Who was Paul Robeson? ~

"To be free . . . to walk the good American earth as equal citizens, to live without fear, to enjoy the fruits of our toil, to give our children every opportunity in life--that dream which we have held so long in our hearts is today the destiny that we hold in our hands."   -- Paul Robeson

Biography                      ....(NOTE:  Click HERE for a bio suitable for younger children.)

Paul Robeson 1898 – 1976

Paul Robeson is considered a true Renaissance man of his time. He was talented in so many fields that he still remains bigger than life – even to this day. He was an All-American athlete, singer, actor and civil rights advocate for people around the world. He rose to prominence when segregation was legal in the United States and African-Americans were being lynched by white mobs, especially in the South.

Paul Robeson was born in Princeton, New Jersey on April 9, 1898. He was one of five siblings. His father, William Drew Robeson, was a church minister. A former slave, William Robeson escaped from a North Carolina plantation and later graduated from Lincoln University in Pennsylvania. Paul Robeson’s mother, Maria Louisa Bustill, came from a family of free Black Quaker Abolitionists. She was a teacher and died when Paul was only five years old.

In 1910, the family moved to Somerville, New Jersey. Here Robeson’s father became pastor of St. Thomas A.M.E. Zion Church. Paul attended Somerville High School and graduated with honors in 1915. He excelled in academics, athletics, singing, and acting.

Robeson’s family knew both hardship and the determination reqired to rise above it. His own life was no less challenging. His father impressed upon him two defining principles, and it was by these principles he lived his life. He believed that a person had a duty to serve not only one’s “own” race, but the entire human race as well. He also believed that a person should stand up for one’s principles, without fail or excuse.

In 1915, Paul won a four year academic scholarship to Rutgers University. He was the third African-American student accepted at Rutgers, and was the only Black student on campus during his time at the University.

At Rutgers, Paul continued his exemplary skills and perseverance in both academics and sports. Though he was initially subjected to violence and racism from his teammates, he was eventually embraced by them and won 15 varsity letters in football, baseball, basketball, and track and field.

Paul was twice named to the All-American Football team (1917 and 1918.) Football coach Walter Camp described him as “the greatest to ever trot the gridiron.” However, it wasn’t until 1995, 19 years after his death, that Paul Robeson was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame.

He received the Phi Beta Kappa key in his junior year, belonged to the Cap & Skull Honor Society, and graduated as Valedictorian.

After graduation from Rutgers, Robeson moved to Harlem and earned a law degree at Columbia. While at Columbia Law School (1919-1923,) Robeson met and married Eslanda (Essis) Cardozo Goode, who was to become the first Black woman to head a pathology laboratory. Cardozo Goode was related to U.S. Supreme Court Justice Benjamin Cardozo. Robeson and his wife had one child: Paul Robeson II, born in 1927.

At Columbia, Robeson joined Alpha Phi Alpha, a traditionally African-American fraternity. Alfa Phi Alpha, also his father’s Alma Mater, is the oldest intercollegiate Greek-letter fraternity.

Between 1920 and 1923, Robeson helped pay his way through law school by working as an athlete and as a performer. He played professional football in the American Professional Football Association (later called the National Football League) with the Akron Pros and Milwaukee Badgers. This was a full 20 years before Jackie Robinson “broke” the color barrier. Robeson also served as assistant football coach at Lincoln University in Pennsylvania. His artistic activities during this time included playing Taboo in New York and in London in 1922.

He graduated from Columbia in 1923 and was hired as a law clerk at the law firm of Stotesbury and Miner in New York City. He left the firm however when a white secretary refused to take dictation from him. He then left the practice of law to use his artistic talents in theater and music to promote African and African-American history and culture. He also later studied at the School of Oriental and African Studies at the University of London.

Robeson was known to have one of the few true bass-baritone voices in American music. His powerful voice brought him fame as a singer and actor. In addition to his stage performances, his renditions of old spirituals were acclaimed, and Robeson was the first to bring them to the concert state.

Robeson may best be remembered for his performance as Joe in Showboat, in which he first appeared in London in 1928. He also starred in the musical on Broadway (1932) and in the film version in 1936. Robeson’s “Ol’ Man River” became the standard by which to measure all others. He is known for changing the lines of “Ol’ Man River” from the meek “I’m tired of livin’ and ‘feared of dyin’,” to a declaration of resistance, “I must keep fightin’ until I’m dying.”

In London, Robeson earned international acclaim for his lead role in Othello, and performed in Eugene O’Neil’s Emperor Jones and All God’s Chillun Got Wings. His 11 films included Body and Soul (1924), Jericho (1937), and Proud Valley (1939). Robeson’s travels taught him that racism was not as virulent in Europe as in the U.S.

Paul Robeson used his deep baritone voice to promote Black spirituals, to share the cultures of other countries, and to benefit the labor and social movements of his time. He spoke and sang for peace and justice in 25 languages throughout U.S., Europe and the Soviet Union, and Africa. Robeson became known as a citizen of the world, equally comfortable with the people of Moscow, Spain and Harlem. Among his friends were future African leader Jomo Kenyatta, India’s Nehru, historian Dr. W.E.B. DuBois, anarchist Emma Goldman and writers James Joyce and Ernest Hemingway.

Through his travels abroad, Robeson discovered that racism was not as prevalent in Europe as it was in the United States. In the U.S., when Robeson entered a theater through the front door, or during his performances, he encountered intimidation and protest. In London, however, he was welcomed with open arms and ovations. Therefore, to promote the universality of music and to promote intercultural understanding, Robeson continued to perform Negro spirituals and other cultures’ folk songs throughout the world. His ongoing mission was to break the barriers of racism and to promote multi-culture acceptance and understanding.

To further his cause, Robeson participated in political activism to advance his cause. In 1933, Robeson donated all of his proceeds from All God’s Chillun to Jewish refugees fleeing Hitler’s Germany.

At a 1934 rally for the anti-fascist forces of the Spanish Civil War, Robeson participated by giving a concert. The Civil War stopped for this one day event where Robeson declared “The artist must elect to fight for Freedom or Slavery. I have made my choice. I had no alternative.”

In New York in 1939, Robeson premiered in Earl Robinson’s Ballad for Americans, a cantata celebrating the multi-ethnic, multi-racial face of America. It was greeted with the largest audience response since Orson Welles’ famous “War of the Worlds.” It was even sung at the Republican Presidential convention.

During the 1940's Robeson continued to have success on the stage, in films, and in concert halls, but he also remained face to face with prejudice and racism.

After finding the Soviet Union to be a tolerant and friendly nation, he began to protest growing Cold War hostilities between the United States and the Soviet Union. He began to question why African-Americans should support a government that did not treat them as equals. After living as a second-class citizen under Jim Crow laws in the U.S., what Robeson saw in the Soviet Union led him to believe that it was free of racial prejudice. Describing his experience in Russia, Robeson said “Here, for the first time in my life, I walk in full human dignity.”

In 1945 Robeson headed an organization that challenged President Truman to support an anti-lynching law. In the late 1940s, when dissent was scarcely tolerated in the U.S., Robeson openly questioned why African-Americans should fight in the army of a government that tolerated racism. Because of his outspokenness, he was accused by House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) of being a Communist. Robeson saw this as an attack on the democratic rights of everyone who worked for international friendship and for equality. The accusation nearly ended his career. Eighty of his concerts were canceled, and in 1949 two interracial outdoor concerts in Peekskill, N.Y. were attacked by white mobs while state police stood by. Robeson responded “I’m going to sing wherever the people want me to sing and I won’t be frightened by crosses burning in Peekskill or anywhere else.”

In 1950, after refusing to sign an affidavit that he was not a communist, the U.S. revoked Robeson’s passport, leading to an eight-year battle to re-secure it and to travel again. During this time he was not able to travel outside the United States. During those years, Robeson studied Chinese, met with Albert Einstein to discuss the prospects for world peace and published his auto-biography, Here I Stand. During those years Robeson’s name became synonymous with left wing causes and to even mention his name caused the government to accuse the speaker of being a communist. As a result, references to Robeson were deleted from sports records and even history books – resulting in a whole generation of young Americans knowing nothing about him or his accomplishments.

In 1958, Robeson’s 60^{th birthday was celebrated in several U.S. cities in 27 countries across Europe, the Soviet Union, Latin America, Asia and Africa. In May of 1958, Robeson’s passport was finally restored by the U.S. government and Robeson moved to the United Kingdom where he traveled extensively. He spent five years touring the world and singing throughout Europe, Australia and New Zealand. He developed health problems during his travels, and spent some time in Russian and East German hospitals.}

Robeson returned to live in the United States in 1963. For the remainder of his life he was plagued by ill health and his appearances were few. In celebration of Robeson’s 75th birthday in 1973, over 3,000 people gathered in Carnegie Hall, including such names as Ramsey Clark, Pete Seeger, Angela Davis, Dolores Huerta, Dizzy Gillespie, Odetta, Leon Bibb, Sidney Poitier, Harry Belafonte, James Earl Jones, Zero Mostel, Rosoe Lee Browne, Ossie Davis, Ruby Dee and Coretta Scott King. Birthday greetings were also received from around the world. Robeson was unable to attend the event due to his poor health, but a taped message was played, which said in part “Though I have not been able to be active for several years, I want you to know I am the same Paul, dedicated as ever to the worldwide cause of humanity for freedom, peace and brotherhood.”

In 1976, at the age of 77, Paul Robeson died in Philadelphia.

A century after his birth, in 1998, a movement to rekindle awareness and knowledge about Paul Robeson took place, in the form of Centennial Committees, conferences, art and film showings, and other events throughout the world. As part of this movement, a campaign to petition the U.S. Government to issue a Postage Stamp in his honor began. Hundreds of thousands of signatures were gathered and submitted to the government. The Paul Robeson Community Center was the central organizer and coordinator of these events and campaign in Los Angeles. Finally, in January 2004, the “Paul Robeson Stamp” was issued, and its unveiling was co-sponsored by the US Postal Service and the Paul Robeson Community Center at The Highlands. The Highland Park Post Office was re-named “The Paul Robeson Post Office” on January 25, 2004, the day of the Los Angeles unveiling. Slowly, Paul Robeson is again gaining the appreciation and admiration of the people United States which he sought to advance throughout his lifetime.

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The Paul Robeson Community Center
6569 S. Vermont Ave. (between Gage and Florence
Los Angeles, CA 90044  ---  (323) 752-7285