Evening star., 1939-04-09
Miss Anderson 10 Siinq
Al Lincoln Memorial
Al SPIN. Today
$4,000 Expected to Hear
ControIto, Who Will Be
Protected by Heaters

Protected from chill winds by elec-
trio heaters If necessary, Marian
Anderson, Negro contralto. will pre-
sent a free open-air half-hour con-
cert from the steps of the Lincoln
Memorial today at S pm.
The concert is calculated to focus
attention on the fact that she was
denied the use of Constitution Hall
because of her race. Her sponsors
we're unwilling to accept use Of Gen.
tral High School on the condition
on which it was offered, that the oc-
casion not be urged as a precedent
in the future.
Permission to give the program
from the Lincoln Memorial was
given by Secretary 1ckes after the
controversy over the concert hall
drew criticism from some quarters
on the D. A. r., owners of Constitu-
ton Hall, and on the local Board OF
Education. Mrs Franklin D. Roose-
welt is believed to have resigned
from the patriotic society because OF
the incident.
Sponsors of the concert expect
$4,000 persons to line the rejecting
pool in the Easter twilight to hear
the operate, spiritual and other
numbers which the singer has in
cluded in her program. Her voice
will be carried three-quarters of a
mile across the pool to the Wash
ington Monument by means OF am
plif1ers.
Will Sing without Charge.
Miss Anderson will be introduced
by Secretary Ickes. Her concert will
be broadcast over station WMAL.
Although her usual fee is $4,000, she
will sing without compensation, it
was stated, and her manager has
agreed to defray all operating ex-
penses. She is being sponsored by
Howard University and various in
Sitting with her sponsors in chairs
radiating from the platform from
which Miss Anderson will sing, will
be Giuseppe Boghetti, her teacher
for Is years, to safeguard her voice
in case of inclement weather. He
will see that electric heaters are
placed near the singer in the direc-
ton from which a chilling wind
might be blowing.
Sponsors include Mrs. Roosevelt,
three justices of the Supreme Court,
four cabinet members, % Senators
and Representatives and number
of others high in governmental and
civic circles, both white and colored.
A special section has been con-
structed for the press and newsreel
cameramen and extra foodlighting
has been arranged to play on the
Lincoln statue. Sponsors have been
asked to be on hand at 4:45 pm.
Her program is divided into two
groups, separated by a 5-minute
intermission. The numbers will be
America" 20 Mic Fernando" from
Donizetti's La Favorita"; Schu-
bert's AVE Maria" Gospel Train"
by Boatner, and MY Soul Is An
chored in the Lord" by Florence
Price.
Under direction of Charles A.
Peters, jr., in charge of the public
buildings and grounds branch OF
the National Park Service, 500 at
tendants will be on hand to help
direct traffic and supplement the
work of the park police. Motorists
bound to and from the concert were
advised to use the Key or Highway
Bridge, although the Arlington Me-
mortal Bridge will be kept open all
afternoon by means of diversion
to the Rock Creek and Potomac
parkway at the east end OF the
bridge.
No cars will be permitted in the
Memorial circle or the lanes ap-
preaching it. but ample parking
facilities have been arranged on
Constitution avenue and in the
rear of the Navy and Munitions
Building.
Miss Anderson will arrive by train
from Philadelphia at 1:25 pm.
After the concert she will be enter
tanned at 8 pm. at Frazier Hall at
Howard University by the Faculty
Wives Club.