On Saturday April 30, Festival audiences had the pleasure of listening to the work that poet Kate Rushin created to celebrate Freedom’s Journey at the Marian Anderson Studio. Marian Anderson, who lived in Danbury, CT for more than 50 years, was a world-renowned opera singer and the first African American artist to perform at the Metropolitan Opera in New York City. Her most famous concert took place on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in 1939. Inspired by the singer’s life, Rushin composed two original pieces of poetry entitled, “My Lord, What a Day” and “Praisesong for the Singer.” After the reading, the audience was treated to a docent-led tour by the Danbury Museum and Historical Society of the Marian Anderson Studio, the Little Red School House, and the Ryder House.
The next Freedom’s Journey poetry event takes place at the Prudence Crandall Museum, located at 1 south Canterbury Road, Canterbury, on May 14th at 1:00 p.m. Connecticut native Gabrielle Calvocoressi will read her original poetry inspired by the story of Prudence Crandall.