The Sound of Freedom: Marian Anderson, the Lincoln Memorial, and the Concert That Awakened America

Raymond Arsenault has written an indispensable chronicle of vocalist Marian Anderson's historic Lincoln Memorial concert within the framework of America's Civil Rights odyssey. Painstakingly researched, "The Sound of Freedom" offers an enigmatic portrait of Anderson before and after her iconic 1939 performance - mirrored by the significant inroads toward racial equality. The book represents an inspired companion piece to Arsenault's "Freedom Riders" (2006) and essential reading for international historians.

I first became aware of her when she died in the early 1990s. I was in high school in Portland, Oregon, at the time. Due to the fact that her nephew, James DePreist, was the conductor of the Oregon Symphony, the loss of Marian Anderson seemed to have local consequence. (This biographer notes that Mr. DePreist was a very close relative, almost a son, to Marian Anderson.) Therefore, I became very aware of Marian Anderson's legacy. Additionally, of course, I was attending Jefferson High School, whose student body is over 60% African American. So, Marian Anderson's passing was of great importance in my world. That much being said, I am the furthest thing from a scholar on Marian Anderson's life. I therefore cannot know if there are any inaccuracies in this biography. All I can say is that the book is very well written, very scholarly in tone, and treats Marian Anderson with a great deal of respect. As far as I can tell, this is a first-rate biography. The author is very reverential toward Marian Anderson. Additionally, it was fascinating to read that the Daughter's of the American Revolution struggled for decades to overcome the stigma of having denied Marian Anderson the right to perform. All sorts of justifications were used for decades, some of them up until rather recently. Amazing that this situation took place more than half a century ago and yet it is still seen as being of current consequence. I was also fascinated to read about the bond forged between Marian Anderson and Eleanor Roosevelt. The author notes that Marian Anderson performed at the funeral service of Eleanor Roosevelt and was moved to tears during her performance. I really feel that Eleanor Roosevelt is the unsung hero in this situation. It's really an amazing history of a friendship between two amazing women.

It was, I think, fitting that I finished reading this book, by the John Hope Franklin Professor of Southern History at the University of South Florida, on the very day that John Hope Franklin, founder of the discipline of African-American history and maker of history himself, died. (Indeed, I picked up the book and I read of his memories of hearing this concert broadcast on the radio.) I thought that I knew this story. Marian Anderson's management wanted to book her into Constitution Hall in Washington, D.C., the Daughters of the American Revolution said "no" because of her race, Mrs. Roosevelt quit the DAR and Miss Anderson sang at the Lincoln Memorial. All that's true. But, as with most simple stories, this one is a great deal more complex, and more interesting. Why Miss Anderson? What was it about her that made her the first African-American woman to find an honored place in the world of classical music, and draw audiences of black and white alike? More than merely her gorgeous voice and excellent musicianship, it was the choices she made of repertoire and of management that led her there. She drew from her racial heritage, but did not allow herself to be typed as a "race" singer. At home in the U.S., her manager, the famed Sol Hurok, carefully publicized her as a singer who had conquered Europe but remained an unspoiled homebody. Arsenault traces for us the trajectory of her career and shows how she achieved a position and a reputation without which this fight would have been unlikely to have occurred, much less succeeded. How did this story become so big? Following the DAR's initial refusal of the use of Constitution Hall, the director of the music series for which Miss Anderson was to perform sought, and received, not only favorable newspaper coverage, but the assistance of the NAACP in attempting a challenge to the DAR. The politics, the manoeuvering, the deft handling of a variety of interests by people like the NAACP's Walter White make for fascinating and illuminating reading. Committees were formed, alliances made, alternatives sought. A request to use a public school auditorium was turned down, again due to policies of racial segregation. Timing, of course, is all. And friends. When Miss Anderson had been invited to sing at the White House some months earlier, she and Eleanor Roosevelt had become friends. Harold Ickes, Secretary of the Interior (the Department with jurisdiction over the Lincoln Memorial) was a friend of Walter White's. When someone (it's not certain who) suggested that the Memorial be the venue for the concert, well, the rest is, indeed, history. Since that time, we have become used to this space being used for great public events. Here the March on Washington took place. Here were protests against the Vietnam war. But this was the first time such a crowd had gathered there, in what Secretary Ickes called "this great auditorium under the sky [where] all of us are free." So it was that on Easter Sunday

Marian Anderson, contralto supreme was,famously barred from a concert appearance by the DAR.This book tells, in detail, the event and its aftermath,placing it in the context of it 's time and the larger canvas of the incipient civil rights battle[if you think it began with Dr ML King, you need to read about A Philip Randolph}. Ms Anderson was ,of course ,supported by the First lady Mrs Eleanor Roosevelt, and later,in a moment of eerie prescience, gave a shattering performance at the Lincoln memorial.The story of Ms Anderson is very well told, the writing is quite good,though obviously the author is quite enamored with Marian Anderson. {actually, its rather hard NOT to be} Well done, recommended

Historian Ray Arsenault offers insight into one of the controversial events in American history that coincides with Civil Rights history. With the commemoration and 70th anniversary of singer Marian Anderson's concert at the Lincoln Memorial on Easter Sunday and recent events, such as the inauguration of the first African American president, there is a reason to look back in his book, THE SOUND OF FREEDOM: MARIAN ANDERSON, THE LINCOLN MEMORIAL, AND THE CONCERT THAT AWAKENED AMERICA. The unique aspect about reading and studying about a part of any history is that events can easily be forgotten and tucked away for the next person to rediscover. This is the case with Marian Anderson's story. And Arsenault provides a reminder that the Civil Rights movement did not begin after Brown v. Board of Education or during the 1960s with the march on Washington; it had already begun during the 1930s. Arsenault interweaves Anderson's life and career with concurring events surrounding the Lincoln Memorial debacle that involved the Daughters of the Revolution (DAR) and Eleanor Roosevelt. He shows the complexities and the resolutions that occurred amidst the entangling moments, which also show how race relations and history provide an explanation to why controversy erupted with one of the most revered organizations in US history; but persistent questions arose with the issue of segregation and its existence. This is not a rehash of overwrought ideals, but it is a well- written and focused narrative that describes the story of one young ambitious woman who happened to be African American who wanted to sing to the world and challenged quotas of racial segregation that ceased to end during her rise to notoriety. Indeed, the place and time in which she had been born and lived, the city of brotherly love, Philadelphia, the height of Jim Crow laws in the south, and grandparents who were slaves may not have been unique but she persevered and achieved despite her countless encounters with objection. But in spite of the difficulties of entering the music business, she made it, and she had a successful career in Europe and was treated with utmost respect as an artist, but she wanted the same camaraderie in her native land; that was a river that she had to cross. Marian Anderson is an important figure in Civil Rights history. Upon coming across this title, it was one of those scratch your head moments. I had never heard of Anderson, but after reading this book, there is no doubt that she deserves a spot in American history that should not be overlooked by anyone who studies this part of history. As one backtracks to the roots of African American history, the struggles that many had to endure to gain the same rights as any American predates Martin Luther King, Jr. and Rosa Parks.