The best Black composers you should know about<\/a><\/strong><\/li><\/ul>Eleanor Roosevelt stages a protest<\/h2>
So when Constitution Hall in Washington, DC refused to host a concert by Anderson scheduled for 9 April that year \u2013 the venue had a whites-only policy for artists \u2013 the singer would not have found it in the least surprising. A growing number of Americans, however, viewed such exclusions as repulsive. Among them was Eleanor Roosevelt, wife of president Franklin D, and her indignation at Anderson\u2019s debarment prompted immediate action.<\/p>
\u2018I am in complete disagreement with the attitude taken in refusing Constitution Hall to a great artist,\u2019 the First Lady wrote to the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR), a patriotic group which owned the hall. \u2018You had an opportunity to lead in an enlightened way and it seems to me that your organisation has failed.\u2019 Roosevelt resigned her membership of DAR on 26 February, and set about mobilising support for Anderson\u2019s concert to be mounted in another location.<\/p>