The South Broad Street facade of Verizon Hall will soon have signage declaring its new name: the Marian Anderson Hall. The naming reflects the impact of the pioneering contralto opera singer, Philadelphia native, and Civil Rights leader.
While the official re-dedication won’t happen until June 8, on Wednesday the Kimmel Center announced the name change after former orchestra board chair Richard Worley and former board member and interim president Leslie Anne Miller bought the naming rights with a $25 million donation. Worley and Miller selected the famed contralto as the namesake for the performance center, which houses the Philadelphia Orchestra.
“I’m so glad this is happening. It will change the world because now people can see this physical place and understand why it’s important,” said Jonnet Solomon, executive director of the National Opera House.
Worley and Miller chose not to name the space after themselves, as major donors and corporations typically do when buying naming rights. Instead, they opted to amplify a Philly icon and nationwide figure who is not only known for her performance, but also her fight for human and civil rights.
Here’s five facts to know about the hall’s new namesake and why Anderson is so important:
Early acclaim
Anderson was just 16 years old when the Philadelphia opera world recognized her potential. As a result, the Philadelphia Choral Society raised $500 for her in 1913 to study with contralto Agnes Reifsnyder, according to Western Connecticut State University. Think of it this way: adjusted for inflation, that amount would equal $15,576.62 in 2024.
Racist opposition
Despite her talent, Anderson was rejected from the all-white music school formerly called the Philadelphia Music Academy — now known as University of the Arts — because she was Black.
Led by example
Anderson was a mentor to many other Black performers during her time.
“There’s so many people that in their interviews credit Marian Anderson for who they are today,” said the National Opera House’s Jonnet Solomon. “She really took [the] time to help others at the National Negro Opera Company.”
In 2000, Solomon led the way to rehabilitate a deteriorating historic site, the National Negro Opera Company, where famous singers like Anderson once frequented. She said it is important to keep their history alive.
An oasis for artists of color
In 1924, Anderson’s success afforded her, quite literally, the ability to purchase a home on 762 South Martin St. in South Philadelphia — across the street from the church where she once sang. She paid $4,000 in cash. Anderson owned the home for 75 years, in the community in which she was raised. She used it “as a second hub and oasis for those people of color that were artists coming into our city…to be able to have a place to dine,” museum director Jillian Patricia Pirtle told Billy Penn in 2019.
Today, it houses the National Marian Anderson Museum where visitors can see rare items such as her birth certificate, her precious Steinway piano, performance gowns, photos of the singer’s life, personal memorabilia, books and films. The Marian Anderson Historic Society also hosts a musical scholars program in her honor.
Anderson’s name also graces a recreation center which features a gymnasium, a boxing gym, computer room and other facilities. It’s one of the centers scheduled for improvements as part of the city’s Rebuild program.
Vocal advocate for civil rights
The acclaimed opera star who made a splash in Europe during the 1930s, also made an imprint beyond her own genre and industry. When she was barred from performing in U.S. venues because of her race, she fought back — leading to perhaps her most famous performance on Easter Sunday in 1939 at the Lincoln Memorial, which drew a crowd of over 75,000 people and was a catalyst for her civil rights advocacy. In 1950, she insisted on equal access to performance venues and refused segregated seating at her concerts.
