Playing On All the Keys: The Life of Walter F. Anderson

Walter F. Anderson was one of nine children, born in Zanesville, Ohio, the grandson of former slaves, and a child prodigy in music. When he was hired by Antioch College in 1946, he set a precedent, being the first African American chair of a department in any predominantly white institution of higher learning in the United States. He was Coretta Scott King's professor, and helped Leontyne Price get her start on the concert stage. His career was capped as Chair of the Music Committee at the National Endowment for the Arts. Throughout, he managed to stretch his days to outrun everyone else, and several prestigious posthumous awards attest to his triumphant accomplishments.