Tuesday 2 December 2014

BLACK SOCIAL HISTORY : AFRICAN AMERICAN " PAUL ROBESON " WAS A SINGER AND ACTOR WHO BECAME INVOLVED IN THE CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT : GOES INTO THE " HALL OF BLACK HEROES "

BLACK             SOCIAL           HISTORY                                                                                                                                                                                                         Paul Robeson
























































































































































































































































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Paul Robeson
Paul Robeson 1942 crop.jpg
Robeson in 1942
BornPaul Leroy Robeson
April 9, 1898
Princeton, New Jersey, U.S.
DiedJanuary 23, 1976 (aged 77)
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Alma materRutgers College (1919)
Columbia Law School (1922)
OccupationSinger (spirituals, international folk, musicals, classical), actor, social activist, lawyer, athlete
Spouse(s)Eslanda Robeson (1921–1965) (her death) 1 son
ChildrenPaul Robeson, Jr.
Paul Leroy Robeson (/ˈroʊbsən/ rohb-sən April 9, 1898 – January 23, 1976) was an American singer and actor who became involved with the Civil Rights Movement. At Rutgers College, he was an outstanding football player, then had an international career in singing, as well as acting in theater and movies. He became politically involved in response to the Spanish Civil War, fascism, and social injustices. His advocacy of anti-imperialism, affiliation with communism, and criticism of the United States government caused him to be blacklisted during the McCarthy era. Ill health forced him into retirement from his career. He remained until his death an advocate of the political stances he took.
Robeson won an academic scholarship to Rutgers College, where he became a football All-American and the class valedictorian. He received his LL.B. from Columbia Law School, while playing in the National Football League (NFL). At Columbia, he sang and acted in off-campus productions; and, after graduating, he became a participant in the Harlem Renaissance with performances in The Emperor Jones and All God's Chillun Got Wings. Robeson initiated his international artistic résumé with a theatrical role in Great Britain, settling in London for the next several years with his wife Essie.
Robeson next appeared as Othello at the Savoy Theatre before becoming an international cinematic star through roles in Show Boatand Sanders of the River. He became increasingly attuned towards the sufferings of other cultures and peoples. Acting against advice, which warned of his economic ruin if he became politically active, he set aside his theatrical career to advocate the cause of the Republican forces of the Spanish Civil War. He then became active in the Council on African Affairs (CAA).
During World War II, he supported America's war efforts and won accolades for his portrayal of Othello on Broadway. However, his history of supporting pro-Soviet policies brought scrutiny from the FBI. After the war ended, the CAA was placed on the Attorney General's List of Subversive Organizations and Robeson was investigated during the age of McCarthyism. Due to his decision not to recant his public advocacy of pro-Soviet policies, he was denied a passport by the U.S. State Department, and his income, consequently, plummeted. He moved to Harlem and published a periodical critical of United States policies. His right to travel was eventually restored by Kent v. Dulles, but his health broke down. He retired and he lived out the remaining years of his life privately inPhiladelphia.

Early life

Childhood (1898–1915)


Birthplace in Princeton
Paul Robeson was born in Princeton, New Jersey, in 1898, to Reverend William Drew Robeson and Maria Louisa Bustill.[1] His mother was from a prominent Quaker family of mixed ancestry: African, Anglo-American, and Lenape.[2] His father, William, whose family traced their ancestry to the Igbo people of present-day Nigeria,[1] escaped from a plantation in his teens[3] and eventually became the minister of Princeton's Witherspoon Street Presbyterian Church in 1881.[4] Robeson had three brothers: William Drew, Jr. (born 1881), Reeve (born c. 1887), and Ben (born c. 1893); and one sister, Marian (born c. 1895).[5]
In 1900, a disagreement between William and white financial supporters of Witherspoon arose with apparent racial undertones,[6] which were prevalent in Princeton.[7] William, who had the support of his entirely black congregation, resigned in 1901.[8] The loss of his position forced him to work menial jobs.[9] Three years later when Robeson was six, his mother, who was nearly blind, died in a house fire.[10]Eventually, William became financially incapable of providing a house for himself and his children still living at home, Ben and Paul, so they moved into the attic of a store in Westfield, New Jersey.[11]
William found a stable parsonage at the St. Thomas A. M. E. Zion in 1910,[12] where Robeson would fill in for his father during sermons when he was called away.[13] In 1912, Robeson attended Somerville High School, Somerville, New Jersey,[14] where he performed in Julius Caesar, Othello, sang in the chorus, and excelled in football, basketball,baseball and track.[15] His athletic dominance elicited racial taunts which he ignored.[16] Prior to his graduation, he won a statewide academic contest for a scholarship to Rutgers.[17] He took a summer job as a waiter in Narragansett Pier, Rhode Island, where he befriended Fritz Pollard, later to be the first African-American coach in the National Football League.[18]

Rutgers College (1915–1919)


Robeson (far left) was Rutgers Class of 1919 and one of four students selected into Cap and Skull
In late 1915, Robeson became the third African-American student ever enrolled at Rutgers, and the only one at the time.[19] He tried out for the Rutgers Scarlet Knights football team,[20] and his resolve to make the squad was tested as his teammates engaged in unwarranted and excessive play, arguably precipitated by racism during which his nose was broken and his shoulder dislocated.[21] The coach, Foster Sanford, decided he had overcome the provocation and announced that he had made the team.[22]
Robeson joined the debate team[23] and sang off-campus for spending money,[24] and on-campus with the Glee Club informally, as membership required attending all-white mixers.[25] He also joined the other collegiate athletic teams.[26] As a sophomore, amidst Rutgers' sesquicentennial celebration, he was benched when a Southern team refused to take the field, because the Scarlet Knights had fielded aNegro, Robeson.[27]
After a standout junior year of football,[28] he was recognized in The Crisis for his athletic, academic, and singing talents.[29] At what should have been a high point of his life,[30] his father fell grievously ill.[31] Robeson took the sole responsibility in caring for him, shuttling between Rutgers and Somerville.[32] His father, who was the "glory of his boyhood years"[33] soon died, and at Rutgers, Robeson expounded on the incongruity of African-Americans fighting to protect America in World War I and then, contemporaneously, being bereft of the same opportunities in the United States as whites.[34]
He finished university with four annual oratorical triumphs[35] and varsity letters in multiple sports.[36] His play at end[37] won him first-team All-American selection, in both his junior and senior years. Walter Camp considered him the greatest end ever.[38] Academically, he was accepted into Phi Beta Kappa[39] and Cap and Skull.[40] His classmates recognized him[41] by electing him class valedictorian.[42] The Daily Targum published a poem featuring his achievements.[43] In his valedictory speech, he exhorted his classmates to work for equality for all Americans.[44]

Columbia Law School and marriage (1919–1923)

Robeson's Football Career
End
Personal information
Height: 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)Weight: 219 lb (99 kg)
Career information
College: Rutgers
Debuted in 1921 for the Akron Pros
Last played in 1922 for the Milwaukee Badgers
Career history
Career highlights and awards
First team All-American (1917, 1918)
Career NFL statistics as of 1922
Games played15
Games started15
TD2[45]

Robeson entered New York University School of Law in the fall of 1919.[46] To support himself, he became an assistant football coach at Lincoln,[47] where he joined the Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity.[48] However, Robeson felt uncomfortable at NYU[49] and moved to Harlem and transferred to Columbia Law School in February 1920.[50] Already known in the black community for his singing,[51] he was selected to perform at the dedication of the Harlem YWCA.[52]
Robeson began dating Eslanda "Essie" Goode[53] and after her coaxing,[54] he gave his theatrical debut as Simon in Ridgely Torrence's Simon of Cyrene.[55] After a year of courtship, they were married in August 1921.[56]
He was recruited by Pollard to play for the NFL's Akron Pros while Robeson continued his law studies.[57] In the spring, Robeson postponed school[58] to portray Jim in Mary Hoyt Wiborg's Taboo.[59] He then sang in a chorus in an Off-Broadwayproduction of Shuffle Along[60] before he joined Taboo in Britain.[61] The play was adapted by Mrs. Patrick Campbell to highlight his singing.[62] After the play ended, he befriended Lawrence Brown,[63] a classically trained musician,[64] before returning to Columbia while playing for the NFL's Milwaukee Badgers.[65] He ended his football career after 1922,[66] and months later, he graduated from law school.[67]

Theatrical ascension and ideological transformation (1923–1939)

Harlem Renaissance (1923–1927)

Robeson worked briefly as a lawyer, but he renounced a career in law due to extant racism.[68] Essie financially supported them and they frequented the social functions at the future Schomburg Center.[69] In December, he landed the lead role of Jim in Eugene O'Neill's All God's Chillun Got Wings,[70] which culminated with Jim metaphorically consummating his marriage with his white wife by symbolically emasculating himself. Chillun's opening was postponed while a nationwide debate occurred over its plot.[71]
Chillun's delay led to a revival of The Emperor Jones with Robeson as Brutus, a role pioneered by Charles Sidney Gilpin.[72] The role terrified and galvanized Robeson, as it was practically a 90-minute soliloquy.[73] Reviews declared him an unequivocal success.[74] Though arguably clouded by its controversial subject, his Jim in Chillun was less well received.[75] He deflected criticism of its plot by writing that fate had drawn him to the "untrodden path" of drama and the true measure of a culture is in its artistic contributions, and the only true American culture was African-American.[76]
The success of his acting placed him in elite social circles[77] and his ascension to fame, which was forcefully aided by Essie,[78] had occurred at a startling pace.[79] Essie's ambition for Robeson was a startling dichotomy to his insouciance.[80] She quit her job, became his agent, and negotiated his first movie role in a silent race film directed by Oscar Micheaux, Body and Soul.[81] To support a charity for single mothers, he headlined a concert singing spirituals.[82] He performed his repertoire of spirituals on the radio.[83]
Lawrence Brown, who had become renowned while touring as a pianist with gospel singer Roland Hayes, stumbled upon Robeson in Harlem.[84] The two ad-libbed a set of spirituals, with Robeson as lead and Brown as accompanist. This so enthralled them that they booked Provincetown Playhouse for a concert.[85] The pair's rendition of African-American folk songs and spirituals was captivating,[86] and Victor Records signed Robeson to a contract.[87]
The Robesons went to London for a revival of Jones, before spending the rest of the fall on holiday on the French Riviera, socializing with Gertrude Stein and Claude McKay.[88]Robeson and Brown performed a series of concert tours in America from January 1926 until May 1927.[89]

Birth of his son (1927)

During a hiatus in New York, Robeson learned that Essie was several months pregnant.[90] Paul Robeson, Jr. was born in November 1927 in New York, while Robeson and Brown toured Europe.[91] Essie experienced complications from the birth,[92] and by mid-December, her health had deteriorated dramatically. Ignoring Essie's objections, her mother wired Robeson and he immediately returned to her bedside.[93] Essie completely recovered after a few months.[citation needed]

Show Boat, Othello, and marriage difficulties (1928–1932)

Robeson played "Joe" in the London production of the American musical Show Boat, at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane.[94] His rendition of "Ol' Man River" became the benchmark for all future performers of the song.[95] Some black critics were not pleased with the play due to its usage of the word nigger.[96] It was, nonetheless, immensely popular with white audiences.[97] He was summoned for a Royal Command Performance at Buckingham Palace[98] as Robeson was befriended by MPs from the House of Commons.[99] Show Boat continued for 350 performances and, by 2001, it remained the Royal's most profitable venture.[95] The Robesons bought a home in Hampstead.[100] He reflected on his life in his diary and wrote that it was all part of a "higher plan" and "God watches over me and guides me. He's with me and lets me fight my own battles and hopes I'll win."[101]However, an incident at the Savoy Grill, wherein he was refused seating, sparked him to issue a press release portraying the insult which subsequently became a matter of public debate.[102]
Essie had learned early in their marriage that Robeson had been involved in extramarital affairs, but she tolerated them.[103] However, when she discovered that he was having another affair, she unfavorably altered the characterization of him in his biography,[104] and defamed him by describing him with "negative racial stereotypes".[105] Despite her uncovering of this tryst, there was no public evidence that their relationship had soured.[106] In early 1930, they both appeared in the experimental classic Borderline,[107] and then returned to the West End for his starring role in Shakespeare's Othello, opposite Peggy Ashcroft as Desdemona.[108]
Robeson became the first black actor cast as Othello in Britain since Ira Aldridge.[109] The production received mixed reviews which pointed out Robeson's "highly civilized quality [but lacking the] grand style."[110] Robeson stated the best way to diminish the oppression African Americans faced was for his artistic work to be an example of what "men of my colour" could accomplish rather than to "be a propagandist and make speeches and write articles about what they call the Colour Question."[111]
After Essie's discovery of Robeson's affair with Ashcroft, she decided to seek a divorce and they split up.[112] Robeson returned to Broadway as Joe in the 1932 revival of Show Boat, to critical and popular acclaim.[113] Subsequently, he received, with immense pride, an honorary master's degree from Rutgers.[114] Thereabout, his former football coach, Foster Sanford, advised him that divorcing Essie and marrying Ashcroft would do irreparable damage to his reputation.[115] Ashcroft and Robeson's relationship ended in 1932,[116] following which Robeson and Essie reconciled, although their relationship was permanently scarred.[117]

Ideological awakening (1933–1937)

Robeson played a theatrical role, virtually gratis, as Joe in "Chillun" in 1933 for several weeks[118] before returning to the United States for a starring role in a motion picture, which was "a feat not repeated for more than two decades in the U.S."[119] as Brutus in the film The Emperor Jones.[120] His acting in "Jones" was well received and "Jones" became the first film starring an African American.[119] On the film set, he rejected any slight to his dignity, despite the widespread Jim Crow atmosphere in the United States.[121]Post-production, he returned to England and publicly criticized African Americans' rejection of their own culture.[122] The New York Amsterdam News retorted that his comments had made a "jolly well [ass of himself],"[123] however, he afterwards declared that he would reject any offers to perform European opera because the music had no connection to his heritage.[124]
In early 1934, Robeson enrolled in the School of Oriental and African Studies to study over 20 different languages. His "sudden interest" in African history and its impact on culture[125] coincided with his essay "I Want to be African", wherein he wrote of his desire to embrace his ancestry.[126] He undertook the role of Bosambo in the movie Sanders of the River,[127] which he felt would render a realistic view of colonial African culture.[citation needed] His friends in the anti-imperialism movement and association with British socialists led him to visit the Soviet Union.[126] Robeson, Essie, and Marie Seton traveled to the Soviet Union on an invitation from Sergei Eisenstein in December 1934.[128] A stopover inBerlin enlightened Robeson to the racism in Nazi Germany[129] and, on his arrival in the Soviet Union, he expounded on race and what he felt in Moscow, where he said, "Here I am not a Negro but a human being for the first time in my life ... I walk in full human dignity."[130]
When Sanders of the River was released in 1935, it made him an international movie star.[131] However, the stereotypical portrayal of a colonial African[132] was seen as embarrassing to his stature as an artist[133] and damaging to his reputation.[134] The Commissioner of Nigeria to London protested the film as slanderous to his country,[135] and Robeson thereafter became more politically conscious of his roles.[136] In early 1936 he considered himself primarily apolitical,[137] but decided to send his son to school in the Soviet Union in order to shield him from racist attitudes.[138] He then played the role of Toussaint Louverture in the eponymous play by C. L. R. James at the Westminster Theatreand appeared in the films Song of Freedom,[139] Show Boat,[140] Big Fella,[141] My Song Goes Forth,[142] and King Solomon's Mines.[143] He was internationally recognized as the 10th most popular star in British cinema.[144]

Spanish Civil War and the Moscow Trials (1937–1939)

Robeson believed that the struggle against fascism during the Spanish Civil War was a turning point in his life and transformed him into a political activist.[145] In 1937, he used his concert performances to advocate the Republican cause and the war's refugees.[146] He permanently modified his renditions of Ol' Man River from a tragic "song of resignation with a hint of protest implied"[citation needed] into a battle hymn of unwavering defiance.[147] His business agent expressed concern about his political involvement,[148] but Robeson overruled him and decided that contemporary events trumped commercialism.[149] In Wales,[150] he commemorated the Welsh killed while fighting for the Republicans,[151] where he recorded a message which would become his epitaph: "The artist must take sides. He must elect to fight for freedom or slavery. I have made my choice. I had no alternative."[152]
After an invitation from J. B. S. Haldane,[153] he traveled to Spain in 1938 because he believed in the International Brigades's cause.[154] He visited the battlefront[155] and provided a morale boost to the Republicans at a time when their victory was unlikely.[156] Back in England, he hosted Jawaharlal Nehru to support Indian independence, whereat Nehru expounded on imperialism's affiliation with Fascism.[157] Robeson reevaluated the direction of his career and decided to focus his attention on utilizing his talents to bring attention to the ordeals of "common people".[158] and subsequently he appeared in the pro-labor play Plant in the Sun[159] by Herbert Marshall.[160] With Max Yergan, and the CAA, Robeson became an advocate in the aspirations of African colonialists for political independence.[161]

World War II, the Broadway Othello, Political Activism, and McCarthyism (1939–1957)

World War II and the Broadway Othello (1939–1945)


Robeson leading Moore Shipyard Oakland, California workers in singing the Star Spangled Banner, September 1942. Robeson, too, was a shipyard worker in World War I.

Paul Robeson with Uta Hagen in the  Theatre Guild production of Othello(1943–4).
After the outbreak of World War II, Robeson returned to the United States and became America's "no.1 entertainer"[162] with a radio broadcast of Ballad for Americans,[163] and a role in The Proud Valley.[164] Nevertheless during an ensuing tour, the Beverly Wilshire Hotelwas the only hotel willing to accommodate him due to his race,[citation needed] and he therefore dedicated two hours every afternoon sitting in the lobby "...to ensure that the next time Black[s] come through, they'll have a place to stay."[citation needed]
Furthermore, Native Land was labeled by the FBI as communist propaganda.[165] After an appearance in Tales of Manhattan, a production that he felt was "very offensive to my people", he announced that he would no longer act in films because of the demeaning roles available to black[s].[166]
Robeson participated in benefit concerts on behalf of the war effort and at a concert at the Polo Grounds, he met two emissaries from theJewish Anti-Fascist Committee, Solomon Mikhoels and Itzik Feffer[167] Subsequently, Robeson reprised his role of Othello at the Shubert Theatre in 1943,[168] and became the first African American to play the role with a white supporting cast on Broadway. Contemporaneously, he addressed a meeting with Kenesaw Mountain Landis in a failed attempt to convince him to admit black players toMajor League Baseball.[169] He toured North America with Othello until 1945,[170] and subsequently, his political efforts with the CAA to get colonial powers to discontinue their exploitation of Africa were short-circuited by the United Nations.[171]

Attorney General's List of Subversive Organizations (1946–1949)

After the lynchings of four African Americans, Robeson met with President Truman and admonished Truman that if he did not enact legislation to end lynching,[172] "the Negroes will defend themselves".[172][173] Truman immediately terminated the meeting and declared the time was not right to propose anti-lynching legislation.[172] Subsequently, Robeson publicly called upon all Americans to demand that Congress pass civil rights legislation.[174] Taking a stance against lynching, Robeson founded the American Crusade Against Lynchingorganization in 1946. This organization was thought to be a threat to the NAACP antiviolence movement. Robeson received support fromW.E.B Du Bois regarding this matter and officially launched this organization on the anniversary day of the Emancipation Proclamation, September 23.[175]
About this time, Robeson's belief that trade unionism was crucial to civil rights became a mainstay of his political beliefs as he became proponent of the union activist Revels Cayton.[176] Robeson was later called before the Tenney Committee where he responded to questions about his affiliation with Communist Party (CPUSA) by testifying that he was not a member of the CPUSA.[177] Nevertheless, two organizations with which Robeson was intimately involved, the Civil Rights Congress (CRC)[citation needed] and the CAA,[178] were placed on the Attorney General's List of Subversive Organizations (AGLOSO).[179] Subsequently, he was summoned before the United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary, and when questioned about his affiliation with the Communist Party, he refused to answer, stating: "Some of the most brilliant and distinguished Americans are about to go to jail for the failure to answer that question, and I am going to join them, if necessary."[180]
In 1948, Robeson was preeminent in Henry A. Wallace's bid for the President of the United States,[181] during which Robeson traveled to the Deep South, at risk to his own life, to campaign for him.[182] In the ensuing year, Robeson was forced to go overseas to work because his concert performances were canceled at the FBI's behest.[183] While on tour, he spoke at the World Peace Council,[184] whereat, his speech was publicly reported as equating America with a Fascist state[185]—a depiction which he flatly denied.[186]Nevertheless, the speech publicly attributed to him was a catalyst for his becoming an enemy of mainstream America.[187] Robeson refused to subjugate himself to public criticism when he advocated in favor of twelve defendants, including his long-time friend, Benjamin J. Davis, Jr. charged during the Smith Act trials of Communist Party leaders.[citation needed]

Label of a record by Paul Robeson published by Soviet Ministry of Culture
Robeson traveled to Moscow in June, and was unable to find Itzik Feffer. He let Soviet authorities know that he wanted to see him.[188]Reluctant to lose Robeson as a propagandist for the Soviet Union,[189] the Soviets brought Feffer from prison to him.[190] Feffer told him that Mikhoels had been murdered, and he would be summarily executed.[190] To protect the Soviet Union's reputation,[189] and to keep the right wing of the United States from gaining the moral high ground, Robeson denied that any persecution existed in the Soviet Union,[191]and kept the meeting secret for the rest of his life, except from his son.[189]
In order to isolate Robeson politically,[192][citation needed] the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) subpoenad Jackie Robinson[193] to comment on Robeson's Paris speech.[193] Robinson testified that Robeson's statements, "'if accurately reported', were silly'".[192][citation needed] Days later, the announcement of a concert headlined by Robeson in New York provoked the local press to decry the use of their community to support subversives[194] and the Peekskill Riots ensued.[195] Contemporaneously, criticism of Robeson became, even among liberals, de rigueur.[196]

Blacklisted (1950–1955)

A book reviewed in early 1950 as "the most complete record on college football"[197] failed to list Robeson as ever having played on the Rutgers team[198] and as ever having been an All-American.[199] Months later, NBC canceled Robeson's appearance on Eleanor Roosevelt's television program.[200]Subsequently, the State Department (State) denied Robeson a passport to travel abroad and issued a "stop notice" at all ports because it believed that an isolated existence inside United States borders would not only afford him less freedom of expression[201] but also avenge his "extreme advocacy on behalf of the independence of the colonial peoples of Africa."[202] However when Robeson met with State and asked why he was denied a passport, he was told that "his frequent criticism of the treatment of blacks in the United States should not be aired in foreign countries".[203]
In 1951, an article titled "Paul Robeson – the Lost Shepherd" was published in The Crisis[204] although Paul Jr. suspected it was authored by Amsterdam News columnist Earl Brown.[205] J. Edgar Hoover and the United States State Department arranged for the article to be printed and distributed in Africa[206] in order to defame Robeson's reputation and reduce his and Communists' popularity in colonial countries.[207] Another article by Wilkins denounced Robeson as well as the Communist Party USA (CPUSA) in terms consistent with the anti-Communist FBI propaganda.[208]
On December 17, 1951, Robeson presented to the United Nations an anti-lynching petition, "We Charge Genocide".[209] The document asserted that the United States federal government, by its failure to act against lynching in the United States, was "guilty of genocide" under Article II of the UN Genocide Convention.
In 1952, Robeson was awarded the International Stalin Prize by the Soviet Union.[210] Unable to travel to Moscow, he accepted the award in New York.[211] In April 1953, shortly after Stalin's death, Robeson penned To You My Beloved Comrade, praising Stalin as dedicated to peace and a guide to the world: "Through his deep humanity, by his wise understanding, he leaves us a rich and monumental heritage."[212] Robeson's opinion on the Soviet Union kept his passport out of reach and stopped his return to the entertainment industry and the civil rights movement.[213] In his opinion, the Soviet Union was the guarantor of political balance in the world.[214]
In a symbolic act of defiance against the travel ban, labor unions in the United States and Canada organized a concert at the International Peace Arch on the border betweenWashington state and the Canadian province of British Columbia.[215] Robeson returned to perform a second concert at the Peace Arch in 1953,[216] and over the next two years, two further concerts were scheduled. In this period, with the encouragement of his friend the Welsh politician Aneurin Bevan, Robeson recorded a number of radio concerts for supporters in Wales.

End of McCarthyism (1956–1957)

 Paul Robeson Congressional Hearings
In 1956, Robeson was called before HUAC after he refused to sign an affidavit affirming that he was not a Communist.[citation needed] In his testimony, he invoked the Fifth Amendment and refused to reveal his political affiliations.[citation needed] When he was asked why he had not remained in the Soviet Union because of his affinity with its political ideology, he replied that "because my father was a slave and my people died to build [the United States and], I am going to stay here, and have a part of it just like you and no fascist-minded people will drive me from it!"[citation needed] Robeson's passport was subsequently revoked.[citation needed] Campaigns were launched to protest the passport ban and the restriction of his right to travel over the next four years,[citation needed] but it was to no avail.[citation needed][217] Nikita Khrushchev's denunciation of Stalinism at the 1956 Party Congress silenced Robeson on Stalin, though Robeson continued to praise the Soviet Union.[218] In 1956, after public pressure brought a one-time exemption to the travel ban, Robeson performed concerts in Canada in March.[citation needed] That year Robeson, along with close friend W. E. B. Du Bois, compared the anti-Soviet uprising in Hungary to the "same sort of people who overthrew the Spanish Republican Government" and supported the Soviet invasion and suppression of the revolt.[219]
An appeal to the Supreme Court of the United States to reinstate his confiscated passport had been rejected, but over the telephone Robeson was able to sing to the 5,000 gathered there as he had earlier in the year to London. Due to the reaction to the promulgation of Robeson's political views,[citation needed] his recordings and films were removed from public distribution,[citation needed] and he was universally condemned in the U.S press.[citation needed] During the height of the Cold War, it became increasingly difficult in the United States to hear Robeson sing on commercial radio, buy his music or see his films.[220]

Later years (1958–1976)

Comeback tours (1958–1960)

After[citation needed] the publication of Robeson's "manifesto-autobiography", Here I Stand,[221] his passport was restored in June 1958 via Kent v. Dulles,[222] and he embarked on a world tour using London as his base.[citation needed][223] In Moscow in August 1959, he received a tumultuous reception at the Lenin Stadium (Khabarovsk) where he sang classic Russian songs along with American standards.[224] Robeson and Essie then flew to Yalta to rest and spend time with Nikita Khrushchev.[citation needed]
On October 11, 1959, Robeson took part in a service at St. Paul's Cathedral, the first black performer to sing there.[225] On a trip to Moscow, Robeson experienced bouts of dizziness and heart problems and was hospitalized for two months while Essie was diagnosed with operable cancer.[226] He recovered and returned to the UK to visit the National Eisteddfod.
Meanwhile the State Department had circulated negative literature about him throughout the media in India.[227]
During his run at the Royal Shakespeare Company playing Othello in Tony Richardson's 1959 production at Stratford-upon-Avon, he befriended actor Andrew Faulds, whose family hosted him in the nearby village of Shottery. In 1960, in what would prove to be his final concert performance in Great Britain, Robeson sang to raise money for the Movement for Colonial Freedom at the Royal Festival Hall.[citation needed]
In October 1960, Robeson embarked on a two-month concert tour of Australia and New Zealand with Essie, primarily to generate money,[228] at the behest of Australian politicianBill Morrow.[229] While in Sydney, he became the first major artist to perform at the construction site of the future Sydney Opera House.[230] After appearing at the Brisbane Festival Hall, they went to Auckland where Robeson reaffirmed his support of Marxism,[231] denounced the inequality faced by the Māori and efforts to denigrate their culture.[232]Thereabouts, Robeson publicly stated "...the people of the lands of Socialism want peace dearly".[233]
He was introduced to Faith Bandler who enlightened the Robesons to the deprivation of the Australian Aborigines.[234] Robeson, consequently, became enraged and demanded the Australian government provide the Aborigines citizenship and equal rights.[235] He attacked the view of the Aborigines as unsophisticated and uncultured,[citation needed] and declared, "there's no such thing as a backward human being, there is only a society which says they are backward."[citation needed]

Health breakdown (1961–1963)

Back in London, he planned his return to the United States to participate in the Civil Rights Movement, stopping off in Africa, China and Cuba along the way. Essie argued to stay in London, fearing that he'd be "killed" if he returned and would be "unable to make any money" due to harassment by the United States government. Robeson disagreed and made his own travel arrangements, stopping off in Moscow in March 1961.[236]
During an uncharacteristically wild party in his Moscow hotel room, he locked himself in his bedroom and attempted suicide by cutting his wrists.[237] Three days later, under Soviet medical care, he told his son that he felt extreme paranoia, thought that the walls of the room were moving and, overcome by a powerful sense of emptiness and depression, tried to take his own life.[238]
Paul Jr. believed that his father's health problems stemmed from attempts by CIA and MI5 to "neutralize" his father.[239][240] He remembered that his father had had such fears prior to his prostate operation.[241] He said that three doctors treating Robeson in London and New York had been CIA contractors,[239] and that his father's symptoms resulted from being "subjected to mind depatterning under MKULTRA", a secret CIA programme.[242] Martin Duberman claimed that Robeson's health breakdown was probably brought on by a combination of factors including extreme emotional and physical stress, bipolar depression, exhaustion and the beginning of circulatory and heart problems. "[E]ven without an organic predisposition and accumulated pressures of government harassment he might have been susceptible to a breakdown."[237]
Robeson stayed at the Barvikha Sanatorium until September 1961, when he left for London. There his depression reemerged, and after another period of recuperation in Moscow, he returned to London. Three days after arriving back, he became suicidal and suffered a panic attack while passing the Soviet Embassy.[243] He was admitted to The Priory hospital, where he underwent electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) and was given heavy doses of drugs for nearly two years, with no accompanying psychotherapy.[244]
During his treatment at the Priory, Robeson was being monitored by the British MI5.[245] Both intelligence services were well aware of Robeson's suicidal state of mind. An FBI memo described Robeson's debilitated condition, remarking that his "death would be much publicized" and would be used for Communist propaganda, necessitating continued surveillance.[246] Numerous memos advised that Robeson should be denied a passport renewal which would ostensibly jeopardize his fragile health and his recovery process.[237]
In August 1963, disturbed about his treatment, friends had him transferred to the Buch Clinic in East Berlin.[247] Given psychotherapy and less medication, his physicians found him still "completely without initiative" and they expressed "doubt and anger" about the "high level of barbiturates and ECT" that had been administered in London. He rapidly improved, though his doctor stressed that "what little is left of Paul's health must be quietly conserved."[248]

Retirement (1963–1976)


The Robeson House, Philadelphia
In 1963, Robeson returned to the United States and for the remainder of his life lived in seclusion.[249] He momentarily assumed a role in the civil rights movement,[239] making a few major public appearances before falling seriously ill during a tour. Double pneumonia and a kidney blockage in 1965 nearly killed him.[249]
Robeson was contacted by both Bayard Rustin and James L. Farmer, Jr. about the possibility of becoming involved with the mainstream of the Civil Rights movement.[250] Because of Rustin's past anti-Communist stances, Robeson declined to meet with him. Robeson eventually met with Farmer, but because he was asked to denounce Communism and the Soviet Union in order to assume a place in the mainstream, Robeson adamantly declined.[251]
After Essie died in December 1965,[252] Robeson moved in with his son's family in New York City[253] and in 1968 he settled at his sister's home in Philadelphia.[254] Numerous celebrations were held in honor of Robeson over the next several years, including at public arenas that had previously shunned him,[255] but he saw few visitors aside from close friends and gave few statements apart from messages to support current civil rights and international movements, feeling that his record "spoke for itself".[255] At a Carnegie Hall tribute to mark his 75th birthday in 1973, he was unable to attend, but a taped message from him was played that said: "Though I have not been able to be active for several years, I want you to know that I am the same Paul, dedicated as ever to the worldwide cause of humanity for freedom, peace and brotherhood."[citation needed]

Death, funeral, and public response

On January 23, 1976, following complications of a stroke, Robeson died in Philadelphia at the age of 77.[256] He lay in state in Harlem[257] and his funeral was held at his brother Ben's former parsonage, Mother AME Zion Church,[258] where Bishop J. Clinton Hoggard performed the eulogy.[259] His pall bearers included Harry Belafonte,[citation needed]Pollard,[260] and others.[citation needed] He was interred in the Ferncliff Cemetery in Hartsdale, New York.[citation needed] According to biographer, Martin Duberman, contemporary post-mortem reflections on Robeson's life in "[t]he white [American] press...ignored the continuing inability of white America to tolerate a black maverick who refused to bend, ...downplayed the racist component central to his persecution [during his life]", as they "paid him gingerly respect and tipped their hat to him as a 'great American,'" while the black American press, "which had never, overall, been as hostile to Robeson [as the white American press had], opined that his life '...would always be a challenge to white and Black America.'"[258]

Legacy and honors


The Robeson holdings in the archive of the Academy of the Arts of the German Democratic Republic, 1981
Early in his life, he was one of the most influential participants in the Harlem Renaissance.[261] Few people have ever achieved his level of excellence in athletics and academics.[citation needed] His achievements were all the more incredible given the barriers of racism that he had to surmount.[262] Robeson brought Negro spirituals into the center of the American songbook.[263] His theatrical performances have been recognized as the first to display dignity for black actors and pride in African heritage,[264] and he was the first artist to refuse to play to live, segregated audiences.[citation needed]
After McCarthyism, [Robeson's stand] on anti-colonialism in the 1940s would never again have a voice in American politics, but the [African independence movements] of the late 1950s and 1960s would vindicate his anti-colonial [agenda].[265]
Several public and private establishments he was associated with have been landmarked,[266] or named after him.[267] In 1978, his films were shown on American television for the first time,[citation needed] and his efforts to end Apartheid in South Africa were posthumously rewarded by theUnited Nations General Assembly.[268] Paul Robeson: Tribute to an Artist won an Academy Award for best short documentary in 1980.[269] In 1995, he was named to the College Football Hall of Fame.[270] In the centenary of his birth, which was commemorated around the world,[271] he was awarded a Lifetime Achievement Grammy Award,[272] as well as a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.[273] Robeson is also a member of theAmerican Theater Hall of Fame.[274]
Beginning in 1978, Robeson's films were finally shown on American television, with Show Boat debuting on cable television in 1983.[citation needed]
As of 2011, the run of Othello starring Robeson was the longest-running production of a Shakespeare play ever staged on Broadway.[275] He received a Donaldson Award for his performance.[276] His Othello was characterised by Michael A. Morrison in 2011 as a high point in Shakespearean theatre in the 20th century.[277]
Subsequently, he received the Spingarn medal from the NAACP.[278] His starring role as an African American in the film "was a feat not repeated for more than two decades in the U.S.[119] Paul Robeson: Tribute to an Artist won an Academy Award for best short documentary in 1980.
Robeson left Australia as a respected, albeit controversial, figure and his support for Aboriginal rights had a profound effect in Australia over the next decade.[279]
Robeson archives exist at the Academy of Arts;[280] Howard University,[281] and the Schomburg Center.[282] In 2010, Susan Robeson launched a project by Swansea Universityand the Welsh Assembly to create an online learning resource in her grandfather's memory.[citation needed]
Robeson connected his own life and history not only to his fellow Americans and to his people in the South, but to all the people of Africa and its diaspora whose lives had been fundamentally shaped by the same processes that had brought his ancestors to America.[283] While a consensus definition of his legacy remains controversial,[284] to deny his courage in the face of public and governmental pressure would be to defame his courage.[285]
In 2001, the Welsh rock band Manic Street Preachers released the single Let Robeson Sing from their album Know Your Enemy. The song is about the life of Paul Robeson.
In 2002, a blue plaque was unveiled by English Heritage on the house in Hampstead where Robeson lived in 1929–1930.[286]
The U.S. Postal Service issued a 37-cent stamp honoring Robeson in 2004.[287]
The Criterion Collection, a company that specializes in releasing special edition versions of classic and contemporary films, released a DVD boxed set of Robeson films in 2007.[288]

Filmography

 Paul Robeson filmography

  1. ^ Jump up to:a b Robeson, Paul Jr. (2001). "Motherless Child (1898–1919)". The Undiscovered Paul Robeson, An Artist's Journey, 1898–1939. New York: Wiley. p. 3. ISBN 0-471-24265-9.; cf. Boyle and Bunie: 18, Duberman: 4–5.
  2. Jump up^ Brown: 5–6, 145–149; cf. Robeson, 2001: 4–5; Boyle and Bunie: 10–12.
  3. Jump up^ Robeson 2001: 4, 337–338; cf. Boyle and Bunie: 4, Duberman: 4, Brown: 9–10.
  4. Jump up^ Boyle and Bunie: 5–6, 14; cf. Robeson 2001: 4–5, Duberman: 4–6, Brown: 17, 26.
  5. Jump up^ Robeson 2001: 3; cf. Boyle and Bunie: 18, Brown: 21.
  6. Jump up^ Duberman: 6–7; cf. Robeson, 2001: 5–6, Boyle and Bunie: 18–20.
  7. Jump up^ Boyle and Bunie: 16–17; cf. Duberman: 12.
  8. Jump up^ Robeson 2001: 5–6; cf. Duberman: 6–9, Boyle and Bunie: 18–20, Brown: 26.
  9. Jump up^ Duberman: 9; cf. Boyle and Bunie: 21, Robeson 2001: 6–7, Brown: 28.
  10. Jump up^ Boyle and Bunie: 22–23; cf. Duberman: 8, Robeson 2001: 7–8, Brown: 25–29; Robeson 1958: 7.
  11. Jump up^ Robeson 2001: 11; cf. Duberman: 9, Boyle and Bunie: 27–29.
  12. Jump up^ Duberman: 9–10; cf. Brown: 39, Robeson 2001: 13–14.
  13. Jump up^ Robeson 2001: 17; cf. Duberman: 30, Brown: 46–47.
  14. Jump up^ Boyle and Bunie: 37–38; cf. Duberman: 12, Brown: 49–51.
  15. Jump up^ Duberman: 13–16; cf. Boyle and Bunie: 34–36, Brown: 43, 46, 48–49.
  16. Jump up^ Boyle and Bunie: 37–38; cf. Robeson: 16, Duberman: 13–16, Brown: 46–47.
  17. Jump up^ Boyle and Bunie: 41–42; cf. Brown: 54–55, Duberman: 17, Robeson 2001: 17–18; contra. The dispute is over whether it was a one-year or f
  18. Jump up^ Duberman: 11; cf. Boyle and Bunie: 40–41, Robeson: 18–19, Brown: 53–54, 65, Carroll: 58.
  19. Jump up^ Duberman: 19; cf. Brown: 60, 64, Gilliam: 15, Robeson 2001: 20.
  20. Jump up^ Boyle and Bunie: 45–49; cf. Duberman: 19, 24, Brown: 60, 65.
  21. Jump up^ Duberman: 20–21; cf. Boyle and Bunie: 49–50, Brown: 61–63.
  22. Jump up^ Van Gelder,. New York Times. pp. X1.; cf. Boyle and Bunie: 49–50, Duberman: 20–21, Robeson 2001: 22–23.
  23. Jump up^ Yeakey, Lamont H. (Autumn 1973). "A Student Without Peer: The Undergraduate College Years of Paul Robeson". Journal of Negro Education 42 (4): 499.JSTOR .
  24. Jump up^ Duberman: 24; cf. Boyle and Bunie: 54, Brown: 71, Robeson 2001: 28, 31–32.
  25. Jump up^ Boyle and Bunie: 54; Duberman: 24, Levy: 1–2, Brown: 71, Robeson 2001: 28.
  26. Jump up^ Duberman: 24; cf. Boyle and Bunie: 54, Brown: 70, Robeson 2001: 35.
  27. Jump up^ Brown 68–70; cf. Duberman: 22–23, Boyle and Bunie: 59–60, Robeson 2001: 27, Pitt: 42.
  28. Jump up^ Duberman: 22, 573; cf. Robeson 2001: 29–30, Brown: 74–82, Boyle and Bunie: 65–66.
  29. Jump up^ Du Bois, W. E. B. (March 1918). . The Crisis 15 (5): 229–232.; cf. Marable: 171?
  30. Jump up^ Boyle and Bunie: 68.
  31. Jump up^ Robeson 2001: 33; cf. Duberman: 25, Boyle and Bunie: 68–69, Brown: 85–87.
  32. Jump up^ Boyle and Bunie: 68–69.
  33. Jump up^ Robeson 1958: 6.
  34. Jump up^ Duberman: 25; cf. Boyle and Bunie 68–69, Brown: 86–87, Robeson 2001: 33.
  35. Jump up^ Duberman: 24; cf. Boyle and Bunie: 69, 74, 437, Robeson 2001: 35.
  36. Jump up^ "Hall of Fame: Robeson". Record-Journal. 1995-01-19. p. 20.; The number of letters varies between 12 and 15 based on author; cf. Duberman, p. 22, Boyle and Bunie: 73, Robeson 2001: 34–35.
  37. Jump up^ Jenkins, Burris (1922-09-28).. The Evening World. p. 24.
  38. Jump up^ Boyle and Bunie: 66; cf. Duberman: 22–23, Robeson 2001: 30, 35.
  39. Jump up^ "Who Belongs to Phi Beta Kappa?". The Phi Beta Kappa Society. Archived fr on 2012-01-21.; cf. Brown: 94, Boyle and Bunie: 74, Duberman: 24.
  40. Jump up^ Boyle and Bunie: 74; cf. Duberman: 26, Brown: 94.
  41. Jump up^ Brown: 94–95; cf. Duberman: 30, Boyle and Bunie: 75–76, Harris: 47.
  42. Jump up^ Duberman: 26; cf. Boyle and Bunie: 75, Brown: 94, Robeson 2001: 36.
  43. Jump up^ Kirshenbau. Sports Illustrated 36 (13): 75–77.
  44. Jump up^ Robeson, Paul Leroy (1919-06-10).. The Targum 50(1918–19): 570–571.; cf. Boyle a. The Milwaukee Sentinel. 1922-11-20. p. 7.; cf. Badgers Trim Thorpe's Team
  45. Jump up^ Robeson 2001: 43; cf. Boyle and Bunie; 78–82, Brown: 107.
  46. Jump up^ Duberman: 34; cf. Boyle and Bunie: 82, Robeson 2001: 44, Carroll: 140–141.
  47. Jump up^ Brown: 111; cf. Gilliam: 25, Boyle and Bunie: 53; Duberman: 41.
  48. Jump up^ Boyle and Bunie: 82.
  49. Jump up^ Robeson 2001: 43–44; cf. Boyle and Bunie: 82, Brown: 107–108.
  50. Jump up^ Boyle and Bunie: 143; cf. Robeson 2001: 45.
  51. Jump up^ Weisenfeld: 161–162.; cf. Robeson 1958: 2.
  52. Jump up^ Duberman: 34–35, 37–38; Boyle and Bunie: 87–89, Robeson 2001: 46–48.
  53. Jump up^ Duberman: 43.
  54. Jump up^ Peterson: 93; cf. Robeson 2001: 48–49; cf. Boyle and Bunie: 89, 10
  55. Jump up^ Robeson 2001: 50–52; cf. Duberman: 39–41, cf. Boyle and Bunie: 88–89, 94, Brown: 119.
  56. Jump up^ Levy 2000: 30; cf. Akron Pros 1920 by Bob Carrol, John Carroll p. 147–148, Robeson 2001: 53.
  57. Jump up^ Boyle and Bunie: 104–105.
  58. Jump up^ Darnton, Charles (1922-04-05).. The Evening World. p. 24.; cf. Boyle and Bunie: 100, Duberman: 43.
  59. Jump up^ Wintz: 6–8; cf. Duberman 44–45, Robeson 2001: 57–59, Boyle and Bunie: 98–100.
  60. Jump up^ Duberman: 44–45; cf. Brown: 120, Robeson 2001: 57–59, Boyle: 100–101.
  61. Jump up^ Boyle and Bunie: 105–107; cf. Brown: 120, Duberman: 47–48, 50, Robeson 2001: 59, 63–64.
  62. Jump up^ Brown: 120–121; cf. Boyle and Bunie: 105–106.
  63. Jump up^ Boyle and Bunie: 139.
  64. Jump up^ Boyle and Bunie: 108–109; cf. Robeson 2001: 68–69, Duberman: 34, 51, Carrol: 151–152.
  65. Jump up^ Levy: 31–32; cf. Boyle and Bunie: 111.
  66. Jump up^ Duberman: 54–55; cf. Boyle and Bunie: 111–113, Robeson 2001: 71, Brown: 122.
  67. Jump up^ Boyle and Bunie: 111–114; cf: Duberman: 54–55, Robeson 2001: 71–72, Gillam: 29.
  68. Jump up^ Boyle and Bunie: 115; cf. 
  69. Jump up^ Robeson 2001: 73; cf. Duberman: 52–55, Boyle and Bunie: 111, 116–117.
  70. Jump up^ . Time. March 17, 1924. The dramatic miscegenation will shortly be enacted ... [produced by the Provincetown Players, headed by O'Neill], dramatist; Robert Edmund Jones, artist, and Kenneth Macgowan, author. Many white people do not like the [plot]. Neither do many black.; cf. Duberman: 57–59, Boyle and Bunie: 118–121, Gillam: 32–33.
  71. Jump up^ Robeson 2001: 73–76; cf. Gillam: 36–37, Duberman: 53, 57–59, 61–62, Boyle and Bunie: 90–91, 122–123.
  72. Jump up^ Boyle and Bunie: 123.
  73. Jump up^ Madden, Will Anthony (1924-05-17)."Paul Robeson Rises To Supreme Heights In "The Emperor Jones".Pittsburgh Courier. p. 8.; cf. Corbin, John (1924-05-07). "The Play; Jazzed Methodism" New York Times p. 18., Duberman: 62–63, Boyle and Bunie: 124–125.
  74. Jump up^ Young, Stark (1924-08-24). "The Prompt Book". New York Times. pp. X1.; Chicago Tribune entitled: "All God's Chillun" Plays Without a Single Protest, Boyle and Bunie: 126–127, Duberman: 64–65.
  75. Jump up^ Robeson, Paul (2000). "An Actor's Wanderings and Hopes". In Sondra Kathryn Wilson. The Messenger Reader. New York: The Modern Library. pp. 292–293. ISBN 0-375-75539-X. And there is an 'Othello' when I am ready...One of the great measures of a people is its culture. Above all things, we boast that the only true artistic contributions of America are Negro in origin. We boast of the culture of ancient Africa...[I]n any discussion of art or culture,[one must include] music and the drama and its interpretation...So today Roland Hayes is infinitely more of a racial asset than many who 'talk' at great length. Thousands of people hear him, see him, are moved by him, and are brought to a clearer understanding of human values. If I can so something of a like nature, I shall be happy... My early experiences give me much hope.; cf. Robeson, Paul (1925–01). "An Actor's Wanderings and Hopes". The Messenger 7 (1): 32.
  76. Jump up^ Gillam: 38–40; cf. Duberman: 68–71, 76, Sampson: 9.
  77. Jump up^ Boyle and Bunie: 142–143; cf. "I Owe My Success To My Wife," Says Paul Robeson, Star In O'Neill's Drama
  78. Jump up^ Robeson 2001: 84.
  79. Jump up^ Robeson 2001: 84; cf. Boyle and Bunie: 149, 152.
  80. Jump up^ Nollen: 14, 18–19, Duberman: 67, Boyle and Bunie: 160, Gillam: 43.
  81. Jump up^ . New York Amsterdam News. 1925-03-11. p. 9.
  82. Jump up^ Coates, Ulysses (192
  83. Jump up^ Duberman: 78; Boyle and Bunie: 139, Robeson 2001: 85.
  84. Jump up^ Duberman: 79; cf. Gilliam: 41–42, Boyle and Bunie: 140, Robeson 2001: 85–86.
  85. Jump up^ . New Y, Duberman: 80–81.
  86. Jump up^ Duberman: 82, 86, Boyle and Bunie: 149, Robeson 2001: 93,
  87. Jump up^ Gillam: 45–47; cf. Duberman: 83, 88–98, Boyle and Bunie: 161–167, Robeson 2001: 95–97.
  88. Jump up^ Boyle and Bunie: 169–184; cf. Duberman: 98–106, Gillam: 47–49.
  89. Jump up^ Duberman: 106; cf. Boyle and Bunie: 184.
  90. Jump up^ Robeson 2001: 143; cf. Duberman: 106 Boyle and Bunie: 184.
  91. Jump up^ Duberman: 110; cf. Robeson 2001: 147, Gillam: 49.
  92. Jump up^ Boyle and Bunie: 186; cf. Duberman: 112, Robeson 2001: 148.
  93. Jump up^ "Drury Lane Theatre: 'Showboat'".The Times. 1928-05-04. p. 14. Mr. Robeson's melancholy song about the 'old river' is one of the two chief hits of the evening.; Duberman: 113–115, Boyle and Bunie: 188–192, Robeson 2001: 149–156.
  94. ^ Jump up to:a b Boyle and Bunie: 192.
  95. Jump up^ Rogers, J A (1928-10-06). . Pittsburgh Courier. pp. A2. [Show Boat] is, so far as the Negro is concerned, a regrettable bit of American niggerism introduced into Europe.; Duberman: 114, Gilliam.New York Amsterdam News. 1928-08-22. p. 8.; cf. Boyle and Bunie: 193–197; cf. Duberman: 114, Gilliam: 52
  96. .Pittsburgh Courier. 1928-07-28. p. 12.; cf. Duberman: 115, Boyle and Bunie: 196, Robeson 2001: 153.
  97. Jump up^ . Chicago Defender. 1928-12-01. pp. A1.; cf. Seton 1978: 30; cf. Robeson 2001: 155, Boyle and Bunie: ?
  98. Jump up^ Boyle and Bunie: 205–207; cf. Robeson 2001: 153–156, Gilliam: 52, Duberman: 118.
  99. Jump up^ Duberman: 126–127.
  100. Jump up^ Duberman: 123-124.
  101. Jump up^ Duberman, Martin (1988-12-28).. The Nation 267(22): 33–38.; cf. Gilliam: 57, Boyle and Bunie: 159–160, Robeson 2001: 100–101.
  102. Jump up^ Robeson 2001: 163–165.
  103. Jump up^ Robeson 2001: 172–173; cf. Boyle and Bunie: 230–234, Duberman: 139–140.
  104. Jump up^ Duberman: 143–144; cf. Robeson 2001: 165–166.
  105. Jump up^ Nollen: 24; cf. Duberman: 129–130, Boyle and Bunie: 221–223.
  106. Jump up^ Duberman: 133–138; Gilliam: 59–60.
  107. Jump up^ Morrison: 114; cf. Swindall 2011: 23, Robeson 2001: 166.
  108. Jump up^ Nollen: 29; cf. Gilliam: 60, Boyle and Bunie: 226–229.
  109. Jump up^ Robeson 2001: 176–177; cf. Nollen: 29.
  110. Jump up^ Robeson 2001: 178–182; cf. Boyle and Bunie: 238–240, 257; cf. Gilliam: 62–64, Duberman: 140–144.
  111. Jump up^ Oakley, Annie (1932-05-24). Border Cities Star. p. 4.; cf. Boyle and Bunie: 253–254, Duberman: 161, Robeson 2001: 192–193.
  112. Jump up^ Duberman: 161; cf. Boyle and Bunie: 258–259, Robeson 2001: 132, 194.
  113. Jump up^ Sources are unclear on this point. Duberman: 145; cf. Robeson 2001: 182.
  114. Jump up^ Duberman: 162–163; cf. Boyle and Bunie: 262–263, Robeson 2001: 194–196.
  115. Jump up^ Robeson 2001: 195–200; cf. Boyle and Bunie: 267–268, Duberman: 166.
  116. Jump up^ Boyle and Bunie: 271–274; cf. Duberman: 167, Robeson 2001: 204.
  117. ^ Jump up to:a b c Nollen: 41–42; cf. Robeson 2001: 207; Duberman: 168–169.
  118. Jump up^ Boyle and Bunie: 269–271.
  119. Jump up^ Boyle and Bunie: 275–279; cf. Duberman: 167–168.
  120. Jump up^ . The Border Cities Star. 1933-09-08. p. 4.; cf. Boyle and Bunie: 284–285; cf. Duberman: 169–170.
  121. Jump up^ Boyle and Bunie: 285–286.
  122. Jump up^ Boyle and Bunie: 284–285.
  123. Jump up^ The rationale for Robeson's sudden interest in African history is viewed as inexplicable by one of his biographers (Martin Bauml Duberman p. ?), and no biographers have stated an explanation, for what Duberman terms as a "sudden interest"; cf. Cameron: p. 285.
  124. ^ Jump up to:a b Nollen: 52.
  125. Jump up^ Nollen: 45.
  126. Jump up^ Duberman: 182–185.
  127. Jump up^ Smith, Ronald A. (Summer 1979). "The Paul Robeson—Jackie Robinson Saga and a Political Collision". Journal of Sport History 6 (2).; cf. Duberman: 184–185, 628–629.
  128. Jump up^ Foner 1978: 94–96 (Smith, Vern (1935-01-15). "'I am at Home,' Says Robeson at Reception in Soviet Union",Daily Worker).
  129. Jump up^ Nollen: 53–55.
  130. Jump up^ Nollen: 53; cf. Duberman 178–182.
  131. Jump up^ Rotha, Paul (Spring 1935). "Sanders on the River". Cinema Quarterly 3 (3): 175–176. You may, like me, feel embarrassed for Robeson. To portray on the public screen your own race as a smiling but cunning rogue, as clay in a woman's hands (especially when she is of the sophisticated American Brand), as toady to the white man is no small feat...It is important to remember that the multitudes of this country [Britain] who see Africa in this film, are being encouraged to believe this fudge is real. It is a disturbing thought. To exploit the past is the historian's loss. To exploit the present means in this case, the disgrace of a Continent.; cf. Duberman: 180–182; contra: 
  132. Jump up^ Low: 257; cf. Duberman: 181–182.
  133. Jump up^ Low: 170–171.
  134. Jump up^ Sources are unclear if Robeson unilaterally took the final product of the film as insulting or if his distaste was abetted by criticism of the film. Nollen: 53; cf. Duberman: 182.
  135. Jump up^ Foner 1978: 104–105.
  136. Jump up^ Robeson Jr.: 280-281.
  137. Jump up^ 
  138. Jump up
  139. Jump up. Villon Films. Retrieved 2012-07-10.
  140. Jump up. The Mercury (Hobart, Tas.: 1860 – 1954) (Hobart, Tas.: National Library of Australia). 12 February 1938. p. 5. Retrieved 25 April2012.; cf. Richards, Jeffrey: 18.
  141. Jump up^ Robeson 1958: 53; cf. Robeson 1981: 38, Duberman: 220.
  142. Jump up^ Robeson 2001: 292; cf. Boyle and Bunie: 375–378.
  143. Jump up^ Glazer defines it as a change from a "..lyric of defeat into a rallying cry." Glazer: 167; cf. Robeson 2001: 293, Boyle and Bunie: 381, Lennox 2011: 124, Robeson 1981: 37, Hopkins: 313 "At Manchester Free Trade Hall on September 28, 1938, Paul Robeson led in singing the famous verses of ... [the hymn] Jerusalem ... This suggests a very different spirit from that which the historian Gareth Stedman Jones found a generation earlier. He had written of workers who buried their millennial dreams and adopted a defensive strategy to fend off the aggressions of employers of the 1890s. ... For those who sang Jerusalem then, it was not as a battle-cry but as a hymn. For those caught up in the passion play of Spain, and still eager to recapture lost ideological positions it had become a battle cry."
  144. Jump up^ Duberman: 222.
  145. Jump up^ "Paul Robeson at the Unity Theater",Daily Express June 20, 1938; cf: Duberman: 222–223.
  146. Jump up^ . Coalfield Web Materials. University of Swansea. 2002.
  147. Jump up^ Boyle: 396.
  148. Jump up^ "Spanish Relief Efforts: Albert Hall Meeting £1,000 Collected for Children". The Manchester Guardian. 1937-06-25. p. 6.; cf. Brown: 77, Robeson 2010: 372.
  149. Jump up^ Beeves: 356.
  150. Jump up^ Weyden: 433–434.
  151. Jump up^ Beevor: 356; cf. Eby: 279–280, Landis: 245–246.
  152. Jump up^.The Guardian. 1938–06–28. Check date values in: |date= (help); cf. Duberman: 225.
  153. Jump up^ Duberman: 223 "He explained to the press that 'something inside has turned...',; Nollen: 122?
  154. Jump up^ Duberman: 223.
  155. Jump up^ . Chicago Defender. 1938-07-02. p. 24.; cf. Nollen: 122.
  156. Jump up^ Boyle and Bunie: 320; cf. Von Eschen: ?
  157. Jump up^ Price: 8–9; cf. Collier's ??
  158. Jump up^ Duberman: 236–238.
  159. Jump up^ Bourne, Stephen; Dr. Hywel Francis. (PDF). Edinburgh Film Guide. Archived from the original on 2012-07-04.
  160. Jump up^ FBI record, "Paul Robeson". FBI 100-25857, New York, December 8, 1942.
  161. Jump up^ Duberman: 259–261.
  162. Jump up^ Lustiger: 125–127.
  163. Jump up^ 
  164. Jump up^ Foner, Henry (2002). . In Dorinson, Joseph; Pencak, William. Paul Robeson: Essays on His Life and Legacy. Jefferson, N.C.: McFarland. p. 1. ISBN 0-7864-2163-0.
  165. Jump up^ Duberman: 295.
  166. Jump up^ Duberman: 296-297.
  167. ^ Jump up to:a b c Duberman: 307.
  168. Ju. Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. 1946-09-24. p. 2.
  169. Jump up^ Nollen: 157–156.
  170. Jump up^ Lewis, David L. . Henry Holt and Company. pp. 522–523.
  171. Jump up^ Duberman: 249-250.
  172. Jump up^ Duberman: 241.
  173. Jump up^ Duberman: 296.
  174. Jump up^ Cornell, Douglas B. (1947-12-05).. The Modesto Bee. p. 1.; cf. Goldstein 2008, pp. 62, 66, 88.
  175. Jump up^ Bay Area Paul Robeson Cent.
  176. Jump up^ Duberman: 324.
  177. Jump up^ Duberman: 326-327.
  178. Jump up^ Robeson 2010: 137.
  179. Jump up^ Foner 1978: 197–198.
  180. Jump up^ Robeson 2010: 142–143; cf. Duberman: 342–345, 687.
  181. Jump up^ Robeson 2010: 142–143; cf. Foner 1978: 197–198, Seton 1958: 179,
  182. Jump up^ "Studs Terkel, Paul Robeson – Speak of Me As I Am, BBC, 1998"
  183. Jump up^ Duberman: 352–353.
  184. ^ Jump up to:a b c Lustiger: 210–211.
  185. ^ Jump up to:a b McConnell: 348.
  186. Jump up^ Duberman: 353–354.
  187. ^ Jump up to:a b Duberman: 361–362; cf. Robinson 1972: 94–98.
  188. ^ Jump up to:a b Duberman: 358–360; cf. Robinson 1972: 94–98.
  189. Jump up^ Duberman: 364; cf: Robeson 1981: 181.
  190. Jump up^ Duberman; 364-370; cf. Robeson 1981: 181.
  191. Jump up^ Robeson: 373–374.
  192. Jump up^ LA Times: Jan 1, 1950, p. ?
  193. Jump up^ Walsh: 689.
  194. Jump up^ Brown 1998: 162; cf. Robeson 1971: 5, Walsh only listed a ten man All-American team for the 1917 team and he lists no team due to World War I. Walsh: 1949: 16–18, 32, The information in the book was compiled by information from the colleges, "... but many deserving names are missing entirely from the pages of [the] book because ... their alma mater was unable to provide them. – Glenn S. Warner" Walsh: 6, The Rutgers University list was presented to Walsh by Gordon A. McCoy, Director of Publicity for Rutgers, and although this list says that Rutgers had two All-Americans at the time of the publishing of the book, the book only lists the other All-American and does not list Robeson as being an All-American. Walsh: 684.
  195. Jump up^ . New York Times. 1950-03-15.
  196. Jump up^ Wright 1975: 97.
  197. Jump up^ Von Eschen: 181-185.
  198. Jump up^ Duberman: 388–389.
  199. Jump up^ Robert Alan, "Paul Robeson - the Lost Shepherd". The Crisis, November 1951 pp. 569–573.
  200. Jump up^ Duberman 1988: 396.
  201. Jump up^ Foner, Henry 2001 ?: 112–115 ?
  202. Jump up^ Von Eschen: 127.
  203. Jump up^ Duberman: 396; cf. Foner, Henry 2001?: 112–115.
  204. Jump up^ Duberman: 397–398.
  205. Jump up^ "Paul Robeson is Awarded Stalin Prize". The News and Courier. 1952-12-22. p. 6.
  206. Jump up^ "Post Robeson Gets Stalin Peace Prize". The Victoria Advocate. 1953-09-25. p. 5.
  207. Jump up^ Foner 1978: 347–349.
  208. Jump up^ Duberman: 354.
  209. Jump up^ Foner 1978: 236–241.
  210. Jump up^ Duberman, p. 400.
  211. Jump up^ Duberman p. 411.
  212. Jump up^ Howard, Tony (2009-01-29)."Showcase: Let Robeson Sing".University of Warwick.
  213. Jump up^ Duberman 1988: 437.
  214. Jump up^ Barry Finger, "Paul Robeson: A Flawed Martyr", in: New Politics Vol. 7 No. 1 (Summer 1998)
  215. Jump up^ Robeson 1978: 3–8.
  216. Jump up^ Duberman: 458.
  217. Jump up^ Duberman: 463.
  218. Jump. The Modesto Bee. 1958-07-11.
  219. Jump up^ Duberman: 469.
  220. Jump up^ Duberman: 471.
  221. Jump up^ Robeson 1981: 218.
  222. Jump up^ Duberman: 47Jump up
  223.  who fought for justice and paid with his life".
  224. Jump up^ Duberman: 489.
  225. Jump up^ Curthoys: 168 ; cf. Duberman: 489.
  226. Jump up^ Foner 1978: 470–471.
  227. Jump up^ Curthoys: 164, 173–175: cf. Duberman: 490.
  228. Jump up^ Curthoys: 175–177; cf. Duberman
  229. Jump up^ Robeson 2010: 309.
  230. ^ Jump up to:a b c Duberman: 498–499.
  231. Jump up^ Nollen: 180.
  232. ^ Jump up to:a b c Radio broadcast presented by Amy Goodman, . Democracy Now (July 1, 1999) . Democracy Now(July 6, 1999).
  233. Jump up^ Duberman: 563–564.
  234. Jump up^ Duberman: 438–442.
  235. Jump up^ Robeson, Paul Jr.. The Nation 269 (21): 9.
  236. Jump up^ Duberman: 735–736.
  237. . The Guardian (Guardian News and Media Limited).; cf. Western Mail, [1]
  238. Jump up^ Duberman: 509.
  239. Jump up^ Nollen: 182.
  240. Jump up^ Duberman: 516–518.
  241. ^ Jump up to:a b Duberman: 537.
  242. Jump up^ Robeson, Jr. 2010: 346.
  243. Jump up^ Farmer: 297–298.
  244. Jump up^ Duberman: 162–163.
  245. Jump up^ Robeson 1981: 235–237.
  246. Jump up^ Bell: ?
  247. ^ Jump up to:a b Duberman: 516.
  248. Jump up^ "Died". Time. February 2, 1976.; Duberman: 548.
  249. Jump up^ Robeson 1981: 236–237.
  250. ^ Jump up to:a b Duberman: 549.
  251. Jump up^ Hoggard, Bishop J. Clinton.. The Paul Robeson Foundation.
  252. Jump up^ Carrol: ?
  253. Jump up^ Finkelman: 363; cf. Dorinson: 74.
  254. Jump up^ Miller, Patrick B. (2004). "Muscular assimilationism: sport and the paradoxes of racial reform". In Charles K. Ross.Race and Sport. Jackson, Miss.: University Press of Mississippi. pp. 149–150. ISBN 1-57806-657-3.
  255. Jump up^ Duberman: 81.
  256. Jump up^ Duberman: 90; cf. Bogle 2001: 100, Nollen: ?
  257. Jump up^ Von Eschen: 185.
  258. Jump up^ "National Historic Landmarks Program". 2012-01-03. p. 71 |chapter=Jump up
  259. Jump up^ O'Malley, Padraig. . Nelson Mandela Centre of Memory.
  260. Jump up^ . Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
  261. Jump up^ Armour, Nanc. The Day (Reid MacCluggage). pp. C6.
  262. Jump up^. Missing or empty|title= (help)
  263. Jump up^ . The New York Times. February 25, 1998.
  264. Jump upJump up
  265. . 20
  266. Jump up
  267. Jump up^ Curthoys: 178–180; cf. Duberman 491.
  268. Jump up^  (in German). Hu-berlin.de.
  269. Jump up^ Duberman: 557.
  270. Jump up^ . 515 Malcolm X Boulevard. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  271. Jump up^ Von Eschen: 1–2.
  272. Jump up^ Balaji: 430–432.
  273. Jump up^ Hagen & Hiebert, "Reflections on a Life: Paul Ro.untoldlondon.org.uk. Retrieved 7 May2013.
  274. Jump up^ . United States Postal Service. Retrieved Sep 2, 2013.
  275. . The Criterion Collection. Retrieved Dec 8, 2013.
  276. Jump up^ Richards, Larry: 231.

Primary materials[edit]

  • Dent, Roberta Yancy, with Marilyn Robeson and Paul Robeson, Jr. eds. Paul Robeson, Tributes, Selected Writings. New York: The Archives, 1976. OCLC .
  • Foner, Philip S., ed. Paul Robeson Speaks: Writings, Speeches, Interviews, 1918–1974. Larchmont: Brunner/Mazel, 1978. ISBN 0-87630-179-0
  • Robeson, Paul Leroy (1919-06-10).. The Targum 50, 1918–1919: 570–1.
  • Robeson, Paul; with Brown, Lloyd L. (1998). Here I Stand. (2nd ed.). Boston: Beacon Press. ISBN 0-8070-6445-9.
  • Robeson, Paul (2000). "An Actor's Wanderings and Hopes". In Sondra Kathryn Wilson. The Messenger Reader. New York: The Modern Library. pp. 292–293. ISBN 0-375-75539-X.

Biographies[edit]

Film biographies and documentaries about Robeson

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