BUILDING BLOCKS BY THOM NICKELS

The understated exterior of the 19 th century, 2-story Marian Anderson House at 762 South Marian Anderson Way (or South Martin Street ) bears a plaque from the Philadelphia Historical Commission. The house was declared an historic property in 2004, roughly forty-one years after the death of the owner of the house who also happened to be America 's greatest contralto singer of the 20 th century.

A canvass awning bearing the initials MA covers the front door area—the only awning on this staid street that experienced a major real estate boom shortly after the house became the Marian Anderson Historical Society, Inc.

Philadelphia 's own Marian Anderson was, according to Arturo Toscanini, “a voice such as one hears only once in a 100 years.” Her famous contralto voice was known in concert halls throughout the world, but perhaps Anderson's most famous legacy was her performance in front of 75,000 people at the Lincoln Memorial after the Daughters of the American Revolution refused to let her sing at Washington D.C.'s Constitution Hall. That refusal caused Eleanor Roosevelt to resign her DAR membership, although Anderson sang for the DAR three years later.

Those who knew Anderson say she was an ardently spiritual woman who was not inclined “to tangle on a low level with anybody.”

House curator Phyllis Sims has been showing visitors Anderson's house for almost 10 years. Sims knows every nook and cranny of the place. Ironically, Sims says she gets more inquires and visitors from Europe and other cities than she does from Philadelphians.

Anderson, who bought the house in 1924, transformed the small basement into an entertainment center. The area included a portable bar stocked with champagne and water ( Anderson 's favorite drinks), a few pieces of furniture and a piano. Here she would entertain friends and fellow musicians while resting up from world tours. “Blacks in those days couldn't go out anywhere, so everybody, especially in South Philadelphia , had their basements fixed up,” said Sims, a South Philadelphian by birth.

Near the basement staircase you can still see the area where Anderson kept her records; next to that is the simple laundry room.

The kitchen is original minus a new stove and refrigerator. The cabinets have small Art Deco handles and probably still bear Anderson 's fingerprints. The dining room panels were designed by Anderson 's architect husband, Orpheus King Fisher, a man of mixed race who courted Anderson for 20 years before she allowed him to marry her. Fisher was friends with the architect who designed New York 's Empire State Building and Rockefeller Center (Shreve, Lamb & Harmon). Sims says that Fisher played a part in the design of those projects as well.

The home's hardwood floors are original but the handsome wrought iron railing bracing the stairs was installed for Anderson 's infirm mother. Sims told me that there used to be a door in the dining room that led to the adjoining house where Anderson 's sister lived. Anderson owned several other houses on the block.

Originally a two bedroom home, another room was added at the top of the staircase. Today this room is known as the Marian Anderson Boutique Room but it used to be a rehearsal space for the singer.

After her marriage to Fisher and her move to Connecticut , Anderson put the property in the hands of a broker. At her death in 1963 her Philadelphia protégé, Blanche Lyons, the first African American woman to perform a piano recital with the New York Philharmonic in Cargenie Hall, bought the house and began the long process of preserving its legacy.