Chapter 48

Summary

• The protagonist, Mary, is in Washington D.C., attending a concert at the Lincoln Memorial on April 9, 1939.
• The concert is for the legendary contralto Marian Anderson and the attendees include tens of thousands of people - both white and colored, all dressed in their Sunday best.
• Mary is seated in the front row on the stage which includes 200 other public figures who provided financial support for the event, Mary encounters New York Senator Robert Wagner.
• She reflects on how this concert came to be hosted in such a pivotal location, which all started with a conversation with Eleanor (presumably First Lady, Eleanor Roosevelt).
• Mary had requested Eleanor’s help to host a benefit concert for Marian Anderson at Howard University, but the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) refused to rent Constitution Hall due to Anderson's race.
• Eleanor and Mary amassed support from various organizations such as the NAACP and NCNW, formed the Marian Anderson Citizens Committee, and pressured the DAR into renting the hall by protesting, creating petitions and leveraging the press.
• The DAR refused to rent the hall even when Eleanor arranged for the concert to coincide with the first historic royal visit to America by the reigning British monarchs and despite the resignation of thousands of women from the DAR.
• Secretary of the Interior, Harold Ickes, and Marian Anderson appear to a loud applause. Ickes talks about how everyone in the audience is free, regardless of race, creed or color, and then introduces Anderson.
• Mary reflects on the significance of this event, where an integrated audience is in attendance at the Lincoln Memorial and a senior Roosevelt administration official makes a public statement in favor of equality.
• The chapter ends with Mary speculating on whether the attendees recognize this moment for the incredible experience it is about to be.