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Title
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Letter, Charlie Hall Jr. to Miss Anderson, May 5, 1939
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Description
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A letter from Charlie Hall Jr., a 16-year-old African American farmer and 10th-grade student from Lawndale, North Carolina, to singer Marian Anderson, dated May 5, 1939. Written shortly after Anderson’s historic Easter concert at the Lincoln Memorial, the letter conveys Hall’s admiration for her artistry and resilience, as well as parallels to his own life. Weeks earlier, Charlie had heard Anderson’s voice—maybe through the radio, maybe from news of her historic performance at the Lincoln Memorial and called it “beautiful”.
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Hall describes the limited opportunities for African Americans in the South, his aspiration to become a poet and songwriter, and his inability to afford the $35 needed to have his compositions set to music. He requests a $20 loan, promises repayment by September 1939, and asks for her photograph, enclosing a return envelope. The transcribed letter is unpolished in spelling and grammar but offers valuable insight into the cultural reach of Anderson’s achievements and the lived aspirations of Black youth in the segregated South.
Letters like these reflect the breadth of Anderson’s influence on Americans across lines of geography, race, and circumstance in the mid-20th century. Born in Philadelphia, Miss Anderson's (1897 - 1993) life and legacy is well documented in books, online and in physical institutions. In 2024, a Philadelphia orchestra hall was recently rededicated to her contralto voice (Wikipedia contributors 2025). The Marian Anderson Historical Residence Museum in Philadelphia is an epicenter for the life and legacy of Marian Anderson (National Marian Anderson Museum, n.d.). Married July 17,1943, she and her husband Orpheus Fisher bought acres of property in Connecticut and called it Mariana Farm, a synthesis of her first name and that of her stepson's middle name. She lived there until 1992, a year before her death on April 8, 1993.
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Rights
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Copyright restrictions may exist. For most library holdings, the Trustees of the University of Pennsylvania do not hold copyright. It is the responsibility of the requester to seek permission from the holder of the copyright to reproduce material from the Kislak Center for Special Collections, Rare Books and Manuscripts.
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Date
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May 5, 1939
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Format
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Text
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Language
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eng
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Spatial Coverage
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New York
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Contributor
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University of Pennsylvania: Kislak Center for Special Collections, Rare Books and Manuscripts
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Extent
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4 pages
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Identifier
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Ms. Coll. 200 Box 124
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Subject
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Ambition
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Anderson, Marian, 1897-1993
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Contralto
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Personal correspondence
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Letter writing
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Fan mail
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Desire
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transcription
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[PAGE 1]
[ENVELOPE 1]
Mr. Charlie Hall Jr
Route 1
Douglas High School
Lawndale, N.C.
[ENVELOPE 2]
Charlie Hall Jr
Route 1
Lawndale, N.C.
Money
Miss Marian Anderson
C/o Hurok Carnegie Hall
30 Rockefeller Plaza
New York City
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[PAGE 2]
[Blank]
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[PAGE 3]
May 5 [1939]
Dear Miss Marian Anderson
I enjoyed your singing last Easter
Congratulation to you I like your xxxx
voice. I have heard your Biography
told by a minister who know you
Seem like you had a hard time to make
your mother proud of you. I want
to make my father proud of me my
mother is dead I don’t have a goot chance
here in the south where all the negroes
is handicapped because they cannot
finance the business. I want to
be a poet. Will you help me? I
have composed some very beautiful
songs But I am not able to have
them set to music it cost me $35.00
please loan me $20.00. I will pay
you by September 1939; please don’t
turn me down. this is Charlie
Hall Jr. age 16 farmer. Grade in school 10th
please send me one of your photo
you may used the enclose envelope
for reply. Sincerely. Charlie Hall j
Route 1 Lawndale N.C.
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[PAGE 4]
Be sure to send me one of your
photos.
