Anderson's reticent personality and less aggressive stand on racial discrimination than her contemporaries' (Paul Robeson, Hazel Scott, and others) have cost her the notoriety she should have earned by her talent alone. Keiler, a music professor, captures the musical legacy of this gifted contralto and details the social and public life of a very restrained and dignified woman. Anderson's talent was recognized and nurtured from a very early age, supported by sacrifices of her family and black churches as she grew and matured. She was the first African American to perform at the White House. But the decision by the Daughters of the American Revolution to bar her from Constitution Hall thrust Anderson to the center of the struggle against discrimination in the 1930s. Although she suffered discrimination in lodging and concert appearances in the U.S. and experienced greater acceptance in Europe, Anderson came under criticism for her reluctance to speak out against racism. Throughout her life, as a concert singer and later as a UN ambassador, Anderson remained a dignified though enigmatic figure. (Reviewed February 1, 2000)

A comprehensive biography of the great coloratura whose role as a symbol of early civil rights efforts almost overshadowed her triumphs as a singer. Author Keiler (Music/Brandeis Univ.) has interviewed nearly 100 people and culled published and unpublished accounts to track Anderson's life from her childhood in Philadelphia to her death at 96. Her talent recognized and supported early on by her family and community ("Come and hear the baby contralto, ten years old," boasted one flier), Anderson nevertheless struggled to finish high school and find voice teachers. Tours of southern colleges helped her build confidence, but she was also frustrated by Jim Crow laws. Forays into Europe eventually led to huge success; the New York Times critic proclaimed Anderson "one of the great singers of our time." With Sol Hurok as her manager, she toured the world for the next quarter of a century, sometimes giving as many as 80 concerts a year. But it was her rejection by the Daughters of the American Revolution, who refused to let her sing in their Washington, D.C., concert hall, that made her an icon. An estimated 75,000 people came to hear her at the substitute concert held in front of the Lincoln Memorial. Keiler lays out carefully the black activist strategy that led to that triumph, and never forgets as he recounts Anderson's continuing successes both in music and politics'she was a US delegate to the UN—and her humiliations and rebuffs because she was a dark-skinned black woman. Though he gives few details about the development of the remarkable voice that Toscanini described as heard "once in a hundred years," Anderson aficionados, will cheer his list of her repertory, discography, and survey of "live material" (unissued tapes and recordings). A commendable, carefully researched womb to tomb story of a great lady, especially praiseworthy in capturing the difficulties facing an extraordinarily talented black artist in a recalcitrant white world. (8 pages b&w photos, not seen)