Ugh. Howard University booked the hall for a Easter Sunday recital in 1939. The hall managers found out Anderson was black. The booking was rejected. Incidentally, Central High School (all white) also rejected an application for its much smaller auditorium, so such inane policies were common. So, with the help of Mrs. Roosevelt and Secretary Ickes, Anderson gave the concert to 75,000 at the Lincoln Memorial. Sorry to keep this thread going, but you all know that it is not helpful to rewrite history, the actual story is always much more interesting and useful. The great actor Ossie Davis, who died last week, was actually involved in this episode - he was as student at Howard at the time. Incidentally, and I'd have to look it up, but I believe that the group that ended up using the hall that night was the National Symphony Orchestra, but if so, I have a feeling their crowd was a bit off... Bottom line is DAR regrets it, has never tried to whitewash it, and has gone on to make tremendous contributions in the intervening years, in many facets, including a concert by Anderson in 1964. Welcome to the group. fsr -----Original Message----- From: Susan Pena [mailto:sweetsue63@sbcglobal.net] Sent: Thursday, February 24, 2005 8:34 AM To: NJHUNTER-L@rootsweb.com Subject: [NJHUNTER] Fw: My John Opdyke Ancestor This was my first posting on this web and I would like to comment on this Marion Anderson situation, since it was brought up by someone who has a problem with the DAR because of it. Although it had nothing to do with my posting, this is the scoop -- in defense of the DAR who does much and always has, for our great United States of America and it's citizens in the areas of education, preserving history and patriotism ... Marion Anderson wanted to sing at Constitution Hall in Washington, DC owned and operated by the DAR, for those who don't know. For at least 40+ years, many graduations were held by the area high schools at this facility because there was no larger place in the Washington area, as told to me by cousins living there who graduated at Constitution Hall. The hall was booked on the evening that Anderson had asked to sing. The news media of the day reported that it was because she was black that she was not being allowed to sing there. This was before integration came in. The DAR offered her another date to sing there and she refused. The DAR took a bum rap for this situation. It was never a race issue, not even in the day when that seemed to be the norm. She declined the invitation. Yes, I believe too that "racism" is a subject that should be put to rest. The people running DAR are not even the same people who were running it in those days and our country was different. Hopefully we have changed for the good today and are continuing to be good Americans to everyone. I live in the south, so I know about racism and segregation. I have a good friend who is black also. The DAR, because it is a wonderful society, has graciously tried to correct this situation that it was unjustly blamed for and I think that speaks volumes. Now, let us get on with it and be proud that there are some organizations in the United States who are still working for patriotism, education and the preserving of American History. Yes, also my spell checker did pick up the word "heresy" instead of "heresay" and I'm glad someone noticed it. Thanks! I was distracted and missed the mistake but I'm glad someone here can spell too. Hope this helps. Have a great day and thanks to everyone who was kind and gave me suggestions concerning my posting and question. I'm very grateful for you. Susan Pena Texas ==== NJHUNTER Mailing List ==== Visit the Updated Hunterdon County GenWeb page at: http://www.rootsweb.com/~njhunter ============================== Search the US Census Collection. Over 140 million records added in the last 12 months. Largest online collection in the world. Learn more: http://www.ancestry.com/s13965/rd.ashx

Folks, This list is not a place to discuss the DAR in any shape or form. If you want to talk about the DAR, go somewhere else. The discussion on this topic is over as of now. Al Sinclair List Administrator