Marian Anderson

It's not true what they say about first impressions - when you see the opening of Welcome Home, Marian Anderson, with an actress talking at you about a key moment in her life, it seems like another formulaic one-woman show. But Welcome Home quickly reveals itself: It's a story told by three actors in deft portrayals, and anything but formulaic. The show, which opened Thursday at Bristol Riverside Theatre, is a well-stitched account of the singer from South Philadelphia and her rise to acclaim.

The groundbreaking African American singer Marian Anderson was born and raised in Philadelphia, so it is fitting that the city's Arden Theatre Company should present a show about her. My Lord, What a Morning, by Kim Hines, did not originate locally, though. It was commissioned and premiered by the Kennedy Center in Washington, which also is appropriate. For it was an event there - her famous 1939 concert at the Lincoln Memorial, a landmark event in the civil rights movement - for which Anderson will be forever remembered.

When members of Marian Anderson's Union Baptist Church in South Philadelphia held a benefit concert to help pay for her private singing lessons, the advertisements included her photograph and the caption, "Come and hear the baby contralto, 10 years old. " Who in the audience would imagine that, later in her career, Anderson (1897-1993) would add "soprano" and "baritone" to her repertoire and become among the greatest classically trained contraltos of the 20th century? Anderson, who will be honored with a 37-cent commemorative stamp Jan. 27 in the Black Heritage Series, was born in South Philadelphia.

More than 100 stamps - on subjects ranging from modern architecture, the Muppets and the civil-rights movement to Marian Anderson, Henry Fonda and Arthur Ashe - are included in the preliminary 2005 program, the U.S. Postal Service has announced. All of the commemoratives are 37 cents, though the Postal Service may add some definitives during the year. Not all precise dates or first-day-of-issue cities have been determined. The tentative schedule: January: opera contralto Marian Anderson, in the black heritage series, in Philadelphia.

Marian Anderson, the South Philadelphia singer whose dramatic 1939 concert at the Lincoln Memorial was a milestone in the American civil rights movement, died yesterday in Portland, Ore. Her death came a day before the 54th anniversary of that historic concert. Published references gave her birthdate as 1902, making her 91 at the time of her death. Miss Anderson had suffered a stroke last month at the Portland home of her nephew, James DePreist, music director of the Oregon Symphony.

Isaac Stern said The Lady From Philadelphia should be "celebrated - not commemorated. " And celebrated Marian Anderson was, in song and glorious singing, last night at Carnegie Hall. Her own voice poured forth in the spiritual "Deep River," a 1928 recording that opened the eloquent program celebrating the 100th anniversary of the late contralto's birth. The velvety sonorities rolled as the young Anderson's profile was projected within the gilt moldings of the Carnegie's stage wall.

A new sickle-cell anemia treatment-and-research center, named for South Philadelphia operatic great Marian Anderson, will be dedicated on Jan. 20 at St. Christopher's Hospital for Children. The singer's nephew, James De Preist, in town to conduct the Philadelphia Orchestra, said his aunt had lent her name to the unit because of "the humanitarian status of the project, because she feels the center will be helpful to a lot of people, and because she hopes that her name may be catalytic in gaining support for it. " De Preist, a Central High grad, is spending Thanksgiving with Anderson at her Danbury, Conn.

When I was a boy growing up in South Philadelphia my heroes, for the most part, were athletes like Joe Louis and Jackie Robinson. But high on my list was a woman who grew up in South Philadelphia in a rowhouse on a street a short walk from where I grew up. She was not an athlete but a superb musician, a diva whose singing career was nurtured in a black Baptist church choir. Her contralto voice was so pure and rich that it inspired great prose and acclaim from world renowned critics and classical music lovers.

ON EASTER SUNDAY, April 9, 1939, Marian Anderson stepped up to a battery of microphones in front of Washington, D.C.'s, Lincoln Memorial, sang "America," and altered American history. Wearing a mink coat and an orange-and-yellow scarf on that chilly afternoon, she changed the final phrase from "Of thee I sing" to "TO thee WE sing. " This modest African-American contralto had taken the train from her South Philadelphia rowhouse that day with her mother and sisters. Forbidden to stay at any Washington hotel due to segregation, they'd been promised lodging with former Pennsylvania Gov. Gifford Pinchot.

In the end, it was the voice of Marian Anderson that moved the crowd most profoundly yesterday at a memorial service for the world-famous singer at Union Baptist Church in South Philadelphia. More than 200 people went to the religious service remembering Anderson, who was born and raised here and died April 8 at the age of 96. Many spoke passionately - including her nephew, conductor James Anderson DePreist - but none carried the power of 10 recorded hymns in Anderson's own voice.

THE MOST RECENT recipients of the Marian Anderson Award are actress Mia Farrow in 2011, actor and comedian Bill Cosby in 2010, author Maya Angelou and screenwriter Norman Lear in 2008, actor Richard Gere in 2007 and actor Sidney Poitier in 2006. No award was given in 2009. n

James Earl Jones, thunder-voiced actor of stage and screen, is the recipient of the 2012 Marian Anderson Award, Mayor Nutter announced Monday, citing Jones' "culture-changing" theater roles and his "iconic" work as the voice of Darth Vader in Star Wars. The honor named for Anderson, the Philadelphia-born contralto who lifted her voice in the fight for social justice, will be presented to Jones at a Kimmel Center gala, Nutter said. Previous winners include actors Sidney Poitier, Gregory Peck, Harry Belafonte, and Mia Farrow, and poet Maya Angelou.

MIGUEL Pato Pulido III didn't talk much about his life - even the dramatic parts. Like jumping out of airplanes as an Army paratrooper. He never told his wife about that. Like the time he was thrown off a bus in Jim Crow Kentucky for refusing to sit in the back, even though he was in uniform and heading to his base. Or when he used to go to Philadelphia International Airport as a kid to help clean private planes, in exchange for rides. Or running errands for his South Philadelphia neighbor, Marian Anderson.

A TINY SOUTH Philadelphia rowhouse on the 1800 block of Webster Street, where the legendary singer Marian Anderson was born, is up for sale. For only $349,900 you can own a piece of American history, maybe even turn it into a small museum and earn a little pocket change in exchange for showing out-of-towners around. I'm guessing there won't be any takers, despite the fact that Marian Anderson is one of the most acclaimed singers of the 20th century. She's also a civil-rights icon, most celebrated for the concert she gave on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in 1939 after the Daughters of the American Revolution barred her from performing at Constitution Hall because she was black.

THE MARIAN Anderson Residence and Museum is open by appointment. The 19th century, two-story brick rowhouse attracts fewer than 500 visitors a year, most from out of town. The downstairs rooms are filled with photos, printed material, statues and memorabilia, while stage jewelry and clothes worn by Anderson can be seen upstairs. A $10 donation is requested for the guided tour. The residence and museum are located at 762 S. Marian Anderson Way (a/k/a Martin Street), between 19th and 20th, Fitzwater and Catharine streets.

SURPRISE NO. 1: There's no connection between the Marian Anderson Award - which attracts headlines in Center City - and the Marian Anderson birthplace, residence and museum - withering on the vine in nearby South Philly. The birthplace, museum and residence are owned by the Marian Anderson Historical Society. The award is an invention of the city. When Mia Farrow was here in April to collect the high-profile $50,000 Marian Anderson Award, it beamed no sunshine on the historical society.

AS A FUNERAL procession entered the massive front gates of Eden Cemetery one Saturday last month, volunteers planted fuchsia and white flowers at the entrance. The volunteers were among 75 people who came to the cemetery to remove debris, clean headstones and restore the historic Delaware County cemetery, and cemetery officials are hoping to get more help tomorrow and next Saturday. Vandalism has been a problem at Eden Cemetery for years. "Eden is caught in the middle of a playground and a residential area," said general manager Mina Cockroft.

Mia Farrow, the actress and humanitarian whose persistent advocacy of human rights in sub-Saharan Africa has earned her international recognition, will receive the Marian Anderson Award in May, Mayor Nutter announced Friday. The prize is named for the Philadelphia-born contralto who used her celebrity to effect social change. Since 1998, it has been given to entertainer/activists such as Bill Cosby, Sidney Poitier, and Gregory Peck. When Anderson (1897-1993), the celebrated African American singer, met with racial intolerance, she gracefully fought for social justice.

Gwyndolyn Wright, a retired librarian for the Philadelphia School District and a woman who earned the nickname "Godmother" for her concern for others, died Oct. 16. She was 75 and lived in Lansdowne. She was born in Philadelphia to Emanuel C. and Dorothy D. Wright. She graduated from West Philadelphia High School in 1953 and went on to Penn State. After a stint as a lifeguard at the Marian Anderson pool, she became a member of the Free Library staff and served at various branches from 1960 to 1966.