At the same time she began studying under her singing teacher Mary S. She attended William Penn High School and then South Philadelphia High School and graduated in 1921. Members of the church joined together to raise money to pay for singing lessons for her and for her to attend high school. She was a member of Baptists’ Young People’s Union, the Camp Fire Girls, and the People’s Chorus.
She remained active in the church and continued performing and learning from anyone who would teach her to sing. Marian attended Stanton Grammar School but upon graduation, the family was unable to pay for her to attend high school.
Benjamin, a former slave, died a year later. The family moved in with John’s parents, Benjamin and Isabella Anderson. Her died of heart failure in January 1910. In 1909, John Anderson was struck on the head accidentally while at work. As she grew older, she became more serious about her singing and earned more and more money for her efforts. Her nickname among her fans was “The Baby Contralto.” Mary took Marian to concerts around the city and often found opportunities for Marian to sing at events, earning up to 50 cents. Marian was allowed to sing solos in the choir and often sang sets with her aunt. The family was quite active in the Union Baptist Church in Philadelphia and Marian’s Aunt Mary coaxed her to join the junior church choir when she was six years old. Marian was the eldest of the children, all daughters and all of whom would become singers. She was unable to teach in Philadelphia due to a law that applied only to Blacks, requiring them to have a degree in order to teach. Before they were married, Annie attended the Virginia Seminary and College in Lynchburg, Virginia and later worked as a school teacher. John was a loader at the Reading Terminal Market and sold ice and coal in Philadelphia. Marian Anderson was born on February 27, 1897, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the daughter of John Berkley Anderson and Annie Delilah Anderson. Marian Anderson was one of the greatest singers of the 20th Century, but it was her dignity in the face of racial prejudice which confirmed her legacy in the United States.
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