Famous places by the park

Marian Anderson, the contralto who was the first African-American contralto to perform at the White House, for President and First Lady Roosevelt after being turned down by the Daughters of the Revolution for her race in 1936, lived at 1200 Fifth Avenue (overlooking Central Park) from 1958 - 1975.

In 1939, she gave a concert on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington D.C. Over 75,000 people were in attendance, and approximately 6 million listened to the concert on the radio.

In 1955, Marian made her debut at The Met, becoming the first African-American singer in Met history.

In 1958, she then served as a delegate at the United Nations (and moved into this apartment building, which now has a plaque describing her achievements outside its front door).

She went on to win the United Nations Peace Prize in 1977, and the Eleanor Roosevelt Human Rights Award in 1984.

I like when I read about amazing people in NYC ---- makes me think I could do a lot more with my life, given today's technology and anti-racism laws.

http://www.metoperafamily.org/_post/education/marian-anderson/html/index.htm