Paul Leroy Robeson ( ROHB-sən; April 9, 1898 – January 23, 1976) was an American bass-baritone concert artist, actor, professional football player, and activist who became famous both for his cultural accomplishments and for his political stances.
In 1915, Robeson won an academic scholarship to Rutgers College in New Brunswick, New Jersey, where he was the only African-American student. While at Rutgers, he was twice named a consensus All-American in football and was elected class valedictorian. He earned his LL.B. from Columbia Law School while playing in the National Football League (NFL). After graduation, he became a figure in the Harlem Renaissance, with performances in Eugene O'Neill's The Emperor Jones and All God's Chillun Got Wings.
Robeson performed in Britain in the touring melodrama Voodoo in 1922, and in Emperor Jones in 1925. In 1928, he scored a major success in the London premiere of Show Boat. Living in London for several years with his wife Eslanda, Robeson continued to establish himself as a concert artist, and he starred in a London production of Othello, the first of three productions of the play over the course of his career. He also gained attention in Sanders of the River (1935) and in the film production of Show Boat (1936).
Robeson's political activities began with his involvement with unemployed workers and anti-imperialist students in Britain, and it continued with his support for the Republican cause during the Spanish Civil War, the Soviet Union and Joseph Stalin, and his involvement in the Council on African Affairs.
During the Second World War, Robeson initially opposed Allied war efforts and U.S. entry into the conflict during the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact, but he became a highly vocal supporter of the war efforts after the German invasion of the Soviet Union. His history of supporting Soviet policies brought scrutiny from the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). After the war, the Council on African Affairs was placed on the Attorney General's List of Subversive Organizations. Robeson was investigated during the McCarthy era. When he refused to recant his public advocacy for the Soviet Union, the U.S. State Department withdrew his passport, and his income plummeted. He moved to Harlem and published a periodical called Freedom, which was critical of United States policies, from 1950 to 1955. Robeson's right to travel was eventually restored as a result of the 1958 United States Supreme Court decision Kent v. Dulles.
Between 1925 and 1961, Robeson released recordings of about 270 songs. The first of these was the spiritual "Steal Away", backed with "Were You There", in 1925. Robeson's recorded repertoire spanned many styles, including Americana, popular standards, classical music, European folk songs, political songs, poetry, and spoken excerpts from plays.
Robeson was born in Princeton, New Jersey, in 1898, to Reverend William Drew Robeson and Maria Louisa Bustill. His mother was a member of the Bustills, a prominent Quaker family of mixed ancestry. His father was of Igbo origin and was born into slavery. William escaped from a plantation in his teens and eventually became the minister of Princeton's Witherspoon Street Presbyterian Church in 1881. 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).
In 1900, a disagreement between William and white financial supporters of the Witherspoon church arose with apparent racial undertones, which were prevalent in Princeton. William, who had the support of his entirely black congregation, resigned in 1901. The loss of his position forced him to work menial jobs. Three years later, when Robeson was six, his mother, who was nearly blind, died in a house fire. 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.
William found a stable parsonage at the St. Thomas A.M.E. Zion in 1910, where Robeson filled in for his father during sermons when he was called away. In 1912, Robeson began attending Somerville High School in New Jersey, where he performed in Julius Caesar and Othello, sang in the chorus, and excelled in football, basketball, baseball, and track. His athletic dominance elicited racial taunts, which he ignored. Prior to his graduation, he won a statewide academic contest for a scholarship to Rutgers and was named class valedictorian. 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.
In late 1915, Robeson became the third African-American student ever enrolled at Rutgers, and the only one at the time. He tried out for the Rutgers Scarlet Knights football team, and his resolve to make the squad was tested when his teammates engaged in excessive play, during which his nose was broken and his shoulder dislocated. The coach, Foster Sanford, decided that Robeson had overcome the provocation and announced that he had made the team.
Robeson joined the Rutgers debating team. He sang off-campus for spending money and on-campus with the Glee Club informally, as membership required attending all-white mixers. He also joined the other collegiate athletic teams. As a sophomore, amidst Rutgers' sesquicentennial celebration, Robeson was benched when a Southern football team, Washington and Lee University, refused to take the field because the Scarlet Knights had fielded an African American.
After a standout junior year of football, he was recognized in The Crisis for his athletic, academic, and singing talents. At that time his father fell grievously ill. Robeson took the sole responsibility in caring for him, shuttling between Rutgers and Somerville. His father, who was the "glory of his boyhood years" soon died, and at Rutgers, Robeson expounded on the incongruity of African Americans fighting to protect America during World War I but not having the same opportunities in the United States as whites.
He finished university with four annual oratorical triumphs and varsity letters in multiple sports. His football playing as end won him first-team All-American selection in both his junior and senior years. Walter Camp considered him the greatest end ever. Academically, Robeson was accepted into Phi Beta Kappa and Cap and Skull. His classmates recognized him by electing him class valedictorian. The Daily Targum published a poem featuring his achievements. In his valedictory speech, he exhorted his classmates to work for equality for all Americans. At Rutgers, Robeson also gained a reputation for his singing. His voice was described as deep and rich; some saw it as bass with a high range, others as baritone with low notes. Throughout his career, Robeson was classified as a bass-baritone.
1919–1923: Columbia Law School and marriage
Robeson entered New York University School of Law in the fall of 1919. To support himself, he became an assistant football coach at Lincoln University, where he joined the Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity. However, Robeson felt uncomfortable at NYU and moved to Harlem then transferred to Columbia Law School in February 1920. Already known in the black community for his singing, he was selected to perform at the dedication of the Harlem YWCA.
Robeson began dating Eslanda "Essie" Goode and after her coaxing, he made his theatrical debut as Simon in Ridgely Torrence's Simon the Cyrenian. After a year of courtship, they were married in August 1921.
Robeson was recruited by Fritz Pollard to play for the NFL's Akron Pros while he continued his law studies. In the spring of 1922, Robeson postponed school to portray Jim in Mary Hoyt Wiborg's play Taboo. He then sang in the chorus of an Off-Broadway production of Shuffle Along before he joined Taboo in Britain. The play was adapted by Mrs Patrick Campbell to highlight his singing. After the play's run ended, he befriended Lawrence Benjamin Brown, a classically trained musician, before returning to Columbia while playing for the NFL's Milwaukee Badgers. Robeson ended his football career after the 1922 season, and he graduated from Columbia Law School in 1923.