Marian Anderson's 1939 Lincoln Memorial concert

On April 9, 1939, contralto Marian Anderson performed an open-air concert on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial after the Daughters of the American Revolution denied her use of Constitution Hall because of her race. The concert was arranged by Secretary of the Interior Harold L. Ickes and drew an estimated crowd of about 75,000 people, becoming a widely documented event in the city's cultural and civil-rights history. The performance is often cited in historical accounts as a significant public-cultural moment in Washington, D.C.