Timeline Marian Anderson's Life Year World Events   1896 In Plessy v. Ferguson, the US Supreme Court rules in favor of segregation, and "separate, but equal" institutions for whites and blacks. Early Life Marian Anderson is born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. 1897     1898 Paul Robeson is born.   1900 Puccini's Tosca premieres.   1901 Ragtime jazz makes its first appearance. At age 6, Marian joins her first choir: the Junior Choir at the Union Baptist Church. 1903 The Wright Brothers make their first flight.   1906 •  San Francisco is devastated     by an earthquake. •  The first radio broadcast of recorded     music with live spoken introduction     is heard in the US.   1907 The first comic strip appears in newspapers.   1908 Ford Motor Company releases the first Model T.   1909 Newsreels are introduced to the American public. Marian's father dies; she puts her high school education on hold to help the family financially. 1910 The NAACP is founded by W.E.B. DuBois.   1912 The Titanic sinks.   1913 Harriet Tubman dies.   1914 Archduke Franz Ferdinand is assassinated, and World War I begins. Marian enters William Penn High School. 1915 •  D.W.Griffith's film Birth of a Nation is     released. •  Einstein announces his theory of relativity.   1919 The Treaty of Versailles ends World War I. Early Career Marian begins studying with Giuseppe Boghetti. 1920 Prohibition bans alcohol throughout the US. At the age of 24, Marian graduates from the South Philadelphia High School for Girls. 1921   1922 •  The Soviet States form the USSR. •  Louis Armstrong brings New Orleans-style     jazz to Chicago. Marian becomes first African-American singer to record spirituals for a major recording company. 1923 George Gershwin writes "Rhapsody in Blue." Marian's Town Hall debut receives disastrous reviews. 1924 Puccini dies. After winning a music competition, Marian performs with the New York Philharmonic. 1925 Marian begins to study and perform in Europe - there she meets Kosti Vehanen, who will become her accompanist. 1927 •  The Jazz Singer is the world's first "talking     picture." •  Josephine Baker becomes a famous dancer in     Paris.   1928 Amelia Earhart becomes the first woman to fly across the Atlantic Ocean.   1929 The stock market crashes on October 28, beginning the Great Depression.   1932 Franklin Delano Roosevelt is elected President.   1933 •  Adolph Hitler is appointed German Chancellor     and granted dictatorial powers. He opens     the first concentration camps shortly     thereafter. •  The 21st amendment repeals prohibition. Marian signs with Sol Hurok. 1934   Marian performs in a homecoming concert at Town Hall. 1935 •  George Gershwin's Porgy and Bess premieres. •  Swing music evolves from jazz. Marian performs at the White House for President and First Lady Roosevelt. 1936 •  The Spanish Civil War begins. •  Jesse Owens wins 4 gold medals at Olympic     Games in Berlin.   1938 The 40-hour work week is established in the US. Marian gives a concert on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington D.C. Over 75,000 people are in attendance, and approximately 6 million listen to the concert on the radio. 1939 •  World War II begins in Europe. •  Race riots erupt in major cities across the US. •  Baseball is first televised. Franz Rupp becomes Marian's accompanist. 1940     1941 The attack on Pearl Harbor brings the US into World War II. After 20-some years of courting, Marian marries Orpheus "King" Fisher. 1943     1944 D-Day   1945 •  V.E. day •  The US drops atomic bombs on Hiroshima     and Nagasaki.   1946 The United Nations General Assembly holds its first meeting.   1947 Jackie Robinson becomes first African-American to sign with a major league baseball club.   1950 •  The Korean War begins. •  Senator Joseph McCarthy and the House Un-     American Activities Committee begins     holding hearings to expose communists     in the US.   1951 Color televisions are first made available in the US.   1952 Ralph Ellison's The Invisible Man is published. The Metropolitan Opera asks Marian to perform the part of Ulrica in Verdi's Un Ballo in Maschera. 1954 In Brown v. Board of Education, the Supreme Court rules that "separate but equal" is impossible. This ruling paves way for desegregation across the country. Marian at the Met Marian makes her debut at The Met, becoming the first African-American singer in Met history. 1955 Rosa Parks refuses to give up her seat on a segregated bus and is arrested. African-Americans then boycott the bus system in Montgomery, Alabama. Late Career Marian's autobiography My Lord, What a Mornin' is published. 1956 •  Elvis Presley popularizes "Rock and Roll" in     the US. •  Maria Callas makes her Met debut. At the request of the U.S. State Department, Marian tours Southeast Asia. 1957 •  The USSR launches Sputnik I, the first     satellite to continuously orbit the     earth. •  The "Little Rock Nine" help to integrate the     Little Rock, Arkansas public schools. Marian serves as a delegate to the United Nations. 1958 Alaska becomes the 49th State.   1959 •  Fidel Castro becomes Premier of Cuba. •  Hawaii becomes the 50th State. •  Miles Davis releases "Kind of Blue."   1959-75 Vietnam War   1960 John F. Kennedy is elected President.   1961 Leontyne Price makes her debut at The Met. Marian tours Australia and New Zealand. 1962 •  The Cuban missile crisis shakes the nation. •  The Second Vatican Council is held in Rome. Marian makes the first integrated tour of Texas. She also announces her retirement. 1963 •  Race riots erupt in Birmingham, Alabama. •  Over 200,000 people participate in the "March     on Washington." •  President Kennedy is assassinated. Marian begins her farewell tour with a concert at Constitution Hall in Washington D.C. 1964 Martin Luther King Jr. is awarded Nobel Peace Prize. Late Life Marian's farewell tour concludes with a final concert at Carnegie Hall. 1965 •  Malcom X is assassinated. •  The Beatles come to America.   1966 The Metropolitan Opera House opens its new home at Lincoln Center.   1968 •  Martin Luther King Jr. is assassinated. •  Aretha Franklin and Jimi Hendrix     compete for popularity.   1969 Spaceship Apollo 11 successfully lands on the surface of the moon. In the first-ever moonwalk, Neil Armstrong says, "That's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind."   1970 There are widespread protests against the Vietnam War. Four students are killed during a protest at Kent University.   1973 The Supreme Court legalizes abortion in Roe v. Wade. Sol Hurok dies. 1974 •  Richard Nixon resigns the Presidency after     the Watergate scandal. •  President Ford grants amnesty to draft dogers     and deserters. Orpheus "King" Fisher suffers a series of strokes. 1975     1976 •  Roland Hayes dies. •  The US Air Force accepts women recruits for            the first time.   1979 Sugar Hill Gang releases "Rapper's Delight," the first commercially recorded hip-hop song.   1980 •  Mount Saint Helens erupts, killing 36. •  Ronald Regan is elected President.   1981 •  AIDS is first identified. •  IBM makes the first personal computer. •  Sandra Day O'Connor becomes the first     female Supreme Court Justice. Orpheus "King" Fisher dies. 1986     1989 •  The Berlin Wall falls. •  Chinese students protest against the     government in Tiananmen Square. Marian's sister Ethel dies. 1990 Operation Desert Storm begins in Iraq. •  WETA releases a documentary on Marian's life, which premieres at the Kennedy Center Honors. •  Marian is diagnosed with cancer. 1991 The USSR is dissolved following a political coup in Moscow. Marian moves to Portland, Oregon to live with her nephew James DePreist. 1992 William Jefferson Clinton is elected President. Marian Anderson dies at the age of 96. 1993

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