Try free for 30 days

  • The Voice That Challenged a Nation

  • Marian Anderson and the Struggle for Equal Rights
  • By: Russell Freedman
  • Narrated by: Je Nie Fleming
  • Length: 2 hrs and 4 mins

1 credit a month to use on any title, yours to keep (you’ll use your first credit on this title).
Stream or download thousands of included titles.
Access to exclusive deals and discounts.
$16.45 a month after 30 day trial. Cancel anytime.
The Voice That Challenged a Nation cover art

The Voice That Challenged a Nation

By: Russell Freedman
Narrated by: Je Nie Fleming
Try for $0.00

$16.45 per month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy Now for $12.99

Buy Now for $12.99

Pay using voucher balance (if applicable) then card ending in
By confirming your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions Of Use and Privacy Notice and authorise Audible to charge your designated credit card or another available credit card on file.

Publisher's Summary

Newbery Honor Book * Sibert Medal Winner

Carefully researched and expertly told, this Newbery Honor and Sibert Medal-winning book is a moving account of the life of a talented and determined artist who left her mark on musical and social history. Through her story, Newbery Medal-winning author Russell Freedman illuminates the social and political climate of the day and an important chapter in American history. Notes, bibliography, discography, index.

"A voice like yours," celebrated conductor Arturo Toscanini told contralto Marian Anderson, "is heard once in a hundred years."

This insightful account of the great African American vocalist considers her life and musical career in the context of the history of civil rights in this country. Drawing on Anderson's own writings and other contemporary accounts, Russell Freedman shows readers a singer pursuing her art despite the social constraints that limited the careers of black performers in the 1920s and 1930s.

Though not a crusader or a spokesperson by nature, Marian Anderson came to stand for all black artists—and for all Americans of color—when, with the help of such prominent figures as Eleanor Roosevelt, she gave her landmark 1939 performance on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, which signaled the end of segregation in the arts.

©2011 Russell Freedman (P)2022 HarperCollins Publishers LLC

What listeners say about The Voice That Challenged a Nation

Average Customer Ratings

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

In the spirit of reconciliation, Audible acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of country throughout Australia and their connections to land, sea and community. We pay our respect to their elders past and present and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples today.