Booktalks Quick and Simple

[Play a recording of Marian Anderson singing.] The voice you are listening to is one of the twentieth century's most beautiful and powerful and famous singers, Marian Anderson. Marian sang as a child while she walked to school and did her chores. Marian sang in her church choir -- sometimes too loudly. Marian sang in Philadelphia 's acclaimed People's Chorus -- one of the youngest singers in the group. Marian sang in concert programs to help support her family after her father's death. Marian sang in spite of racial prejudice, bigotry, and segregation -- for Marian Anderson was black. She was not allowed to attend a Philadelphia music school because of her race. She often had to sing twice in the same location, once for white audiences and once for the segregated black ones. She could not stay in the same hotels or eat in the same restaurants as whites. Still, Marian's perseverance and dedication led her to work with talented voice teachers and perform in the best concert halls in Europe . She traveled in Europe for many years, learning and performing, perfecting her voice and preparing her future. Marian was talented enough to perform anywhere and for anyone -- except at home. When Marian came home she was denied the right to perform at Constitution Hall in Washington DC , because she was black. Her thousands of supporters were enraged and a campaign was launched to find a place, in her own nation's capitol, where Marian's voice could be heard. Finally, on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial that proclaims "a new birth of freedom," Marian Anderson sang. To learn more about this amazing woman and her work, read When Marian Sang: The True Recital of Marian Anderson, The Voice of a Century by Pam Munoz Ryan.

Prepared by: Susannah Hogan for The South Carolina Children's Book Award nominees 2005