Marian Anderson: The Lincoln Memorial Concert (1939)

Genre

documentary film

Country

United States

Runtime

8 min

Rating

5.8 of 10 from 18 voters

Elsewhere

IMDb

How it feels

This short documentary shows a concert by opera singer Marian Anderson at the Lincoln Memorial in 1939. She had been barred from other venues in Washington D.C. because of her race. The film captures the large audience gathered on the National Mall to hear her sing.

inspiringhistoricsolemntriumphantupliftingintimatepoignantgrounded

What happens

Marian Anderson: The Lincoln Memorial Concert is a 1939 documentary film that documents a concert performance by African American opera singer Marian Anderson after the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) had her barred from singing in Washington D.C.'s Constitution Hall because she was Black. Officials of the District of Columbia also barred her from performing in the auditorium of a white public high school. First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt helped hold the concert at Lincoln Memorial, on federal property. The performance on Easter Sunday, April 9, 1939, was attended by 75,000. In 2001, this documentary film was selected for preservation in the National Film Registry by the Library of Congress. (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

Trailer

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