The career of African-American contralto singer Marian Anderson is a story not only of artistic triumph—but also of triumph over racism.
Anderson was born in in Philadelphia into a poor family: her father sold coal and ice, and her mother took in washing. Marian bought a violin from a pawnshop and taught herself to play, but singing was her greatest joy—from the age of six she sang in the Baptist Church, sometimes solo. At 16, she gave her first recital...