Trust for the National Mall Marian Anderson’s voice still rings out across our National Mall. How will you #MakeYourMark? Save the National Mall at LandmarkCampaign.org. This video is from The National Parks: America’s Best Idea, a film by Ken Burns, and provided courtesy of PBS.

The entire program of Marian Anderson Performs on the Steps of the Lincoln Memorial with an Introduction by Secretary of the Interior Harold Ickes:

This video and sound recording was made on the afternoon of Sunday, April 9, 1939, from a temporary stage in front of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C.. The recording was made by the U.S. Department of the Interior, under the leadership of Secretary of the Interior Harold L. Ickes. 

Introduction: On Easter Sunday in 1939, classical vocalist Marian Anderson gave an open-air performance from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial. More than 75,000 people showed up to listen to the free concert. Anderson’s performance was introduced by Secretary of the Interior Harold L. Ickes.  Anderson, one of the United States’ most successful classical singers at the time, had been scheduled to perform at Constitution Hall, a celebrated venue operated by the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR). However, the DAR refused to allow Anderson, an African-American woman, to perform to an integrated audience. Thousands of members of the DAR resigned in protest, led by first lady Eleanor Roosevelt.  With the support of Eleanor and her husband, President Franklin D. Roosevelt, Ickes organized the concert, which became a groundbreaking moment in civil rights history.  Most of the concert is preserved in this sound recording. Anderson’s final song, the spiritual “My Soul is Anchored in the Lord,” was cut due to recording limitations at the time. 

• Introduction: NBC announcer outlines program and introduces Interior Secretary Ickes (start-1:16 min.)

• Secretary of the Interior HaroldL. Ickes: “All of us are free” speech decrying bigotry and introducing Marian Anderson (1:16-5:00 min.)
• Marian Anderson: “America (My Country, ‘Tis of Thee)” (5:27-7:17 min.)
• Marian Anderson: “O Mio Fernando,” from the opera La Favorite by Gaetano Donizetti (7:34-13:05 min.)
• Marian Anderson: “Ave Maria,” traditional, music by Franz Schubert (13:30-18:45 min.)
• Intermission: NBC announcer offers a “word picture” of the Lincoln Memorial and an overview of Marian Anderson’s career as a “typical American success story” (18:55-24:12 min.)
• Marian Anderson: “Gospel Train,” traditional, arrangement by Henry Burleigh (24:12-25:40 min.)
• Marian Anderson: “Trampin’,” by Edward Boatner (25:50-29:12 min.)
• Conclusion: NBC announcer concludes the program, ending with still-familiar NBC jingle (29:12-29:35 min.)

US National Archives 4/9/1939 Records of the Office of the Secretary of the Interior National Archives Identifier: 1729137 This sound recording captures African – American contralto Marian Anderson’s performance on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, DC. The free open – air Easter Sunday concert was organized after Anderson was denied permission to sing to an integrated audience in Constitution Hall by the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR). The recording also features an introductory speech by Secretary of the Interior Harold L. Ickes, in which he decried prejudice in the United States. DocsTeach: http://docsteach.org/documents/172913…https://catalog.archives.gov/id/1729137