Paul Robeson
Storyboard Text
- 1898Paul Leroy Robeson was born in Princeton, New Jersey, in 1898, to Reverend William Drew Robeson and Maria Louisa Bustill.Robeson had three brothers: William Drew Jr. (born 1881), Reeve (born 1887), and Ben (born 1893); and one sister, Marian (born 1895).
- 1898 - 1915Robeson 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.
- 1915-1932In late 1915, Robeson became the third African American student ever enrolled at Rutgers, and the only one at the time. He moved to Harlem and transferred to Columbia Law School in February 1920. Worked briefly as a lawyer, but he renounced a career in law due to widespread racism.
- He gave his theatrical debut as Simon in Ridgely Torrence's Simon of Cyrene. The success of his acting placed him in elite social circles and his ascension to fame, which was forcefully aided by his wife, had occurred at a startling pace.
- 1937-1949Robeson 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. He supported communism and even traveled to the Soviet Union on an invitation from Sergei Eisenstein in December 1934. On his arrival in Moscow, in the Soviet Union, Robeson said, "Here I am not a Negro but a human being for the first time in my life ... I walk in full human dignity."
- Thank you for the invitation
- welcome to Russia! I hope we work together
- 1950-1958His history of supporting civil rights causes and 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 McCarthy era. Due to his decision not to recant his public advocacy, he was denied a passport by the U.S. State Department, and his income, consequently, plummeted. He moved to Harlem and from 1950 to 1955 published a periodical called Freedom which was critical of United States policies. His right to travel was eventually restored as a result of the 1958 United States Supreme Court decision Kent V. Dulles.
- we have rights!!
- justice!
- No more injustice !!
- We have rights!
- 1960-1976In the early 1960s, he retired and lived the remaining years of his life privately in Philadelphia.On January 23, 1976, following complications of a stroke, Robeson died in Philadelphia at the age of 77.
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