FDRLibrary | ER Resigns from the DAR #BlackHistoryMonth @FDRLibrary | Uploaded 7 months ago | Updated 1 hour ago
February 26 marks the anniversary of Eleanor Roosevelt's resignation from the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR).
In January 1939, internationally renowned contralto Marian Anderson sought to perform at Constitution Hall, a venue operated by the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR). The DAR had a “white performers only” policy and refused to book Anderson because she was African American.
Outraged Black Washingtonians staged protests and Walter White used the incident to compare American racism to Nazi racial intolerance. Then Eleanor Roosevelt, a DAR member, entered the dispute. After discussing the situation with White she wrote a letter resigning from the organization. The following day she announced her resignation in her My Day newspaper column. ER’s rebuke made the Anderson story front-page news. In March, White proposed to Interior Secretary Harold Ickes that Anderson be permitted to perform a free Easter Sunday concert at the Lincoln Memorial. Ickes and FDR quickly approved the request.
On April 9, Anderson delivered a stirring outdoor concert before an interracial crowd of 75,000 people. For a brief moment, the nation glimpsed the promise of racial progress.
Still, Anderson’s concert took place in a country where racial segregation and discrimination remained entrenched. And it occurred at a moment when the world was poised on the brink of war. Five months later, World War II erupted in Europe. The war would heighten debate about America’s commitment to democracy at home and sharpen uncomfortable comparisons between Nazi racial theories and oppression and white supremacy in the United States. It would also inspire new demands, new leaders, and new campaigns for racial justice that would test the limits of the Roosevelts’ commitment to Black Americans.
See and hear more, including footage from the concert at the Lincoln Memorial at our current special exhibit BLACK AMERICANS, CIVIL RIGHTS, AND THE ROOSEVELTS.
February 26 marks the anniversary of Eleanor Roosevelt's resignation from the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR).
In January 1939, internationally renowned contralto Marian Anderson sought to perform at Constitution Hall, a venue operated by the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR). The DAR had a “white performers only” policy and refused to book Anderson because she was African American.
Outraged Black Washingtonians staged protests and Walter White used the incident to compare American racism to Nazi racial intolerance. Then Eleanor Roosevelt, a DAR member, entered the dispute. After discussing the situation with White she wrote a letter resigning from the organization. The following day she announced her resignation in her My Day newspaper column. ER’s rebuke made the Anderson story front-page news. In March, White proposed to Interior Secretary Harold Ickes that Anderson be permitted to perform a free Easter Sunday concert at the Lincoln Memorial. Ickes and FDR quickly approved the request.
On April 9, Anderson delivered a stirring outdoor concert before an interracial crowd of 75,000 people. For a brief moment, the nation glimpsed the promise of racial progress.
Still, Anderson’s concert took place in a country where racial segregation and discrimination remained entrenched. And it occurred at a moment when the world was poised on the brink of war. Five months later, World War II erupted in Europe. The war would heighten debate about America’s commitment to democracy at home and sharpen uncomfortable comparisons between Nazi racial theories and oppression and white supremacy in the United States. It would also inspire new demands, new leaders, and new campaigns for racial justice that would test the limits of the Roosevelts’ commitment to Black Americans.
See and hear more, including footage from the concert at the Lincoln Memorial at our current special exhibit BLACK AMERICANS, CIVIL RIGHTS, AND THE ROOSEVELTS.
