Backstage at the Lincoln Memorial, Eleanor ignores Earl’s warnings to stay farther back and insists on attending Marian Anderson’s concert in secret. She keeps her presence hidden from the public and even from Mary to avoid controversy and because of death threats. After Harold Ickes’s introduction, she listens as Marian opens with “My Country ’Tis of Thee,” followed by an Italian aria and “Ave Maria,” and feels the crowd’s reverent response.

During intermission, Eleanor reflects on the turmoil that led here. After the DAR barred Anderson, she drafted her resignation letter and a My Day column questioning whether to fight within or resign from an organization acting against one’s beliefs. She carried both to the Oval Office, where Franklin Roosevelt and Harold Ickes anticipated the discussion. Acknowledging political risks, Eleanor proposed a bold alternative: a public Easter Sunday concert at the Lincoln Memorial with national radio. With Ickes’s control of federal land and Franklin’s support, the plan moved forward.

As the second half begins, Marian sings spirituals, including “Get on board, little children,” a plaintive hymn, and “Nobody Knows the Trouble I’ve Seen.” Eleanor spots Mary Bethune dabbing her eyes, resists the urge to comfort her, and wonders whether Franklin is listening from afar, balancing political advantage with the concert’s moral weight. Earl, too, is visibly moved.

Eleanor concludes that the performance links patriotic belonging and Black suffering, connecting “two Americas.” Remaining out of sight preserves the event’s focus on Marian Anderson, while the concert itself vindicates Eleanor’s choices to resign from the DAR, speak publicly, and engineer the memorial venue despite threats.