[Portrait of Marian Anderson] - Public domain portrait print

A random collection of portraits of people famous between 1926-1963

Carl Van Vechten was born in Cedar Rapids, Iowa in 1880 and grew up in the Midwest. He studied at the University of Chicago and later moved to New York City, where he became a fixture in the city's cultural scene. Van Vechten was a prolific writer, and he published numerous novels, plays, and essays over the course of his career. He was also an influential critic, and he wrote extensively about music, literature, and the arts. In addition to his work as a writer and critic, Van Vechten was also a talented photographer, and he took thousands of portraits of famous and influential figures in the arts, literature, and society. Van Vechten was known for his wit and his eclectic interests. He was a friend and associate of many of the leading figures of the time, including F. Scott Fitzgerald, Gertrude Stein, and Langston Hughes. He died in New York City in 1964, leaving behind a rich legacy as an author, critic, and photographer. The Van Vechten Collection is held by the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library at Yale University, and it includes a wide range of materials, including photographs, correspondence, manuscripts, and other documents. The collection is an important resource for researchers studying the history of the arts and literature in the 20th century.

Anderson was an important figure in the struggle for African American artists to overcome racial prejudice in the United States during the mid-twentieth century. In 1939, during the period of racial segregation, the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) refused to allow Anderson to sing to an integrated audience in Constitution Hall in Washington, D.C. The incident placed Anderson in the spotlight of the international community on a level unusual for a classical musician. With the aid of First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt and her husband, President Franklin D. Roosevelt, Anderson performed a critically acclaimed open-air concert on Easter Sunday, April 9, 1939, on the Lincoln Memorial steps in the capital. The event was featured in a documentary film, Marian Anderson: The Lincoln Memorial Concert. She sang before an integrated crowd of more than 75,000 people and a radio audience in the millions.