Marian Anderson was born in Philadelphia in 1897 and began singing in school and church. She received classical training after high school, and by the age of 21 she was giving concerts. She studied and performed in Europe from 1929-35, and went to the Soviet Union in 1936. In 1943 Anderson married Orpheus H. Fisher. In the 1950s she traveled and performed in the East Asia and South America. She made her debut at the Metropolitan Opera in 1955 and was the first African American singer to perform there. In 1957 she traveled throughout Asia as a U.S. Goodwill Ambassador and in 1958 she was appointed to the American delegation to the United Nations. She retired in 1965. Anderson received and honorary degree from Smith College in 1944. Her autobiography, My Lord What a Morning was published in 1956.