Office of the Secretary |
Contact: John
Wright
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For Immediate Release: Feb 23, 2004 |
202-208-6416
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MEDIA ADVISORY Secretary Norton
to Designate Historic Piano in |
WASHINGTON - As part of the department's observance of African American History Month, Secretary of the Interior Gale A. Norton will confer a special designation for a historic piano that was purchased on April 14, 1937, while Harold L. Ickes was secretary and Franklin D. Roosevelt served as president. The piano was used for the historic evening concert of Ms. Marian Anderson, a prominent African American opera singer. The concert was held in the Interior Department's auditorium [now the SidneyYates Auditorium]. History shows that the 7 p.m. performance was attended by President and Ms. Roosevelt; Secretary Ickes; Mordecai Johnson, president of Howard University; Walter Francis White, chairman of the NAACP; members of Congress and cabinet officials.
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