MARIAN ANDERSON OPERA SINGER - PERFORMED FOR U.S. PRESIDENTS, NY MET 1940s PHOTO For Sale

We are offering two different photographs, taken at the same performance, of Marian Anderson, Opera & Spiritual Singer. Circa 1940s/50s. Marian Anderson (1897-1993) - was the first African American to perform with the New York Metropolitan Opera in 1955.Born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Anderson was a child prodigy, who became a church choir member at the age of 6 and taught herself to play the piano at the age of 8. Over the next few years, through hard work she developed her voice so that she could sing the full range of singing parts in the choir, and due to her commitment to the choir, the members raised $500 to pay for voice lessons for her from Giuseppe Boghetti, a respected voice teacher.
Over the years, Anderson performed at Carnegie Hall, at the White House for President Franklin D. Roosevelt, and in 1939, at the invitation of Eleanor Roosevelt, she performed at the Lincoln Memorial on Easter Sunday in front of over 75,000 people. Anderson sang the national anthem at President John F. Kennedy's inauguration in 1961. In 1991, Marian Anderson was honored with a Grammy Award for Lifetime Achievement.