This week in Black history

Jet, April 15, 2002

April 9, 1939--

Marian Anderson, renowned contralto opera singer, performed a concert on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C., before a crowd of 75,000 people on this day. When the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) refused to rent her Constitution Hall for a concert performance, Eleanor Roosevelt thought Anderson was a victim of discrimination. She resigned from the DAR and arranged for Anderson to sing at the Lincoln Memorial on Easter Sunday. The event became a landmark in civil rights history. Her pioneering spirit and talent broke many racial barriers and made Anderson an internationally renowned opera star. She died April 8, 1993, at the age of 96.

April 12, 1983--

Harold Washington became the first Black elected mayor of Chicago on this day. The election of Harold Washington was a major political event for both the city of Chicago and this country. Harold Washington won the Democratic primary and the general election. His victory encouraged Blacks throughout the country to register to vote. Washington attended Roosevelt University and earned his law degree at Northwestern University. He had a solid political background, serving 16 years in the Illinois legislature and two years in the United States House of Representatives. During the four years and seven months that he served as mayor, he left a record of appointing Blacks to top city government positions--appointments to posts which Blacks never held before in any administration. Harold Washington was born in Chicago on April 15, 1922. He died November 25, 1987.