Marian Anderson’s Lincoln Memorial outfit donated to Smithsonian

The orange and black outfit classical singer Marian Anderson wore during her historic performance at Washington, D.C.’s Lincoln Memorial in 1939 has gone on display at the prestigious Smithsonian Institution. The contralto hit headlines 75 years ago after she was banned from taking the stage at a Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) event in Constitution Hall because she was black.
The snub prompted the then-U.S. First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt to resign as a member and instead invite Anderson to perform at the memorial on Easter Sunday, breaking boundaries with the critically-acclaimed open-air concert.
Anderson’s two-piece ensemble was donated to curators at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington, D.C. by Ginette DePreist, the widow of the star’s nephew.