Marian Anderson performs for Presidents John F. Kennedy and Dwight D. Eisenhower during "An American Pageant of the Arts," on November 29, 1962. The purpose of the event was to raise funds for the National Cultural Center, begun under Eisenhower's administration and encouraged under Kennedy's.
Two months after President Kennedy's assassination in November 1963, Congress passed and President Johnson signed into law legislation renaming the National Cultural Center as a "living memorial" to John F. Kennedy.
Watch the full pageant with Bob Newhart, Harry Belafonte, Yo-Yo Ma, Danny Kaye, Robert Frost, Maria Tallchief, Andre Previn, and many more:
https://youtu.be/pCIg6fTPA5U
Learn more about the Kennedy Center's history:
/our-story/history/
Marian Anderson was an American singer of classical music and spirituals. Music critic Alan Blyth said: "Her voice was a rich, vibrant contralto of intrinsic beauty." In 1939, the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) refused permission for Anderson to sing to an integrated audience in Constitution Hall in Washington, DC. The incident placed Anderson into the spotlight of the international community on a level unusual for a classical musician. With the aid of First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt and her husband Franklin D. Roosevelt, Anderson performed a critically acclaimed open-air concert on Easter Sunday, April 9, 1939, on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in the capital. She sang before an integrated crowd of more than 75,000 people and a radio audience in the millions. Anderson continued to break barriers for black artists in the United States, becoming the first black person, American or otherwise, to perform at the Metropolitan Opera in New York City on January 7, 1955. Her performance as Ulrica in Giuseppe Verdi's Un ballo in maschera at the Met was the only time she sang an opera role on stage. Anderson was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1963, the Congressional Gold Medal in 1977, the Kennedy Center Honors in 1978, the National Medal of Arts in 1986, and a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 1991.
Help Inspire Others: èßäAVbuilding may be temporarily closed, but its arts and education programming is still alive! Your gift today will provide vital support for the arts during the COVID-19 Pandemic. Please consider donating today at:
/Support/Help/
Subscribe to The Kennedy Center! http://bit.ly/2gNFrtb
#mariananderson #JFK #kennedycenter
Two months after President Kennedy's assassination in November 1963, Congress passed and President Johnson signed into law legislation renaming the National Cultural Center as a "living memorial" to John F. Kennedy.
Watch the full pageant with Bob Newhart, Harry Belafonte, Yo-Yo Ma, Danny Kaye, Robert Frost, Maria Tallchief, Andre Previn, and many more:
https://youtu.be/pCIg6fTPA5U
Learn more about the Kennedy Center's history:
/our-story/history/
Marian Anderson was an American singer of classical music and spirituals. Music critic Alan Blyth said: "Her voice was a rich, vibrant contralto of intrinsic beauty." In 1939, the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) refused permission for Anderson to sing to an integrated audience in Constitution Hall in Washington, DC. The incident placed Anderson into the spotlight of the international community on a level unusual for a classical musician. With the aid of First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt and her husband Franklin D. Roosevelt, Anderson performed a critically acclaimed open-air concert on Easter Sunday, April 9, 1939, on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in the capital. She sang before an integrated crowd of more than 75,000 people and a radio audience in the millions. Anderson continued to break barriers for black artists in the United States, becoming the first black person, American or otherwise, to perform at the Metropolitan Opera in New York City on January 7, 1955. Her performance as Ulrica in Giuseppe Verdi's Un ballo in maschera at the Met was the only time she sang an opera role on stage. Anderson was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1963, the Congressional Gold Medal in 1977, the Kennedy Center Honors in 1978, the National Medal of Arts in 1986, and a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 1991.
Help Inspire Others: èßäAVbuilding may be temporarily closed, but its arts and education programming is still alive! Your gift today will provide vital support for the arts during the COVID-19 Pandemic. Please consider donating today at:
/Support/Help/
Subscribe to The Kennedy Center! http://bit.ly/2gNFrtb
#mariananderson #JFK #kennedycenter
