Issue link: http://saihq.uberflip.com/i/1524778
sai-national.org • Summer 2024 9 around the world between 1925 and 1965. Over 20 years, between 1937 and 1957, she sang 12 times with e Philadelphia Orchestra. Aer her retirement from singing in 1965, she joined the Orchestra to narrate Aaron Copland's A Lincoln Portrait several times at the Saratoga Performing Arts Center in Saratoga Springs, New York, and at the Robin Hood Dell in Philadelphia, the last time in 1976, with the composer conducting. An important figure in the struggle for Black artists to overcome racial prejudice, Anderson was denied the opportunity to sing at Constitution Hall in Washington, DC, in 1939. She then performed a historic open- air concert on Easter Sunday, April 9, 1939, on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, singing before a crowd of more than 75,000 people and a radio audience in the millions. On January 7, 1955, she became the first Black singer to perform a lead role at the Metropolitan Opera. She served as a delegate to the United Nations Human Rights Committee and as a Goodwill Ambassador for the United States Department of State, giving concerts around the world. Anderson received the first Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1963, the Congressional Gold Medal in 1977, the Kennedy Center Honors in 1978, the National Medal of Arts in 1986, and a GRAMMY® Lifetime Achievement Award in 1991. (Press Release, April 9, 2024, e Philadelphia Orchestra) Learn more at: https://www.philorch.org/ SAIs In The News Above, Anderson's 1956 initiation into SAI with, from left, Above, Anderson's 1956 initiation into SAI with, from left, Lambda Chapter Presidents Una Field and Elizabeth Wheeler Lambda Chapter Presidents Una Field and Elizabeth Wheeler and Honorary Member Lucine Amara. and Honorary Member Lucine Amara. Philadelphia Alumnae photos Philadelphia Alumnae photos A few of Ms. Anderson's iconic garments were on display at the rededication, borrowed from the Danbury Museum & Historical Society. Each garment was accompanied by a photo of Anderson wearing the piece. Included were the Bonwit Teller hat that she wore when she became the first Black artist to sing at a presidential inauguration for President Eisenhower, a green gown designed by Oscar-winning costumier Barbara Karinska, and a blue gown that she wore for a recital in Tokyo. Philadelphia Alumnae Chapter photos Philadelphia Alumnae Chapter photos