The photograph shows a woman wearing a broad-brimmed hat at a lectern with multiple microphones; the image caption identifies her as Marian Anderson. In the background, a densely packed crowd is visible, illustrating the scale of the gathering at the Lincoln Memorial. Marian Anderson performed as an artist at the rally of the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom on August 28, 1963. Her appearance held particular symbolic significance: in 1939, the Daughters of the American Revolution had denied her permission to perform at Constitution Hall, whereupon she sang before the Lincoln Memorial for 75,000 people. Her return performance at the same location in 1963 thus directly referenced the history of racial segregation and the long struggle of the civil rights movement.