Marian Anderson was a Black American contralto, born 1897. She performed throughout the United States and Europe 1925-1965. In 1939, during segregation, the Daughters of the American Revolution refused to allow Anderson to sing to an integrated audience in Constitution Hall in Washington, D.C., bringing her international attention. First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt and President Franklin D. Roosevelt helped Anderson perform a critically acclaimed open-air concert on the Lincoln Memorial steps on this date, Easter Sunday 1939. She sang before an integrated crowd of more than 75,000 people and a radio audience in the millions. The concert was featured in a 1939 documetary film. Anderson participated in the civil rights movement in the 1960s, singing at the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom in 1963. She was awarded the first Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1963, the Congressional Gold Medal in 1977, the Kennedy Center Honors in 1978, the National Medal of Arts in 1986, and a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 1991. In 1955, she was the first Black singer to perform at the Metropolitan Opera. Marian Anderson live to age 96. She left us April 8, 1993, in Oregon. Credit: https://w.wiki/3Ad2 Portrait: Carl Van Vechten, Public Domain https://w.wiki/KzrA I wanted one more ride before the Tierra Bella Century coming up Sunday. (I doubt I'll complete the century.) But my Domane had an appointment for minor work at Bicycle Trip this morning, so I got up extra-early and consumed the coffee and overnight oats I had prepared the night before. My goal was to start riding at 6 a.m., but as usual I took a lot longer to get ready. I went up DeLaveaga, Glen Canyon, Navarra, and Santa's Village, then down Granite Creek. Even though I've ridden some of them lately, it was good to remember familiar hills from years ago, when I commuted from Seabright to the Borland Building for work. Some of my work back then was not enjoyable, but I loved that time otherwise.