In 1939, Anderson, the famed American contralto, was banned from performing in the Daughters of the American Revolution's Constitution Hall because of the color of her skin. So instead she performed on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, singing the American anthem My Country, 'Tis of Thee for an integrated audience of an estimated 75,000.
Just short of 70 years later, another concert on those steps blended joy, remembrance and unabashed patriotism in celebrating the inauguration of Barack Obama before an integrated audience of hundreds of thousands, including Obama and his wife, Michelle; their daughters, Malia and Sasha; Vice President-elect Joe Biden and his wife, Jill; and their extended families. Together, they watched a black-and-white film clip of Anderson's stirring performance seven decades ago, when few could have imagined that the son of an African father and a mother from Kansas could be elected president of the United States.
The concert was titled “We Are One." Near the end, Obama alluded to that idea. He acknowledged the grave challenges he and the country face and the hope that national unity would help meet those challenges.
“It is how this nation has overcome the greatest differences and the longest odds because there is no obstacle that can stand in the way of millions of voices calling for change," he said.
On the Mall, the crowd filled in the grounds around the near-frozen Reflecting Pool, cheering, waving, dancing and shivering under gray skies.
In front of them, the flag-draped stage on the steps glittered with stars: Bruce Springsteen, Mary J. Blige, Rene Fleming, Stevie Wonder, Usher, Shakira, Bono and U2, will.i.am, Jon Bon Jovi, Beyonc, Garth Brooks, John Mellencamp, James Taylor, Sheryl Crow, Herbie Hancock, John Legend.
Later, Wonder said he was thrilled to learn that Obama had grown up listening to his music.
“It's a blessing to think the songs I wrote, the melodies I sang, played an important part of his life that maybe I was making a contribution to a president in some way," Wonder said.
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