February 14, 2023

Reps. Tour Marian Anderson Studio In Danbury

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Danbury— Marian Anderson (1897-1993) was a world-renowned opera singer and the first African-American artist to perform at the Metropolitan Opera in New York City. State Representatives Patrick Callahan (R-108), Rachel Chaleski (R-138), and Martin Foncello (R-107) recently visited the Marian Anderson Studio at the Danbury Museum and Historical Society.

In 1939, the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) refused permission for Anderson to sing to an integrated audience in Constitution Hall. Instead, she performed a critically acclaimed open-air concert on Easter Sunday, April 9, 1939, on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C. She sang before a crowd of more than 75,000 people and a radio audience in the millions. In 1943, she sang at Constitution Hall at the invitation of the DAR to a now-integrated audience as part of a benefit for the American Red Cross.

“Anderson then married architect Orpheus Fisher in a secret ceremony in Bethel in 1943. The couple later purchased a 100-acre farm in Danbury after an exhaustive search throughout New York, New Jersey and Connecticut. Some offers were made, but the property sellers took their homes off the market when they discovered the purchasers would be African-Americans. Anderson lived in Danbury until a few years before her death,” said Head Docent Julia Siergiej.

“I didn’t know before the tour that Marianna Farm, on the City’s Westside, was named one of 60 sites on the Connecticut Freedom Trail. The home is privately owned and not open to the public, but her studio was saved from a bulldozer in 1997 when the Danbury Museum & Historical Society acquired the structure. It was moved to Main Street and opened to the public in 2005,” said Callahan.

“Museum officials shared that as a Danbury resident, Anderson served on the boards of the Danbury Music Center and supported the Charles Ives Center for the Arts and the Danbury Chapter of the NAACP. I’ve been a longtime member of the Danbury Music Center, which is a gem of the City that has provided decades of support for the arts,” said Chaleski.

“We learned from Museum officials that Anderson received numerous honors and recognitions, including the National Medal of Arts and a Grammy Award for Lifetime Achievement. She performed the National Anthem at President Eisenhower’s second inauguration,” said Foncello.

She was also a delegate to the United Nations and inducted into the Connecticut Hall of Fame, located at the Legislative Office Building in Hartford.

In addition to seeing the studio, visitors can see photographs and memorabilia from milestones in Anderson’s career, including the keepsake from her induction to the Hall of Fame. On February 24th and 25th, the Museum will be celebrating Anderson’s birthday with an event co-sponsored by Danbury Library. Readers from across Danbury will share segments from Anderson’s autobiography, “My Lord, What a Morning” between 10 am and 3 pm each day.