On Jan. 20, 1953, Dwight D. Eisenhower was sworn in as the 34th president of the United States. That afternoon, Dorothy Maynor broke color lines in the nation’s capital becoming the first African-American to sing at a Presidential Inauguration. She performed the national anthem with the U.S. Marine Band.

Maynor was a well-accomplished soprano soloist who received rave reviews for her concerts at Carnegie Hall and with the National Symphony Orchestra at Constitution Hall. She also toured Latin America and Europe in the 1940s. Her legacy lives on through the Harlem School of Arts she founded in 1963.

 

 

 

Listen to Dorothy Maynor's 'Depuis Le Jour' Louise' Song

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