Reading an article in the Dec 12, 1939 edition of The Detroit Tribune, about a concert Marian Anderson gave in Detroit, I was surprised to find a number of family members and friends among those who attended. My mother had several of Marian Anderson’s records, but she never mentioned hearing her in person. Click on images to enlarge.
“According to Anderson biographer Allan Keiler, she was invited to sing in Washington by Howard University as part of its concert series. And because of Anderson’s international reputation, the university needed to find a place large enough to accommodate the crowds. Constitution Hall was such a place, but the Daughters of the American Revolution owned the hall.
“They refused to allow her use of the hall,” Keiler says, “because she was black and because there was a white-artist-only clause printed in every contract issued by the DAR.” Denied a Stage, She Sang For A Nation
Photographs of some family members and friends who attended the concert. Family photographs.
Doris Graham (my mother) 
Albert “Toddy” Cleage (my father) 
Mary V. Graham (my mother’s sister) 
Daisy Turner and mother, Jennie Turner (Fannie’s sister & mother) 
Alice Turner (Fannie’s sister) 
Fannie & Mershell Graham (My maternal grandparents) 
Margaret & Victoria McCall – the publishers daughters – cousins 
Connie Stowers family friend 
Oscar Hand family friend
Wonderful!
Isn’t it nice to see what they were doing during their youth?
I wonder if the Ford Motor Company sponsored this event. It’s interesting how the article mentions that Ford gave out good seats to those who requested them.
Yes they did. It says it was the Ford Sunday Evening Hour, in the article. Near the top. My grandfather worked at Ford’s, but it sounds like anyone who wrote in could get the tickets.