Talk:DAR Constitution Hall

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The controversy regarding Marian Anderson has been presented in the article as "oft-mistold". This seems to imply that the lack of racial motivation is well-established historical fact. However, the truth is far from being as clear cut as the article makes it out to be. The Constitutional Hall was originally open to everyone, and did indeed performances by coloured artists. The facts in the article are therefore correct, but misleading, since the performance by Roland Hayes happened before the "whites only" policy was instituted. The clause was inserted as a result of an executive committee decision on March 23, 1932, after the performance by Roland Hayes was associated with some unpleasantness.

The official line of the DAR is indeed that the performance was refused because of a prior booking. However, apparently that date was not the only time that Marian Anderson was refused. In any case, it is very difficult nearly 70 years later what the relevance of the different statements made by different people were. The New York Times published an excellent article[1] in 1993 discussing the controversy and, while not conclusive, it seems on the balance that the refusal was likely to have been racially motivated. --Shanky (talk) 13:18, 22 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Has the D.A.R. Public Relations Department told the truth here, or have they lied to protect their image? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 64.92.6.186 (talk) 02:50, 20 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]

The refusal was DEFINITELY racially motivated. The manager of Constitution Hall in the 1930's actually put up a sign that no "colored" artists were to perform at the Hall any more. The DAR executive could have stepped in to overrule him, but they did not. This was at least partly because the president of the society in 1939 was on an extended trip to Colorado. Obviously, the DAR did not think it would result in much controversy to deny the Hall to a world-famous singer. They were wrong. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 207.12.183.189 (talk) 22:37, 16 January 2009 (UTC)[reply]

I am racially mixed and am old enough to know people one of whom was adult and whose mother was on DAR committees at the time. What I was told by this individual who had published articles in history journals is that neither event was confirmed. The producer for Marian Anderson announced the event to the public before getting the dispensation which the committee felt should be required after the Hayes unpleasantness. The result was the DAR activist felt that their perogative had been usurped. The refusal was directed at the presumptuousness of Hurok more than Anderson.RichardBond (talk) 06:28, 17 January 2012 (UTC)[reply]

This article was automatically assessed because at least one WikiProject had rated the article as stub, and the rating on other projects was brought up to Stub class. BetacommandBot 15:19, 9 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

On January 30, 2008, the DAR Public Relations department expanded this stub entry with facts about DAR and past events, and corrected factual errors regarding seating capacity. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 216.36.105.130 (talk) 19:34, 30 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]

I would not rely on a 1993 New York Times article to resolve the controversy. Are there any contemporary news accounts that describe the matter? What do they say? The fact that Eleanor Roosevelt resigned her membership is highly persuasive and suggests that Ms. Anderson was refused on account of her race. If it was simply a scheduling matter, couldn't someone have explained that to Mrs. Roosevelt, and either prevented her resignation, or secured its withdrawal? John Paul Parks (talk) 22:35, 5 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

I believe the best way to resolve this is to remove the contentious aspects of the section altogether. It is heavily covered in other articles on WP (I can't remember if the controversy has it's own article or not, I'll make sure the appropriate links are in this article), this one should just be a summary of the others. -Verdatum (talk) 17:27, 3 November 2008 (UTC)[reply]

History has been distorted to make the DAR appear to be a racist organization. The true reason that Marian Anderson was not allowed to perform has more to do with the fact that Washington, D.C. is located between two states with southern regulations. At the time, the late 1930s, Blacks were not welcome, even as performers, in D.C; it was not just a social custom, either--it was the local law. In addition, if one reads the Wikimedia article closely, it was a male manager, not any DAR members, that insisted on refusing her. DAR later welcomed Marian Anderson to Constitution Hall on a number of occasions soon after 1939, including a benefit concert for war relief in 1943. If the location presented any bad feelings for Ms. Anderson, then it is doubtful that she would choose Constitution Hall as the place where she would launch her farewell American tour in 1964. Original poster: Khmccorkle

DragonflyDC (talk) 21:03, 16 September 2010 (UTC)[reply]

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