Saw everyone’s favorite jazz revisionist, Stanley Crouch, quoted in Salon today: "I mentioned that in 1939 the Daughters of the American Revolution had refused to allow Marian Anderson to sing here [in Constitution Hall]. So it was doubly significant for me to be there, as a black author. Of course, Marian Anderson went on to sing at the Lincoln Memorial . . . "
Does anyone know the real story behind this? I am no fan of the DAR, goodness knows, but I remember reading years ago that they had been unfairly used in a PR stunt in this case. THEIR story was that they simply said Marian Anderson could not sing at Constitution Hall THAT NIGHT, that there was a conflicting artist already scheduled. But that Anderson’s PR people—to make a perfectly good, legitimate point—sent out a release that she had been (to coin a phrase) blacklisted. I think the DAR has been protesting ever since that they have been unfairly depicted as racist in this case.
I have no ax to grind here and am perfectly willing to believe either side—but as an historian, I was wondering if anyone had some concrete facts (non-partisan) info on this episode?
According to the New York Times Magazine, when Anderson’s impresario tried to book her at Constitution Hall, the D.A.R. stated that “all” dates were taken.
However, the National Archives and Records Administration notes that “The DAR had adopted a rule excluding African-American artists from the Constitution Hall stage in 1932 following protests over ‘mixed seating,’ blacks and whites seated together, at concerts of black artists.” Thus the ordinary interpretation that Anderson was barred because of her race appears well founded. The claim that “all” dates were taken, viewed in light of the D.A.R.'s rule, smells like a pretext.
The NARA page also has a letter from the president of D.A.R. to Eleanor Roosevelt (who resigned from the organization on account of its excluding Anderson), but the letter does not shed much light on D.A.R.'s motives.
D.A.R.'s website has a history of Constitution Hall, but makes no mention of the incident.
In fairness to the D.A.R., it should be noted that it reversed its policy and invited Anderson to sing at Constitution Hall in 1943.
The National Archives and Records Administration has an on-line exhibit of Eleanor Roosevelt’s letter of resignation from the DAR. NARA states that “[t]he DAR had adopted a rule excluding African-American artists from the Constitution Hall stage in 1932 following protests over ‘mixed seating,’ blacks and whites seated together, at concerts of black artists.” The Britannica’s article on Marian Anderson describes the incident by saying “in 1939, however, she attempted to rent concert facilities in Washington, D.C.'s Constitution Hall, owned by the Daughters of the American Revolution, and was refused because of her race.”
"The DAR had adopted a rule excluding African-American artists from the Constitution Hall stage in 1932 . . . "
OK, that’s pretty outrageously heinous of the DAR and I officially thumb my nose at them (I also shudder at the vague and misleading term “African-American,” but that’s another thread—and one that’s already been done to death).