Marian Anderson

Just 19 days after Marian Anderson became the first African American to perform at New York's famed Metropolitan Opera, she performed at the White House for President Eisenhower and Paul E. Magloire, the President of Haiti. After the White House performance, Ms. Anderson was photographed in Washington boarding the B&O's passenger train, Shenandoah, bound for Chicago. Ms.Anderson is also remembered for being barred by the Daughters of the American Revolution from performing at their auditorium, Constitution Hall.  The controversial decision resulted in First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt organizing an open-air concert at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C. where a crowd of over 75,000 people experienced "One of the most dramatic civil-rights spectacles ever."