956 at the First Unitarian Church in Chicago, by the late Rev. Christopher Moore. Moore’s dream was that young people from diverse backgrounds could better understand each other, as well as learn about themselves, by learning to make beautiful music together.”

Marian Anderson Tribute Concert

Image credit: Marian Anderson by Laura Wheeler Waring Oil on canvas, 1944
(c) National Portrait Gallery, Washington, D.C. 2009. Copyright controlled.