Anderson was born on Feb. 27, 1897, in Philadelphia, Pa., where she sang in church choirs and studied voice under Giuseppe Boghetti. In 1925, after winning a competition against 300 other singers, she appeared with the New York Philharmonic. Subsequent engagements at home were few, so in 1930 she went to Europe to study and perform. From 1933 to 1935 she gave a series of acclaimed concerts abroad. Her reputation firmly established, she returned to the United States, where she gave a New York recital in December 1935, followed by a national tour.
In 1939 Anderson became the subject of a nationwide controversy. Because of her race the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) refused her the use of its Constitution Hall for a concert in Washington, D.C. Eleanor Roosevelt resigned from the DAR and helped sponsor a concert for Anderson at the Lincoln Memorial, where she sang for 75,000 (millions more listened over the radio).
In 1955 Anderson made her debut with the Metropolitan Opera as Ulrica in Verdi's Un Ballo in maschera. She resumed her concert career in 1957, singing around the world, and gave her last recital in 1965 at Carnegie Hall. She was an alternate U.S. delegate to the 13th General Assembly of the United Nations and was much honored with degrees and awards, including the Presidential Medal of Freedom (1963) and the National Medal of Art (1986). Her autobiography, My Lord, What a Morning, was published in 1956. She died in Portland, Oreg., on April 8, 1993.
