Short answers, pulled from the story.
The Daughters of the American Revolution barred Anderson from performing at Constitution Hall in Washington, D.C., under a whites-only policy for performers that was in effect at the time. Washington was also a segregated city, and the hall lacked the segregated public bathrooms then required by D.C. law for such events.
On Easter Sunday, the 9th of April 1939, Anderson performed an open-air concert on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial before a crowd of more than 75,000 people and a national radio audience of millions. The concert was arranged by Secretary of the Interior Harold L. Ickes with the support of President Franklin D. Roosevelt and First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt. Anderson opened with "My Country, 'Tis of Thee."
On the 7th of January 1955, Anderson became the first African American to perform with the Metropolitan Opera, singing the role of Ulrica in Giuseppe Verdi's Un ballo in maschera. She was invited by the company's director, Rudolf Bing, and was later named a permanent member of the Metropolitan Opera despite never appearing with the company again after that performance.
Anderson received the NAACP Spingarn Medal in 1939, the first Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1963, the Congressional Gold Medal in 1977, the Kennedy Center Honors in 1978, the National Medal of Arts in 1986, and a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 1991. She also held 24 honorary doctoral degrees from institutions including Howard University, Temple University, and Smith College.
Anderson grew up in a devout churchgoing family in South Philadelphia and joined the junior choir at the Union Baptist Church at the age of six, encouraged by her aunt Mary. After her father died in 1909, the Black community of Philadelphia, including the People's Chorus and Reverend Wesley Parks, raised money for her singing lessons and high school tuition. Anderson credited her aunt's influence as the reason she pursued her career.
Marian Anderson established a singing competition in 1943 using $25,000 she received from The Philadelphia Award in 1940. The competition supported young singers until its prize fund was exhausted and the award was disbanded in 1976. It was re-established in 1990 and ran annually until 2019, when the final award went to Kool and the Gang. In 2022, it was restructured as a tuition-free youth program administered by Play On Philly.