On this day, April 9, 1939, Marian Anderson performed at the Lincoln Memorial.

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1. DC's Old Jim Crow Rocked by 1939 Marian Anderson Concert

DC’s Old Jim Crow Rocked by 1939 Marian Anderson Concert

14 MAR



Marian Anderson arrives in Washington, D.C. for her 1939 concert. Photo: Scurlock Studio.

By Craig Simpson
3rd in a series

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About that Scurlock Studio:

The Scurlock Studio: Picture of Prosperity

For more than half a century the Scurlock Studio chronicled the rise of Washington’s black middle class

David Zax
February 2010



Robert Scurlock covered Marian Anderson's performance at the Lincoln Memorial after she was denied the stage at Washington's Constitution Hall. Scurlock Studio / Archives Center / NMAH, SI

Long before a black family moved into the president’s quarters at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, Washington, D.C. was an African-American capital: as far back as Reconstruction, black families made their way to the city on their migration north. By the turn of the 20th century, the District of Columbia had a strong and aspiring black middle class, whose members plied almost every trade in town. Yet in 1894, a black business leader named Andrew F. Hilyer noted an absence: “There is a splendid opening for a first class Afro-American photographer as we all like to have our pictures taken.”

Addison Scurlock filled the bill. He had come to Washington in 1900 from Fayetteville, North Carolina, with his parents and two siblings. Although he was only 17, he listed “photographer” as his profession in that year’s census. After apprenticing with a white photographer named Moses Rice from 1901 to 1904, Scurlock started a small studio in his parents’ house. By 1911, he had opened a storefront studio on U Street, the main street of Washington’s African-American community. He put his best portraits in the front window.

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Sun Apr 9, 2023: DC's Old Jim Crow Rocked by 1939 Marian Anderson Concert