Marian Anderson, a contralto opera singer, was the first black person to perform at the renowned Metropolitan Opera of New York in January of 1955. Her work as an accomplished singer served as a catalyst of civil rights for many musicians. She was born to a family led by a father who sold liquor for a living but didn’t drink himself and a mother who was forced to run a daycare because she didn’t have the state requirements to teach as a black woman.
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