Marian Anderson concert at the Lincoln Memorial African American contralto <a href="http://mallhistory.org/items/show/76">Marian Anderson</a> sang on the steps of the <a href="http://mallhistory.org/items/show/33">Lincoln Memorial</a> on Easter Sunday, April 9, 1939. A peaceful crowd of seventy-five thousand people stretched from the Lincoln Memorial to the <a href="http://mallhistory.org/items/show/36">Washington Monument</a> to attend the free concert; thousands more tuned in to <a href="http://mallhistory.org/items/show/373">listen</a> on the radio. The Daughters of the American Revolution had barred the world-renowned singer from appearing in Washington's prestigious Constitution Hall because she was African American. First Lady <a href="http://mallhistory.org/items/show/330">Eleanor Roosevelt</a> and Secretary of the Interior <a href="http://mallhistory.org/items/show/408">Harold Ickes</a> rallied support for her public appearance on the Mall, focusing public attention on racial discrimination and inequality. National Archives at College Park. <a href="http://research.archives.gov/description/595378">View original</a>. 4/9/1939 <a href="/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=38&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=1920-1949">1920-1949</a>