Marian Anderson 1897-1993 In 1939, after the contralto was refused the use of Constitution Hall by the D.A.R. because of her race, she sang at the Lincoln Memorial for an audience of 75,000. The first African American to perform at The White House (1936), and to be a permanent member of the Metropolitan Opera Company (1955), lived here from 1958 to 1975. During that time, she served as an alternate delegate to the United Nations (1958).