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Eleanor Roosevelt with Marian Anderson in Japan

Eleanor Roosevelt with Marian Anderson in Japan

This black and white photograph shows former First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt greeting contralto Marian Anderson in Japan. In 1939, Anderson was barred from singing in Constitution Hall by the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) due to her race. Upon hearing this news, Mrs. Roosevelt resigned her membership to the DAR and worked with President Franklin D. Roosevelt to arrange for Anderson to give a concert on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial on Easter Sunday, April 9, 1939. Two months later, Mrs. Roosevelt presented Anderson with the Spingarn Medal for distinguished achievement at the 30th annual NAACP conference.

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Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum/NARA

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