Much of the news about President Donald Trump's inaugural festivities has focused on the musicians who were invited to perform, and for various reasons -- mostly political -- declined the offer. But it's not unheard of for an artist of one political stripe to perform at the inauguration of a president from the opposing party.
It happened in 1957, when President Eisenhower invited the late Marian Anderson, a Danbury resident, to sing the National Anthem at his second inauguration.
Back in 1957, Marian Anderson was not only one of the best-known opera singers in the world, but also she was the most famous black woman in America.
Historian Ray Arsenault is the author of the book The Sound of Freedom: Marian Anderson, the Lincoln Memorial, and the Concert That Awakened America. He said Anderson was the perfect choice to sing at Eisenhower's inauguration.
"She was an obvious choice if you wanted someone from the black community," Arsenault said. "She was probably the most popular black singer, for sure, and personality in the country, and perhaps the world."
Eighteen years earlier, Anderson was reluctantly thrust into the political spotlight.
She famously sang for 75,000 people on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial after the Daughters of the American Revolution barred her from performing at Washington, D.C.'s Constitution Hall because of her race.
First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt resigned from the DAR in protest, and helped organize the concert on the mall.
Anderson and Roosevelt would remain lifelong friends.
Arsenault believes Roosevelt may be the reason Anderson became a Democrat, and could have influenced her choice for president in 1956.
"I suspect she voted for [Adlai] Stevenson only because he was so close to Eleanor Roosevelt, and she loved Roosevelt more than just about anyone," said Arsenault.
When Eisenhower's inaugural committee asked Anderson if she would sing the National Anthem, she agreed without hesitation, despite being a Democrat with close ties to the NAACP who voted for Eisenhower's opponent.
Arsenault said Anderson's decision to sing may be hard to understand, given the bitter political divisiveness that exists in our country today.
"In 1956, there wasn't that much of a difference between Republicans and Democrats, even when it came to race," said Arsenualt. "That distance is going to widen during the Kennedy years of course, when the Democratic party would become the party of civil rights, and the Republicans lag far behind. But in 1956, that was not the case. So there was no perceived shame in Anderson participating in Eisenhower's second inauguration."
Arsenault said there was no criticism or backlash for Anderson's role in the inauguration.
Anderson would go on to sing at the inauguration of President John F. Kennedy four years later, and at the 1963 March on Washington, D.C., where The Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. gave his historic "I Have a Dream" speech.
