{"id":87,"date":"2016-09-13T19:00:51","date_gmt":"2016-09-13T23:00:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/keyes\/?page_id=87"},"modified":"2016-11-17T23:43:22","modified_gmt":"2016-11-18T04:43:22","slug":"thema","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/keyes\/thema\/","title":{"rendered":"The Marian Anderson Event"},"content":{"rendered":"

Frances Keyes’s feelings towards politics and segregationist policies have always been vaguely alluded to, and while she did advocate on the behalf of a maternity bill, and eventually wrote about warming up towards women’s suffrage, these are some of\u00a0her few openly political moments. Frances tended to avoid politics and\u00a0did her best to keep away from controversy. That is why when the Daughters of the American Revolution became entangled in a scandal of their own making, it was shocking that Frances was involved in the organization, and that she would resign so suddenly just months later.<\/p>\n

In the early months of 1939, singer Marian Anderson<\/a> requested to book an Easter Sunday performance\u00a0at Constitution Hall, a concert hall owned and operated by the Daughters of the American Revolution. In late February, the news broke that she was denied, and the country went into uproar. Within a few short days, the DAR was being lambasted in the press for its discriminatory practices in the nation’s capital. They were called pagans, un-American, betrayers of democracy, mothers of fascism, and one writer declared they had given “Hitler, Goebbels, and the Nazi press of Germany a very happy half hour.”<\/p>\n

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<\/center>When questioned by the press, the President General of the DAR remained silent, refusing to clarify why Anderson had been denied the chance to perform in Constitution Hall. Members of the DAR\u00a0began to resign their membership\u00a0in protest, the most notable being Eleanor Roosevelt. At first\u00a0Roosevelt\u00a0would not confirm or deny that it was in fact the DAR that she resigned from, but it was easy for the press to piece together since she resigned only a few days after the news broke.<\/p>\n

\"NYT<\/p>\n

For Roosevelt, the approval rating for her decision was at 67% across the nation, regardless of political affiliation. Roosevelt then helped sponsor Anderson’s performance at\u00a0an open concert for the same day at the Lincoln Memorial. An estimated 75,000 people attended, and Anderson was introduced by Secretary Ickes<\/a>, a critic of the DAR. While he never mentioned the DAR\u00a0directly, he noted that there were those “even in this great capital of our democratic Republic, who are either too timid or too indifferent to lift up the light that Jefferson and Lincoln carried aloft.”<\/p>\n

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The DAR’s Reaction<\/h3>\n

An initial but unofficial explanation for their refusal to let Anderson sing\u00a0was because Constitution Hall was engaged that afternoon, and they claimed the policy was such as to not allow\u00a0two competing attractions on the same day. This was disputed by Anderson’s manager who petitioned the DAR to reconsider its ban on Anderson and allow her to perform on April 8th or 10th, when the hall was unengaged and reportedly available to white artists,\u00a0but Anderson was still rejected.<\/p>\n

It was not until a week after Anderson’s concert that the DAR issued their first official statement about the incident. In her\u00a0message at the annual convention for DAR members, President General Sarah Roberts stated the rejection of Anderson derived from a policy put in place after \u00a0an “unpleasant experience” and in conformity with the “conditions and customs” prevalent in Washington D.C. This “unpleasant experience” led to\u00a0a “whites only” clause in the contracts of performers at Constitution Hall. It was created after a singer refused to perform for a segregated audience where black patrons were delegated to the balconies\u00a0and after\u00a0complaints from white patrons of having to share the space during performances.<\/p>\n

Mrs. Roberts felt it was not the DAR’s place to create social change, but rather they would adjust and adapt as society changed.\u00a0At no point in her speech did she mention the incident or Marian Anderson by name. There is also a notable absence of Anderson and the event in\u00a0the meeting minutes\u00a0of the heads of the DAR,\u00a0except for them to agree to continue to uphold their policies on Constitution Hall.<\/p>\n

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Further Reading\/Viewing:<\/h4>\n

Video of Marian Anderson singing at Lincoln Memorial<\/a><\/p>\n

Denied A Stage, She Sang for a Nation<\/a><\/p>\n

Roosevelt’s Resignation Letter and ‘My Day’ Column<\/a><\/p>\n

Sources:<\/h5>\n

“Asks D.A.R. to Reconsider.” New York Times<\/em>, April 20, 1939.<\/p>\n

“D.A.R. Explains Action on Singer.” New York Times<\/em>, April 19, 1939.<\/p>\n

“Asks D.A.R. to Open Hall.” New York Times<\/em>, April 17, 1939.<\/p>\n

“Throng Honors Marian Anderson in Concert at\u00a0Lincoln Memorial.” New York Times<\/em>, April 10, 1939.<\/p>\n

“Protests Anderson Ban.” New York Times<\/em>, March 27, 1939.<\/p>\n

“Mrs. Roosevelt Approved.” New York Times<\/em>, March 19, 1939.<\/p>\n

“McConnell calls D.A.R. Mother’s of Fascism.” New York Times<\/em>, March 16, 1939.<\/p>\n

“Ban on Singer Declared ‘Pagan’.” New York Times<\/em>, March 5, 1939.<\/p>\n

“Ickes Taxes D.A.R. on Barring Singer.” New York Times<\/em>, March 3, 1939.<\/p>\n

“Protests on D.A.R. Ban Against Singer Grown.” New York Times<\/em>, March 2,1939.<\/p>\n

“Friends Press Case on Marian Anderson.” New York Times<\/em>, March 1, 1939.<\/p>\n

“Mrs. Roosevelt Indicates She Has Resigned from D.A.R. Over Refusal of Hall to Negro.” New York Times<\/em>, February 28, 1939.<\/p>\n

“From the Mail Pouch: Miss Anderson and the D.A.R.” New York Times<\/em>, February 26, 1939.<\/p>\n

“Anderson Ban Protested.” New York Times<\/em>, February 23, 1939.<\/p>\n

“Minutes: National Board of Management.” February 1, 1939.<\/p>\n

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Frances Keyes’s feelings towards politics and segregationist policies have always been vaguely alluded to, and while she did advocate on the behalf of a maternity bill, and eventually wrote about warming up towards women’s suffrage, these are some of\u00a0her few openly political moments. Frances tended to avoid politics and\u00a0did her best to keep away from […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2125,"featured_media":422,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"full-width-page-template.php","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-87","page","type-page","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/P805u5-1p","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":66,"url":"https:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/keyes\/","url_meta":{"origin":87,"position":0},"title":"In 1939 Frances Parkinson Keyes,\u2026","author":"Emeline Blevins","date":"September 11, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"In 1939 Frances Parkinson Keyes, a lifelong member of the Daughters of the American Revolution and the editor of their national magazine, quit. The apocryphal tale of her departure is that she resigned in protest over the racist policies of the DAR, who refused to let Marian Anderson sing at\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blog.richmond.edu\/keyes\/files\/2016\/09\/cropped-cropped-b5a90d6a049fcc3b867b3c9866fb834f.jpg?fit=1200%2C416&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blog.richmond.edu\/keyes\/files\/2016\/09\/cropped-cropped-b5a90d6a049fcc3b867b3c9866fb834f.jpg?fit=1200%2C416&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blog.richmond.edu\/keyes\/files\/2016\/09\/cropped-cropped-b5a90d6a049fcc3b867b3c9866fb834f.jpg?fit=1200%2C416&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blog.richmond.edu\/keyes\/files\/2016\/09\/cropped-cropped-b5a90d6a049fcc3b867b3c9866fb834f.jpg?fit=1200%2C416&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blog.richmond.edu\/keyes\/files\/2016\/09\/cropped-cropped-b5a90d6a049fcc3b867b3c9866fb834f.jpg?fit=1200%2C416&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":361,"url":"https:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/keyes\/the-big-split\/","url_meta":{"origin":87,"position":1},"title":"The Big Split?","author":"Emeline Blevins","date":"October 28, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"On December 1st,\u00a01939, two years after she started\u00a0as editor of the National Historical Magazine, Frances Keyes submitted her resignation\u00a0and renounced her membership to the Daughters of the American Revolution. According to the afterword in her autobiography, written by her son Henry: \"Mrs. Keyes, on her part, became\u00a0disenchanted with a\u00a0budget which\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blog.richmond.edu\/keyes\/files\/2016\/10\/Pages-from-KIC-Document-7-e1477691091331.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blog.richmond.edu\/keyes\/files\/2016\/10\/Pages-from-KIC-Document-7-e1477691091331.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blog.richmond.edu\/keyes\/files\/2016\/10\/Pages-from-KIC-Document-7-e1477691091331.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blog.richmond.edu\/keyes\/files\/2016\/10\/Pages-from-KIC-Document-7-e1477691091331.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blog.richmond.edu\/keyes\/files\/2016\/10\/Pages-from-KIC-Document-7-e1477691091331.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blog.richmond.edu\/keyes\/files\/2016\/10\/Pages-from-KIC-Document-7-e1477691091331.jpg?resize=1400%2C800&ssl=1 4x"},"classes":[]},{"id":257,"url":"https:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/keyes\/before-and-after-keyes\/","url_meta":{"origin":87,"position":2},"title":"Before and After Keyes","author":"Emeline Blevins","date":"October 2, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Frances Keyes's time as editor (late 1937-1939) marked a profound shift for the magazine. Her goal for the publication was to make it as popular and \"outstanding\" in the fields of history and genealogy as the National Geographic Magazine was in\u00a0its respective field. And while the DAR said that the\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blog.richmond.edu\/keyes\/files\/2016\/10\/Frances-c.-1937-e1477664950524.jpg?fit=1024%2C381&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blog.richmond.edu\/keyes\/files\/2016\/10\/Frances-c.-1937-e1477664950524.jpg?fit=1024%2C381&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blog.richmond.edu\/keyes\/files\/2016\/10\/Frances-c.-1937-e1477664950524.jpg?fit=1024%2C381&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blog.richmond.edu\/keyes\/files\/2016\/10\/Frances-c.-1937-e1477664950524.jpg?fit=1024%2C381&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":479,"url":"https:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/keyes\/afterword\/","url_meta":{"origin":87,"position":3},"title":"Afterword","author":"Emeline Blevins","date":"November 2, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Frances While she had been editor of the National Historical Magazine, Frances was still working on her novels. Her resignation gave her the opportunity to resume writing full time, and to begin traveling again as she had in the 1920s. Her novels spanned the whole globe, and many of them\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":85,"url":"https:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/keyes\/editor-in-chief\/","url_meta":{"origin":87,"position":4},"title":"Editor in Chief","author":"Emeline Blevins","date":"September 13, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Frances was made editor of the Daughters of the American Revolution Magazine on September 14th, 1937 \u2013 filling a position that had been vacant for two years. With her years of writing experience with Good Housekeeping among many other magazines, as well as her connections in Washington and across the\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blog.richmond.edu\/keyes\/files\/2016\/09\/let.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":41,"url":"https:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/keyes\/frances\/early-life\/","url_meta":{"origin":87,"position":5},"title":"Early Life","author":"Emeline Blevins","date":"September 10, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"1885 - 1904 Frances Parkinson Wheeler was born in the James Monroe House in Charlottesville, Virginia, on July 21st, 1885. Her father, John Wheeler, was a Greek professor\u00a0at the University of Virginia. Her mother, Louise Fuller Johnson Underhill Wheeler, was a widowed New York\u00a0socialite. After her father's death in 1887,\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"K","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blog.richmond.edu\/keyes\/files\/2016\/09\/fpk-around-age-2-e1473376838689-768x1024.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/keyes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/87","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/keyes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/keyes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/keyes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2125"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/keyes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=87"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/keyes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/87\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/keyes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/422"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/keyes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=87"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}