The Voice That Challenged a Nation: Marian Anderson and the Struggle for Equal Rights

by Russell Freedman

Book Overview

Newbery Honor Book * Sibert Medal WinnerCarefully researched and expertly told, this Newbery Honor and Sibert Medal-winning book is a moving account of the life of a talented and determined artist who... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0618159762
• ISBN13: 9780618159765
• Release Date: May 2004
• Publisher: Clarion Books
• Length: 114 Pages
• Weight: 0.55 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 8.0" x 10.0"
• Age Range: 10 to 12 years
• Grade Range: Grades 5 to 7

Customer Reviews

Young adult nonfiction

Award winning author Russell Freedman published this biography of African American vocalist Marian Anderson in 2004. I selected it as background to the novel that I'm working on and was not disappointed. Anderson was born in 1897 and grew up in the ethnic neighborhoods of south Philadelphia. Her mother was widowed when she and her two sisters were young; her father was injured in an accident at the Reading Terminal Market where he worked as a front loader. (On a personal note, my German grandmother would take me and my brother and sister to the market once a year to buy delicacies from home. I can still remember the crammed rows of stands that sold sausages, chocolates, breads, and cheeses.) Her church recognized her talents as a contralto when she was only 8 years old and helped raise the money that she needed for lessons. Her instructors included Guiseppe Boghetti who was moved to tears after hearing her sing, "Deep River." In the 1920's Anderson began touring the country singing at black churches and colleges. She received a boost in her career when she beat 300 rivals and won the prestigious the Lewisohn Stadium competition in 1925. But her performances in the United States were mostly to fellow African Americans; and she knew that her career would never advance unless she had a wider audience. She decided to go to Europe to study Italian and German so that she could be better equipped to sing operas. During the 1930's Anderson was enthusiastically received by heads of state and famous composers in Scandinavia, Germany, Austria, and Russia. Arturo Toscanini, a very well-known conductor, heard her sing and said, "Yours is a voice such as one hears once in a hundred years." But when Anderson returned home racism and prejudice still haunted her. She frequently received third or fourth class hotel and travel accommodations and even into the mid 1950's was blocked from walking unto a "Whites only" train platform in the Deep South. The pinnacle of her fight against racism occurred in 1939 when her manager wanted to arrange for a concert at Constitution Hall in Washington, D.C. The hall was operated by the DAR (Daughters of the American Republic) who had initiated a "white artists only" policy in 1935. First lady Eleanor Roosevelt resigned her DAR membership and public outrage followed this act of outright racism. As a result, Anderson performed for 75,000 people in front of the Lincoln Memorial: establishing the Memorial as the "moral high ground" for protest rights. You can view a short video of this event at: [...] . From that website you will find links to other historical videos, including her reminiscing about her hero, Roland Hayes . Although Anderson did not begin her singing career in order to combat racial injustice, she tenaciously conquered many racial barriers. In recollecting the 1939 concert she said: "I said yes, but the yes did not come easily or quickly. I don't like a lot of show, and one could not tell in advance what directi

Just wished I could have heard her, too!

I was not too familiar with the life of Marian Anderson, so it was with some degree of anticipation that I listened to THE VOICE THAT CHALLENGED A NATION by Russell Freedman . . . it did not disappoint. Anderson began her career, singing in church choirs . . . because she had to quite school after her father died when she was in eighth grade, she did not get to complete high school until she was 24 . . . yet she continued to sing, helped along by members of her church who constantly came together to raise money for her lessons. She eventually sang to sold-out concert halls throughout Europe . . . yet the book's most moving part described her return to this country in 1939 . . . when she was denied permission to perform in Constitution Hall in because she wasn't white, she staged--with help from Eleanor Roosevelt--a breathtaking outdoor concert at the Lincoln Memorial. I would have liked this CD to have contained some of the performances of her actual songs . . . yet for that, I guess I'm just going to have to spring for another CD of her music . . . it will be my pleasure to do so.

If the planet Earth could sing

Writing a biography of a private person who led a public life is, by definition, difficult. So it only stands to reason that writing a children's biography of a private person who led a public life would be ten times as hard. Children's biographies cannot speculate over the sex life of the subject. They can't delve into shoddy rumors or dredge up conspiracy theories related to the person's sordid background. None of this is to say that Marian Anderson had such sketchy rumors floating about her person, of course. By all accounts she led an exciting life, had a fabulous career, and is regarded as a great American hero. But she was also a private person, which places Russell Freedman in a difficult position. As the author of, "The Voice That Challenged a Nation", Freedman's job is to tell Anderson's story while relying on as many good, strong, clean facts as he can get his hands on. Fortunately, we're talking about the premiere biographical children's author here. Alongside fellow genius James Giblin, Freedman knows exactly how to present a life this interesting and detailed. The book will not charm every child assigned it in school. But if you've a kid who's open-minded and able to get into Marian's struggle, this is an excellent resource. Even if, prior to this book, they couldn't tell Marian Anderson from Ella Fitzgerald. The book opens with what is inarguably Anderson's greatest moment in the public eye. She stands on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial with a crowd of 75,000 people below her, waiting to hear her sing. The date is April 9, 1939, and Anderson has been refused the chance to perform at Constitution Hall. Anderson is black and the DAR (Daughters of the American Revolution) is inherently racist. With this concert, under the shadow of Lincoln himself, Anderson gives a heckuva performance that stands as a dignified response to racism in America. It goes very well and from here we shoot back and see Ms. Anderson's life in full. From her early days as a choir member in Philadelphia to her triumphant European tour in the early 30s. Certain aspects of Marian's life repeat themselves. She was wholly dedicated to her mother and took her everywhere. She was uncertain of her own talents at times but continued to sing and conquer. Freedman expertly weaves fascinating aspects of Marian's life (example: her high school boyfriend waited some twenty years to marry her) with factual information about the times in which she lived. Kids who read this book learn just as much about Jim Crow laws and deeply imbedded segregation as they do about Ms. Anderson's life. By the end of the book you find yourself emerging with a fascinating look at a truly great woman. Freedman follows up this book with an extensive bibliography (which gives props to fellow fabulous child biography, "When Marian Sang" by Pam Munoz Ryan). There's also a discography, a series of picture credits, and a wonderful index. It seems petty to demand that an au

Richie's Picks: THE VOICE THAT CHALLENGED A NATION

"This will be the day when all of God's children will be able to sing with a new meaning, 'My country, 'tis of thee, sweet land of liberty, of thee I sing. Land where my fathers died, land of the pilgrim's pride, from every mountainside, let freedom ring.' "And if America is to be a great nation this must become true. So let freedom ring from the prodigious hilltops of New Hampshire. Let freedom ring from the mighty mountains of New York. Let freedom ring from the heightening Alleghenies of Pennsylvania! "Let freedom ring from the snowcapped Rockies of Colorado! "Let freedom ring from the curvaceous slopes of California! "But not only that; let freedom ring from Stone Mountain of Georgia! "Let freedom ring from Lookout Mountain of Tennessee! "Let freedom ring from every hill and molehill of Mississippi. From every mountainside, let freedom ring..." --Martin Luther King, Jr., August 28, 1963 Dr. King must surely have had a thought or two of Marian Anderson as he stood on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial on that historic afternoon and delivered those words. Many of us know Marian's basic story: Marian Anderson was a helluva singer. Despite being celebrated in Europe as the voice of a century, and despite having the strong support of the President's wife, Eleanor Roosevelt, Marian Anderson was denied the opportunity to perform in Constitution Hall in Washington, DC because it was owned by the Daughters of the American Revolution, and those ladies didn't allow no black folks to be singing in their hall. That refusal led to Marian performing instead from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial for a crowd of 75,000 people on the Mall and a nationwide radio audience. She stood up tall where Martin would stand a quarter-century later and led off her performance with a rendition of My County 'Tis of Thee. Her performance is seen as a historic event at the dawn of the modern Civil Rights movement. Two years ago, Pam Munoz Ryan and Brian Selznick created the stunningly beautiful 40 page picture book, WHEN MARIAN SANG (Scholastic Press, 2002), which won all sorts of awards including a Sibert Honor. Now Russell Freedman has written a beautiful and more detailed biography of Marian Anderson which will similarly captivate readers with its engaging text and its clear, oversized photographs of the singer herself and of supporting characters in the story of Marian Anderson. The most precious of those supporters were also some of the earliest. Through the chapters focusing on her earliest years, I was moved by Freedman's portrayal of how Marian's childhood community came through time and time again to insure that her dreams would not be in vain: "Again there was no money for lessons. Most of Marian's earnings from concert appearances went to her mother, who was still taking in laundry and scrubbing floors, and to her sisters, who were still in school. And again the congregation at Union Baptist Church came to Marian's aid, organizin