The Undiscovered Paul Robeson

Paul Robeson

Description

The long-awaited, untold, inside story of the rise of the legendary actor, singer, scholar, and activist. The first volume of this major biography breaks new ground.

The greatest scholar-athlete-performing artist in U.S. history, Paul Robeson was one of the most compelling figures of the twentieth century.

Now his son, Paul Robeson Jr., traces the dramatic arc of his rise to fame, painting a definitive picture of Paul Robeson's formative years. His father was an escaped slave; his mother, a descendent of freedmen; and his wife, the brilliant and ambitious Eslanda Cardozo Goode. With a law degree from Columbia University; a professional football career; title roles in Eugene O'Neill's plays and in Shakespeare's Othello; and a concert career in America and Europe, Robeson dominated his era.

This unprecedented biography reveals the depth of Robeson's cultural scholarship, explores the contradictions he bridged in his personal and political life, and describes his emergence as a symbol of the anticolonial and antifascist struggles. Filled with previously unpublished photographs and source materials from the private diaries and letters of Paul and Eslanda Robeson, this is the epic story of a forerunner who now stands as one of America's greatest heroes.
Preface: Paul Robeson: "I Am Myself".

MOTHERLESS CHILD (1898-1919).

The Preacher's Son (1898-1915).

In His Glory: Robeson of Rutgers (1915-1919).

DESTINY AND DECISION (1919-1926).

Essie (1919-1921).

A Taste of Theater (1922).

The Performer Triumphs (1923-1924).

Seeker of Grace (1925-1926).

FROM PERFORMER TO ARTIST (1926-1932).

"Ol' Man River" (1926-1928).

"The Power to Create Beauty" (1928-1929).

To Feed His Soul (1930).

Troubled Spirit (1930-1931).

Giver of Grace (1931-1932).

TRIBUNE OF A CULTURE (1933-1936).

Film and the Politics of Culture (1933-1934).

Test Run: London-Moscow-Hollywood (1934-1935).

White Film, Black Culture (1936).

TO BE A PROPHET (1936-1939).

Russia's Sun: Stalin's Shadow (1936-1937).

Spain's Ramparts: "The Artist Must Elect" (1938).

A Home in That Rock (1938-1939).

Notes.

Index.

Sujets

• Ethnic
• Cultural
• Biography
• African-American history
• Regional
• Paul Robeson
• Autobiography

Informations

• Publié par: Turner Publishing Company
• Date de parution: 02 mai 2008
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9780470350706
• Langue: English

Extrait

THE UNDISCOVERED PAUL ROBESON
THE UNDISCOVERED PAUL ROBESON

An Artist’s Journey, 1898–1939
Paul Robeson, Jr.

John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
New York • Chichester • Weinheim • Brisbane • Singapore • Toronto
Copyright © 2001 by Paul Robeson, Jr. All rights reserved
Published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning, or otherwise, except as permitted under Section 107 or 108 of the 1976 United States Copyright Act, without either the prior written permission of the Publisher, or authorization through payment of the appropriate per-copy fee to the Copyright Clearance Center, 222 Rosewood Drive, Danvers, MA 01923, [phone], fax [phone]. Requests to the Publisher for permission should be addressed to the Permissions Department, John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 605 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10158-0012, [phone], fax [phone], email: [e-mail] .
This title is also available in print as ISBN 0-471-24265-9.
For more information about Wiley products, visit our Web site at www.Wiley.com
To my wife, Marilyn, for her wise words, and for her gift of innumerable moments of inspiration and solace
Who shall let this world be beautiful? Who shall restore to men the glory of sunsets and the peace of quiet sleep? … It is the bounden duty of black America to begin this great work of the creation of beauty, of the preservation of beauty, of the realization of beauty.

W. E. B. DuBois, 1926
CONTENTS

Preface: Paul Robeson: “I Am Myself”

   I. M OTHERLESS C HILD (1898–1919)
1 The Preacher’s Son (1898–1915)
2 In His Glory: Robeson of Rutgers (1915–1919)

  II. D ESTINY AND D ECISION (1919–1926)
3 Essie (1919–1921)
4 A Taste of Theater (1922)
5 The Performer Triumphs (1923–1924)
6 Seeker of Grace (1925–1926)

III. F ROM P ERFORMER TO A RTIST (1926–1932)
7 “Ol’ Man River” (1926–1928)
8 “The Power to Create Beauty” (1928–1929)
9 To Feed His Soul (1930)
10 Troubled Spirit (1930–1931)
11 Giver of Grace (1931–1932)


IV. T RIBUNE OF A C ULTURE (1933–1936)
12 Film and the Politics of Culture (1933–1934)
13 Test Run: London–Moscow–Hollywood (1934–1935)
14 White Film, Black Culture (1936)

V. T O B E A P ROPHET (1936–1939)
15 Russia’s Sun; Stalin’s Shadow (1936–1937)
16 Spain’s Ramparts: “The Artist Must Elect” (1938)
17 A Home in That Rock (1938–1939)

Notes

Index

Photo sections begin on pages 102 and 247
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
For both insights and material, I am grateful to many sources. My most important source has been my father himself. Through many conversations over a period of forty-two years, he shared with me a significant part of his inner life and his world outlook. My collection of tape recordings of him speaking in both public and private settings was also of great help in defining his personal style.
My most comprehensive source consisted of the Paul Robeson and Eslanda Robeson Collections—some thirty thousand letters, diaries, notes, interviews, writings, speeches, photographs, programs, notebooks, books with marginalia, annotated music sheets, and news clippings—accumulated over five decades. Diaries written by my mother for the years 1924–1926, 1928, 1930–1934, 1938, and 1939 were especially helpful, providing not only unique insights but also background and color. My father’s own 1934–1936 notes on culture, combined with his 1929 diary and extensive unpublished writings, offered important examples of his thinking during the critical years of his artistic, intellectual, and political growth.
This book could not have been written, nor could his legacy have been preserved, without the unwavering dedication of my mother, who meticulously saved the items that now constitute the Robeson Collections.
My father paid a fitting tribute both to her accomplishments and to her loyalty. On the dedication page of his autobiography, Here I Stand , he wrote:

To Eslanda Goode Robeson , distinguished writer and anthropologist:

thanks for many things—

For your untiring labors in the interests of the African peoples;

For your devotion to the struggle of our folk here in America for full freedom;

For your constructive analyses of the momentous events at the United Nations;

For your deeply shared belief in and labors for the attainment of a lasting peace for all the peoples of the earth;

And deepest gratitude for your help and guidance over many years of struggle, aspiration, achievement, and the constant awareness of a better future for our children and grandchildren.
The many conversations I had over the years with my mother and with my parents’ closest friends provided me with additional perceptions and nuances of my father’s character.
I am especially grateful to the Paul Robeson Archives and its two directors: Roberta Yancy and Marilyn Robeson. For a decade, from 1973 through 1983, the Archives organized, preserved, duplicated, transcribed, and catalogued the materials that are now known as the Paul Robeson and Eslanda Robeson Collections. In addition, the Archives acquired and continues to administer an extensive collection of Robeson documentary film, feature film, and videotape from both domestic and foreign sources. This visual archive, combined with the Archives Collection of duplicates of the Robeson Collections, eased my research burden immensely.
Many thanks also to Harry Belafonte, who in 1973 produced the historic Seventy-fifth Birthday Salute to Paul Robeson at Carnegie Hall. This gala event marked the beginning of my father’s return to America’s cultural mainstream and financed the creation of the Paul Robeson Archives.
Many people helped with the conceptualization and writing of this book. I am indebted to them all, but I can mention only a few. Janet Hulstrand edited my first and most disorganized draft with loving care, helping me to pare it down and to focus on the essentials. Carole Hall, my editor at John Wiley & Sons, guided me through two difficult drafts, helping me to make critical decisions. Her skillful, considerate, and dedicated support allowed me to extend myself far beyond my expectations. Mary Dorian did an excellent job of copyediting the final manuscript, as did Lisa Vaia, associate managing editor.
My wife, Marilyn, has served as an invaluable reader-critic-consultant throughout this project, often providing me with new insights and unforeseen options.
My literary agent and friend, Lawrence Jordan, has patiently and tenaciously shepherded this project through good and bad times for five years with unflagging energy. He never lost faith in its ultimate success. For this and for his staunch moral support, my deepest thanks.
PREFACE
PAUL ROBESON: “I AM MYSELF”
There is a vast contradiction between Paul Robeson’s current relative obscurity and the majesty of his achievements over a fifty-year career. Although he is the only African-American charter member of the National Theater Hall of Fame, his name does not appear in the index of Notable Names in the American Theater , and he has no entry of his own in Famous Actors of the American Stage . In 1944, at the peak of his career, American Magazine called him “America’s number one Negro,” yet five years later, in 1949, he was the nation’s most vilified black man. For the next twenty-seven years, until his death in 1976, he was blacklisted as an artist in the United States.
The reason for his banishment from the nation’s public life lies in his relentless challenge not only to anti-black stereotypes but also to the cultural foundations of American racism. Touted in the 1940s as the ultimate black role model and the “proof” that the American system worked for blacks, he nevertheless condemned the system for failing to provide the same opportunities for all African-Americans.
The media-nurtured myth that his political persecution stemmed from a “love affair” with communism, or that he was “duped” by Russian or American communists, has always been aimed at obfuscating his dedication to the goal of immediate and full freedom for his people. The truth is that my father was never a communist, nor did he ever seriously contemplate joining the Communist Party. His defense of the Soviet Union and his refusal to abandon his communist friends did not stem from a fascination with left-wing ideology or from personal pride. Rather, these decisions were based on his love of Russian culture and his conviction that the Soviet Union and communists in general were the most reliable opponents of Nazism, colonialism, and racism.
Another false but persistent image of my father is that he was a bitter, disillusioned recluse during his years of retirement. This myth, too, has been deliberately manufactured by the mass media. After illness had robbed him of his artistic and prophetic gifts, he felt no obligation, even to his admirers, to appear in public or to see anyone outside of his select personal circle. In retirement, he declared his personal life off-limits to all but those of his personal choice. At the same time, he basked in the glow of the massive civil rights victories of the sixties. Fully aware of his singular contribution, he needed no medals or acknowledgments.
I hope to tell his story as it was, and with no attempt at political, racial, or any other kind of “correctness.” Since in life he despised sycophants, it would be an insult to his memory if I were to make the slightest attempt to satisfy those who crave a Robeson icon, those who wish to worship at a shrine, or those who are beguiled by his political persona. Driven for different reasons, they pose as staunch defenders of the Robeson image against all manner of real and imagined detractors. But Paul Robeson has nothing to fear from history, from the public, or from any critic; his true image speaks for itself and needs no polishin