My Lord, what a morning : an autobiography / by Marian Anderson.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Anderson, Marian, 1897-1993, author.

Contributor:

Woods, Miriam (Book jacket designer), bookjacket designer.

Viking Press, publisher.

Vail-Ballou Press, printer.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Anderson, Marian, 1897-1993.

Anderson, Marian.

Contraltos--United States--Biography.

Contraltos.

African American women singers--Biography.

African American women singers.

singers.

Singers.

United States.

Genre:

Biographies.

Autobiographies.

Physical Description:

viii, 312 pages, 8 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations ; 22 cm

Manufacture:

[Binghamton, New York] : Printed by the Vail-Ballou Press, Inc.

Place of Publication:

New York : The Viking Press, MCMLVI [1956]

Summary:

"'My Lord, What a Morning' is a gentle and engrossing memoir, abounding with the tender and inspiring stories of Marian Anderson's life in her own modest words. From her humble but proud beginnings in south Philadelphia to international vocal renown, the legendary contralto writes of triumph and adversity, of being grounded in faith and surrounded by family, and of the music that shaped her career. Anderson published My Lord, What a Morning in 1956 on the heels of her groundbreaking role as the first African American to perform at the Metropolitan Opera. In it are bittersweet reminiscences of a working-class childhood, from her first job scrubbing the neighbors' steps to the sorrow and upheaval of her father's untimely death. Here are the stories of a young girl with prodigious talent, and her warm remembrances of the teachers, managers, friends, accompanists, and fans who worked to foster it. Here is a veritable travelogue of her concerts across the globe and rare glimpses at the personal life of a woman more concerned with family than celebrity. An entire chapter devoted to the Easter concert at the Lincoln Memorial in 1939 reveals Anderson's immense respect for Eleanor Roosevelt, who resigned from the Daughters of the American Revolution when they refused to let Anderson perform at Constitution Hall. Supplanting sorrow and regret for anger and violence, Anderson demurely imparts her views on discrimination and on becoming an icon in the struggle for civil rights. With eleven photographs and a touching new foreword by Anderson's nephew, famed conductor and poet James DePreist, this new paperback edition of My Lord, What a Morning revives the classic portrait of a musical legend who was resilient in the bullying face of bigotry and gracious in the unfaltering glow of fame." -- Amazon.com.

Contents:

Philadelphia childhood

Life at Grandmother's

Branching out

Shock

Learning how

Up and

way down

A home of our own

Mother

Contest

Step up

First trip to Europe

Back to Europe

Scandinavia

Beyond Scandinavia

Home again

Russia

Easter Sunday

Songs I sing

Notes on the voice

On the road

Good companions

The highest and the lowest

East and West

Those who listen

Recordings

Husband and home

At the Metropolitan

Looking forward.

Notes:

"A condensed version of this book appeared in serial form in the Woman's Home Companion." --Title page verso.

Jacket design by Miriam Woods.

Local Notes:

Kislak Center RBC 2026 90 imperfect: 2 unnumbered pages of plates only. Purchased for the Penn Libraries in 2026. Dust jacket retained.

OCLC:

377387