Independent Films, Film Profiles

Marian Anderson: the Lincoln Memorial Concert

Marian Anderson: the Lincoln Memorial Concert is a 1939 documentary film which documents a concert performance by African American opera singer Marian Anderson after the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) had her barred from singing in Washington D.C.'s Constitution Hall because she was black. Officials of the District of Columbia also barred her from performing in the auditorium of a white public high school. The concert was held at the Lincoln Memorial, on federal property, during the administration of a Democratic President and Congress. The Easter Sunday performance was attended by 75,000. In 2001, this documentary film was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".