Paul Robeson

File:PAUL ROBESON HOUSE, PRINCETON, MERCER COUNTY.jpg]]

Robeson was born in Princeton, New Jersey, in 1898, to Reverend William Drew Robeson and Maria Louisa Bustill.{{harvnb|Robeson|2001|p=[http://media.wiley.com/product_data/excerpt/59/04712426/0471242659.pdf 3]}}; cf. {{harvnb|Boyle|Bunie|2005|p=18}}, {{harvnb|Duberman|1989|pp=4–5}} His mother, Maria, was a member of the Bustills, a prominent Quaker family of mixed ancestry.{{harvnb|Brown|1997|pp=5–6, 145–149}}; cf. {{harvnb|Robeson|2001|pp=4–5}}; {{harvnb|Boyle|Bunie|2005|pp=10–12}} His father, William, was of Igbo origin and was born into slavery.{{harvnb|Nollen|2010}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.morningstaronline.co.uk/a-2d78-The-inheritor-of-his-fathers-political-mantle#.Wb5J9ciGM2x|title=The inheritor of his father's political mantle|access-date=September 17, 2017|work=Morning Star|date=May 1, 2014|first=Hywel|last=Francis|author-link=Hywel Francis|archive-date=September 17, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170917171056/https://www.morningstaronline.co.uk/a-2d78-The-inheritor-of-his-fathers-political-mantle#.Wb5J9ciGM2x|url-status=live}} William escaped from a plantation in his teens{{harvnb|Robeson|2001|pp=4, 337–338}}; cf. {{harvnb|Boyle|Bunie|2005|p=4}}, {{harvnb|Duberman|1989|p=4}}, {{harvnb|Brown|1997|pp=9–10}} and eventually became the minister of Princeton's Witherspoon Street Presbyterian Church in 1881.{{harvnb|Boyle|Bunie|2005|pp=5–6, 14}}; cf. {{harvnb|Robeson|2001|pp=4–5}}, {{harvnb|Duberman|1989|pp=4–6}}, {{harvnb|Brown|1997|pp=17, 26}} Robeson had three brothers: William Drew Jr. (born 1881), Reeve (born {{circa|1887}}), and Ben (born {{circa|1893}}); and one sister, Marian (born {{circa|1895}}).{{harvnb|Robeson|2001|p=3}}; cf. {{harvnb|Boyle|Bunie|2005|p=18}}, {{harvnb|Brown|1997|p=21}}

In 1900, a disagreement between William and white financial supporters of the Witherspoon church arose with apparent racial undertones,{{harvnb|Duberman|1989|pp=6–7}}; cf. {{harvnb|Robeson|2001|pp=5–6}}, {{harvnb|Boyle|Bunie|2005|pp=18–20}} which were prevalent in Princeton.{{harvnb|Boyle|Bunie|2005|pp=16–17}}; cf. {{harvnb|Duberman|1989|p=12}} William, who had the support of his entirely black congregation, resigned in 1901.{{harvnb|Robeson|2001|pp=5–6}}; cf. {{harvnb|Duberman|1989|pp=6–9}}, {{harvnb|Boyle|Bunie|2005|pp=18–20}}, {{harvnb|Brown|1997|p=26}} The loss of his position forced him to work menial jobs.{{harvnb|Duberman|1989|p=9}}; cf. {{harvnb|Boyle|Bunie|2005|p=21}}, {{harvnb|Robeson|2001|pp=6–7}}, {{harvnb|Brown|1997|p=28}} Three years later when Robeson was six, his mother, who was nearly blind, died in a house fire.{{harvnb|Boyle|Bunie|2005|pp=22–23}}; cf. {{harvnb|Duberman|1989|p=8}}, {{harvnb|Robeson|2001|pp=7–8}}, {{harvnb|Brown|1997|pp=25–29}}; cf. {{harvnb|Seton|1958|p=7}} 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.{{harvnb|Robeson|2001|p=11}}; cf. {{harvnb|Duberman|1989|p=9}}, {{harvnb|Boyle|Bunie|2005|pp=27–29}}

William found a stable parsonage at the St. Thomas A.M.E. Zion in 1910,{{harvnb|Duberman|1989|pp=9–10}}; cf. {{harvnb|Brown|1997|p=39}}, {{harvnb|Robeson|2001|pp=13–14}} where Robeson filled in for his father during sermons when he was called away.{{harvnb|Robeson|2001|p=17}}; cf. {{harvnb|Duberman|1989|p=30}}, {{harvnb|Brown|1997|pp=46–47}} In 1912, Robeson began attending Somerville High School in New Jersey,{{harvnb|Boyle|Bunie|2005|pp=37–38}}; cf. {{harvnb|Duberman|1989|p=12}}, {{harvnb|Brown|1997|pp=49–51}} where he performed in Julius Caesar and Othello, sang in the chorus, and excelled in football, basketball, baseball and track.{{harvnb|Duberman|1989|pp=13–16}}; cf. {{harvnb|Boyle|Bunie|2005|pp=34–36}}, {{harvnb|Brown|1997|pp=43, 46, 48–49}} His athletic dominance elicited racial taunts which he ignored.{{harvnb|Boyle|Bunie|2005|pp=37–38}}; cf. {{harvnb|Robeson|2001|p=16}}, {{harvnb|Duberman|1989|pp=13–16}}, {{harvnb|Brown|1997|pp=46–47}} Prior to his graduation, he won a statewide academic contest for a scholarship to Rutgers and was named class valedictorian.{{harvnb|Boyle|Bunie|2005|pp=41–42}}; cf. {{harvnb|Brown|1997|pp=54–55}}, {{harvnb|Duberman|1989|p=17}}, {{harvnb|Robeson|2001|pp=17–18}}; contra. The dispute is over whether it was a one-year or four-year scholarship. {{cite news |id={{ProQuest|498725929}} |title=Robeson Found Emphasis to Win Too Great in College Football: Giant Negro Actor and Singer, Former Grid Star, Says Color Prejudices Forgotten on Stage |newspaper=Boston Daily Globe |date=March 13, 1926 |page=A7 }} 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.{{harvnb|Duberman|1989|p=11}}; cf. {{harvnb|Boyle|Bunie|2005|pp=40–41}}, {{harvnb|Seton|1958|pp=18–19}}, {{harvnb|Brown|1997|pp=53–54, 65}}, {{harvnb|Carroll|1998|p=58}}

File:Pollard and Robeson.jpg (left) and Robeson in a photo from the March 1918 issue of The Crisis]]

In late 1915, Robeson became the third African-American student ever enrolled at Rutgers, and the only one at the time.{{harvnb|Duberman|1989|p=19}}; cf. {{harvnb|Brown|1997|pp=60, 64}}, {{harvnb|Gilliam|1978|p=}}, {{harvnb|Robeson|2001|p=20}} He tried out for the Rutgers Scarlet Knights football team,{{harvnb|Boyle|Bunie|2005|pp=45–49}}; cf. {{harvnb|Duberman|1989|pp=19, 24}}, {{harvnb|Brown|1997|pp=60, 65}} and his resolve to make the squad was tested as his teammates engaged in excessive play, during which his nose was broken and his shoulder dislocated.{{harvnb|Duberman|1989|pp=20–21}}; cf. {{harvnb|Boyle|Bunie|2005|pp=49–50}}, {{harvnb|Brown|1997|pp=61–63}} The coach, Foster Sanford, decided he had overcome the provocation and announced that he had made the team.{{cite news |last1=Gelder |first1=Robert van |title=Robeson Remembers: An Interview With the Star of Othello, Partly About His Past |id={{ProQuest|107050287}} |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1944/01/16/archives/robeson-remembers-an-interview-with-the-star-of-othello-partly.html|newspaper=The New York Times|date=January 16, 1944 |access-date=October 22, 2023 |archive-date=November 6, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231106204105/https://www.nytimes.com/1944/01/16/archives/robeson-remembers-an-interview-with-the-star-of-othello-partly.html |url-status=live }}; cf. {{harvnb|Boyle|Bunie|2005|pp=49–50}}, {{harvnb|Duberman|1989|pp=20–21}}, {{harvnb|Robeson|2001|pp=22–23}}

Robeson joined the debating team{{cite journal |last1=Yeakey |first1=Lamont H. |title=A Student Without Peer: The Undergraduate College Years of Paul Robeson |journal=The Journal of Negro Education |date=1973 |volume=42 |issue=4 |pages=489–503 |doi=10.2307/2966562 |jstor=2966562 }} and he sang off-campus for spending money,{{harvnb|Duberman|1989|p=24}}; cf. {{harvnb|Boyle|Bunie|2005|p=54}}, {{harvnb|Brown|1997|p=71}}, {{harvnb|Robeson|2001|pp=28, 31–32}} and on-campus with the Glee Club informally, as membership required attending all-white mixers.{{harvnb|Boyle|Bunie|2005|p=54}}; cf. {{harvnb|Duberman|1989|p=24}}, {{harvnb|Levy|2003|pp=1–2}}, {{harvnb|Brown|1997|p=71}}, {{harvnb|Robeson|2001|p=28}} He also joined the other collegiate athletic teams.{{harvnb|Duberman|1989|p=24}}; cf. {{harvnb|Boyle|Bunie|2005|p=54}}, {{harvnb|Brown|1997|p=70}}, {{harvnb|Robeson|2001|p=35}} As a sophomore, amidst Rutgers' sesquicentennial celebration, he was benched when a Southern football team, Washington and Lee University, refused to take the field because the Scarlet Knights had fielded a Negro, Robeson.{{harvnb|Brown|1997|pp=68–70}}; {{harvnb|Duberman|1989|pp=22–23}}, {{harvnb|Boyle|Bunie|2005|pp=59–60}}, {{harvnb|Robeson|2001|p=27}}, {{harvnb|Pitt|1972|p=42}}

After a standout junior year of football,{{harvnb|Duberman|1989|pp=22, 573}}; cf. {{harvnb|Robeson|2001|pp=29–30}}, {{harvnb|Brown|1997|pp=74–82}}, {{harvnb|Boyle|Bunie|2005|pp=65–66}} he was recognized in The Crisis for his athletic, academic, and singing talents.{{cite magazine|volume=15|issue=5|title=Men of the Month|url={{google books |plainurl=y |id=AloEAAAAMBAJ|page=229}}|date=March 1918|magazine=The Crisis|issn=0011-1422|pages=229–231}}; cf. {{harvnb|Marable|2005|p=171}} At this time{{sfn|Boyle|Bunie|2005|p=68}} his father fell grievously ill.{{harvnb|Robeson|2001|p=33}}; cf. {{harvnb|Duberman|1989|p=25}}, {{harvnb|Boyle|Bunie|2005|pp=68–69}}, {{harvnb|Brown|1997|pp=85–87}} Robeson took the sole responsibility in caring for him, shuttling between Rutgers and Somerville.{{sfn|Boyle|Bunie|2005|pp=68–69}} His father, who was the "glory of his boyhood years"{{sfn|Seton|1958|p=6}} soon died, and at Rutgers, Robeson expounded on the incongruity of African Americans fighting to protect America in World War I but not having the same opportunities in the United States as whites.{{harvnb|Duberman|1989|p=25}}; cf. {{harvnb|Boyle|Bunie|2005|pp=68–69}}, {{harvnb|Brown|1997|pp=86–87}}, {{harvnb|Robeson|2001|p=33}}

File:CapandSkull-Robeson.jpg honor society.]]

He finished university with four annual oratorical triumphs{{harvnb|Duberman|1989|p=24}}; cf. {{harvnb|Boyle|Bunie|2005|pp=69, 74, 437}}, {{harvnb|Robeson|2001|p=35}} and varsity letters in multiple sports.{{cite news|title=Hall of Fame: Robeson|date=January 19, 1995|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=NNVHAAAAIBAJ&dq=robeson%20and%20brown%20inducted%20in%20hall&pg=4842%2C2952039|work=Record-Journal|page=20|access-date=May 29, 2020|archive-date=July 28, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200728044543/https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=NNVHAAAAIBAJ&dq=robeson+and+brown+inducted+in+hall&pg=4842%2C2952039|url-status=live}}; The number of letters varies between 12 and 15 based on author; {{harvnb|Duberman|1989|p=22}}, {{harvnb|Boyle|Bunie|2005|p=73}}, {{harvnb|Robeson|2001|pp=34–35}} His football playing as end{{cite news|first=Burris|last=Jenkins|title=Four Coaches – O'Neill of Columbia, Sanderson of Rutgers, Gargan of Fordham, and Thorp of N.Y.U. – Worrying About Outcome of Impending Battles|date=September 28, 1922|url=http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83030193/1922-09-28/ed-1/seq-25/|work=The Evening World|page=24|access-date=December 10, 2011|archive-date=May 25, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130525172514/http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83030193/1922-09-28/ed-1/seq-25/|url-status=live}} won him first-team All-American selection, in both his junior and senior years. Walter Camp considered him the greatest end ever.{{harvnb|Boyle|Bunie|2005|p=66}}; cf. {{harvnb|Duberman|1989|pp=22–23}}, {{harvnb|Robeson|2001|pp=30, 35}} Academically, he was accepted into Phi Beta Kappa{{cite web|url=http://www.pbk.org/infoview/PBK_InfoView.aspx?t=&id=59|title=Who Belongs to Phi Beta Kappa?|publisher=The Phi Beta Kappa Society|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120103230618/http://www.pbk.org/infoview/PBK_InfoView.aspx?t=&id=59|url-status=dead|archive-date=January 3, 2012|access-date=October 13, 2009}}, {{harvnb|Brown|1997|p=94}}, {{harvnb|Boyle|Bunie|2005|p=74}}, {{harvnb|Duberman|1989|p=24}} and Cap and Skull.{{harvnb|Boyle|Bunie|2005|p=74}}; cf. {{harvnb|Duberman|1989|p=26}}, {{harvnb|Brown|1997|p=94}} His classmates recognized him{{harvnb|Brown|1997|pp=94–95}}; cf. {{harvnb|Duberman|1989|p=30}}, {{harvnb|Boyle|Bunie|2005|pp=75–76}}, {{harvnb|Harris|1998|p=47}} by electing him class valedictorian.{{harvnb|Duberman|1989|p=26}}; cf. {{harvnb|Boyle|Bunie|2005|p=75}}, {{harvnb|Brown|1997|p=94}}, {{harvnb|Robeson|2001|p=36}} The Daily Targum published a poem featuring his achievements.{{cite magazine|title=Paul Robeson: Remaking A Fallen Hero|magazine=Sports Illustrated|date=March 27, 1972|first=Jerry|last=Kirshenbaum|volume=36|issue=13|pages=75–77|url=https://www.si.com/vault/1972/03/27/576460/paul-robeson-remaking-a-fallen-hero|access-date=March 10, 2018|archive-date=March 10, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180310200738/https://www.si.com/vault/1972/03/27/576460/paul-robeson-remaking-a-fallen-hero|url-status=live}} 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, having a deep rich voice which some saw as bass with a high range, others as baritone with low notes. Throughout his career, Robeson was classified as a bass-baritone.{{harvnb|Robeson|1919|pages=570–571}}; cf. {{harvnb|Boyle|Bunie|2005|p=76}}, {{harvnb|Duberman|1989|pp=26–27}}, {{harvnb|Brown|1997|p=95}}, {{harvnb|Robeson|2001|pp=36–39}}

Robeson entered New York University School of Law in fall 1919.{{harvnb|Robeson|2001|p=43}}; cf. Boyle and Bunie; 78–82, {{harvnb|Brown|1997|p=107}} To support himself, he became an assistant football coach at Lincoln University,{{harvnb|Duberman|1989|p=34}}; cf. {{harvnb|Boyle|Bunie|2005|p=82}}, {{harvnb|Robeson|2001|p=44}}, {{harvnb|Carroll|1998|pp=140–141}} where he joined the Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity.{{harvnb|Brown|1997|p=111}}; cf. {{harvnb|Gilliam|1978|p=25}}, {{harvnb|Boyle|Bunie|2005|p=53}}, {{harvnb|Duberman|1989|p=41}} However, Robeson felt uncomfortable at NYU{{sfn|Boyle|Bunie|2005|p=82}} and moved to Harlem and transferred to Columbia Law School in February 1920.{{harvnb|Robeson|2001|pp=43–44}}; cf. {{harvnb|Boyle|Bunie|2005|p=82}}, {{harvnb|Brown|1997|pp=107–108}} Already known in the black community for his singing,{{harvnb|Boyle|Bunie|2005|p=143}}; cf. {{harvnb|Robeson|2001|p=45}} he was selected to perform at the dedication of the Harlem YWCA.{{harvnb|Weisenfeld|1997|pp=161–162}}; cf. {{harvnb|Seton|1958|p= 2}}

Robeson began dating Eslanda "Essie" Goode{{harvnb|Duberman|1989|pp=34–35, 37–38}}; cf. {{harvnb|Boyle|Bunie|2005|pp=87–89}}, {{harvnb|Robeson|2001|pp=46–48}} and after her coaxing,{{sfn|Duberman|1989|p=43}} he made his theatrical debut as Simon in Ridgely Torrence's Simon of Cyrene.{{harvnb|Peterson|1997|p=93}}; cf. {{harvnb|Robeson|2001|pp=48–49}}; cf. {{harvnb|Boyle|Bunie|2005|pp=89, 104}}, {{cite news |title=Who's Who |id={{ProQuest|103384313}} |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1924/05/11/archives/whos-who.html |work=The New York Times |date=May 11, 1924 |access-date=October 22, 2023 |archive-date=November 6, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231106204105/https://www.nytimes.com/1924/05/11/archives/whos-who.html |url-status=live }} After a year of courtship, they were married in August 1921.{{harvnb|Robeson|2001|pp=50–52}}; cf. {{harvnb|Duberman|1989|pp=39–41}}; cf. {{harvnb|Boyle|Bunie|2005|pp=88–89, 94}}, {{harvnb|Brown|1997|p=119}}

Robeson was recruited by Fritz Pollard to play for the NFL's Akron Pros while he continued his law studies.{{harvnb|Levy|2003|p=30}}; cf. [http://www.profootballresearchers.org/Coffin_Corner/04-12-119.pdf Akron Pros 1920 by Bob Carrol] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120311103636/http://www.profootballresearchers.org/Coffin_Corner/04-12-119.pdf|date=March 11, 2012}}, {{harvnb|Carroll|1998|pp=147–148}}, {{harvnb|Robeson|2001|p=53}} In the spring of 1922, Robeson postponed school{{sfn|Boyle|Bunie|2005|p=104–105}} to portray Jim in Mary Hoyt Wiborg's play Taboo.{{cite news|first=Charles|last=Darnton|title='Taboo' Casts Voodoo Spell|date=April 5, 1922|url=http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83030193/1922-04-05/ed-1/seq-24/|work=The Evening World|page=24|access-date=November 9, 2011|archive-date=May 25, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130525172509/http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83030193/1922-04-05/ed-1/seq-24/|url-status=live}}; cf. {{harvnb|Boyle|Bunie|2005|pp=100–105}}, [http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83030214/1922-04-05/ed-1/seq-10/;words=Paul+Robeson?date1=1836&rows=20&searchType=basic&state=&date2=1922&proxtext=paul+robeson&y=0&x=0&dateFilterType=yearRange&page=2&index=1 Review of Taboo] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200728044553/https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83030214/1922-04-05/ed-1/seq-10/?date1=1836&index=1&date2=1922&searchType=basic&state=&rows=20&proxtext=paul+robeson&y=0&x=0&dateFilterType=yearRange&page=2 |date=July 28, 2020 }}{{harvnb|Duberman|1989|p=43}} He then sang in the chorus of an Off-Broadway production of Shuffle Along{{harvnb|Wintz|2007|pp=6–8}}; cf. {{harvnb|Duberman|1989|pp=44–45}}, {{harvnb|Robeson|2001|pp=57–59}}, {{harvnb|Boyle|Bunie|2005|pp=98–100}} before he joined Taboo in Britain.{{harvnb|Duberman|1989|pp=44–45}}; cf. {{harvnb|Brown|1997|p=120}}, {{harvnb|Robeson|2001|pp=57–59}}, {{harvnb|Boyle|Bunie|2005|pp=100–101}} The play was adapted by Mrs Patrick Campbell to highlight his singing.{{harvnb|Boyle|Bunie|2005|pp=105–107}}; cf. {{harvnb|Brown|1997|p=120}}, {{harvnb|Duberman|1989|pp=47–48, 50}}, {{harvnb|Robeson|2001|pp=59, 63–64}} After the play's run ended, he befriended Lawrence Benjamin Brown,{{harvnb|Brown|1997|pp=120–121}}; cf. {{harvnb|Boyle|Bunie|2005|pp=105–106}} a classically trained musician,{{sfn|Boyle|Bunie|2005|p=139}} before returning to Columbia while playing for the NFL's Milwaukee Badgers.{{harvnb|Boyle|Bunie|2005|pp=108–109}}; cf. {{harvnb|Robeson|2001|pp=68–69}}, {{harvnb|Duberman|1989|pp=34, 51}}, {{harvnb|Carroll|1998|pp=151–152}} He ended his football career after the 1922 season,{{harvnb|Levy|2003|pp=31–32}}; cf. {{harvnb|Boyle|Bunie|2005|p=111}} and graduated from Columbia Law School in 1923.{{harvnb|Duberman|1989|pp=54–55}}; cf. {{harvnb|Boyle|Bunie|2005|pp=111–113}}, {{harvnb|Robeson|2001|p=71}}, {{harvnb|Brown|1997|p=122}}

Robeson briefly worked as a lawyer, but he renounced a career in law because of racism.{{harvnb|Boyle|Bunie|2005|pp=111–114}}; cf. {{harvnb|Duberman|1989|pp=54–55}}, {{harvnb|Robeson|2001|pp=71–72}}, {{harvnb|Gilliam|1978|p=29}} His wife supported them financially. She was the head histological chemist in Surgical Pathology at New York-Presbyterian Hospital. She continued to work there until 1925 when his career took off.{{cite book | author=Paul Robeson Jr. |title=The Undiscovered Paul Robeson. An Artist's Journey 1898–1939. |publisher=John Wiley & Sons |isbn=0-471-24265-9 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/undiscoveredpaul00robe/page/43 43–54] |url=https://archive.org/details/undiscoveredpaul00robe/page/43 |date=2001 }} They frequented the social functions at the future Schomburg Center.{{harvnb|Boyle|Bunie|2005|p=115}}; cf. [http://www.nypl.org/locations/schomburg/about/history History] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120112005157/http://www.nypl.org/locations/schomburg/about/history |date=January 12, 2012 }}, {{cite news |last1=Fraser |first1=C. Gerald |title=Schomburg Unit Listed as Landmark |id={{ProQuest|120941139}} |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1979/04/01/archives/schomburg-unit-listed-as-landmark-spawning-ground-of-talent-40.html |work=The New York Times |date=April 1, 1979 }} In December 1924 he landed the lead role of Jim in Eugene O'Neill's All God's Chillun Got Wings,{{harvnb|Duberman|1989|pp=52–55}}; {{harvnb|Boyle|Bunie|2005|pp=111, 116–117}}; {{harvnb|Robeson|2001|p=73}} which culminated with Jim metaphorically consummating his marriage with his white wife by symbolically emasculating himself. Chillun's opening was postponed due to nationwide controversy over its plot.{{cite news|title=All God's Chillun|url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,717940,00.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070823233626/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,717940,00.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=August 23, 2007|quote=The dramatic miscegenation will shortly be enacted ... [produced by the Provincetown Players, headed by O'Neill], dramatist; Robert Edmond Jones, artist, and Kenneth Macgowan, author. Many white people do not like the [plot]. Neither do many black.|magazine=Time|date=March 17, 1924|access-date=July 19, 2007}}; {{harvnb|Duberman|1989|pp=57–59}}, {{harvnb|Boyle|Bunie|2005|pp=118–121}}, {{harvnb|Gilliam|1978|pp=32–33}}.

Chillun's delay led to a revival of The Emperor Jones with Robeson as Brutus, a role pioneered by Charles Sidney Gilpin.{{harvnb|Robeson|2001|pp=73–76}}; cf. {{harvnb|Gilliam|1978|pp=36–37}}, {{harvnb|Duberman|1989|pp=53, 57–59, 61–62}}, {{harvnb|Boyle|Bunie|2005|pp=90–91, 122–123}} The role terrified and galvanized Robeson, as it was practically a 90-minute soliloquy.{{sfn|Boyle|Bunie|2005|p=123}} Reviews declared him an unequivocal success.{{cite news|first=Will Anthony|last=Madden|title=Paul Robeson Rises To Supreme Heights In 'The Emperor Jones'|date=May 17, 1924|work=Pittsburgh Courier|page=8|id={{ProQuest|201849682}}}}; cf. {{cite news |last1=Corbin |first1=John |title=The Play; Jazzed Methodism |id={{ProQuest|103407566}} |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1924/05/07/archives/the-play-jazzed-methodism.html |work=The New York Times |date=May 7, 1924 |access-date=October 22, 2023 |archive-date=October 27, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231027174330/https://www.nytimes.com/1924/05/07/archives/the-play-jazzed-methodism.html |url-status=live }}.{{harvnb|Duberman|1989|pp=62–63}}, {{harvnb|Boyle|Bunie|2005|pp=124–125}}. Though arguably clouded by its controversial subject, his Jim in Chillun was less well received.{{cite news|first=Stark|last=Young|title=The Prompt Book|date=August 24, 1924|newspaper=The New York Times|page=X1|id={{ProQuest|103317885}}}}; {{cite news |id={{ProQuest|180569383}} |first1=Burns |last1=Mantle |title='All God's Chillun' Plays Without a Single Protest: O'Neill Makes Good Threat to Produce 'All God's Chillun' |newspaper=Chicago Daily Tribune |date=May 25, 1924 |page=F1 }}{{harvnb|Boyle|Bunie|2005|pp=126–127}}, {{harvnb|Duberman|1989|pp=64–65}} He answered criticism of its plot by writing that fate had drawn him to the "untrodden path" of drama, that the true measure of a culture is in its artistic contributions, and that the only true American culture was African-American."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 do something of a like nature, I shall be happy. My early experiences give me much hope." cf. {{harvnb|Wilson|2000|p=292}}.

The success of his acting placed him in elite social circles{{harvnb|Gilliam|1978|pp=38–40}}; cf. {{harvnb|Duberman|1989|pp=68–71, 76}}, {{harvnb|Sampson|2005|p=9}} and his rise to fame, which was forcefully aided by Essie,{{harvnb|Boyle|Bunie|2005|pp=142–143}}; cf. {{cite news |id={{ProQuest|201834383}} |title='I Owe My Success To My Wife,' Says Paul Robeson, Star In O'Neill's Drama: Tendered Informal Reception in New York – Newspapers Well Represented |newspaper=The Pittsburgh Courier |date=June 14, 1924 |page=13 }} had happened very rapidly.{{sfn|Robeson|2001|p=84}} Essie's ambition for Robeson was a startling dichotomy to his indifference.{{harvnb|Robeson|2001|p=84}}; cf. {{harvnb|Boyle|Bunie|2005|pp=149, 152}}. 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 (1925).{{harvnb|Nollen|2010|pp=14, 18–19}}; cf. {{harvnb|Duberman|1989|p=67}}, {{harvnb|Boyle|Bunie|2005|p=160}}, {{harvnb|Gilliam|1978|p=43}} To support a charity for single mothers, Robeson headlined a concert singing spirituals.{{cite news|title=Robeson to Sing for Nursery Fund: Benefit to Be Given in Greenwich Village Theatre March 15|date=March 11, 1925|newspaper=New York Amsterdam News|page=9|id={{ProQuest|226378502}}}} He performed his repertoire of spirituals on the radio.{{cite news|first=Ulysses |last=Coates|title=Radio|date=April 18, 1925|work=Chicago Defender|page=A8|id={{ProQuest|492070128}}}}; cf. {{cite news |id={{ProQuest|226176207}} |title=Robeson to Sing Over Radio |newspaper=New York Amsterdam News|date=April 8, 1925 |page=2 }}

Lawrence Benjamin Brown, who had become renowned while touring as a pianist with gospel singer Roland Hayes, chanced upon Robeson in Harlem.{{harvnb|Duberman|1989|p=78}}; cf. {{harvnb|Boyle|Bunie|2005|p=139}}, {{harvnb|Robeson|2001|p=85}} 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.{{harvnb|Duberman|1989|p=79}}; cf. {{harvnb|Gilliam|1978|pp=41–42}}, {{harvnb|Boyle|Bunie|2005|p=140}}, {{harvnb|Robeson|2001|pp=85–86}} The pair's rendition of African-American folk songs and spirituals was captivating,{{cite news|title=Clara Young Loses $75,000 in Jewels|date=April 20, 1925|work=The New York Times|page=21|id={{ProQuest|103557765}}}}; cf. {{cite news |id={{ProQuest|201840160}} |title=Paul Robeson, Lawrence Brown Score Big New York Success With Negro Songs |newspaper=The Pittsburgh Courier |date=May 2, 1925 |page=10 }}, {{cite news |id={{ProQuest|226457501}} |title=Music: Postal Carrier to Give Song Recital |newspaper=New York Amsterdam News|date=April 15, 1925 |page=9 }}{{harvnb|Duberman|1989|pp=80–81}}. and Victor Records signed Robeson to a contract in September 1925.{{harvnb|Duberman|1989|pp=82, 86}}; cf. {{harvnb|Boyle|Bunie|2005|p=149}}, {{harvnb|Robeson|2001|p=93}}, {{cite news |id={{ProQuest|226389224}} |title=Robeson on Victor |newspaper=New York Amsterdam News|date=September 16, 1925 |page=6}}

The Robesons went to London for a revival of The Emperor Jones, before spending the rest of the fall on holiday on the French Riviera, socializing with Gertrude Stein and Claude McKay.{{harvnb|Gilliam|1978|pp=45–47}}; {{harvnb|Duberman|1989|pp=83, 88–98}}, {{harvnb|Boyle|Bunie|2005|pp=161–167}}, {{harvnb|Robeson|2001|pp=95–97}} Robeson and Brown performed a series of concert tours in America from January 1926 until May 1927.{{harvnb|Boyle|Bunie|2005|pp=169–184}}; cf. {{harvnb|Duberman|1989|pp=98–106}}, {{harvnb|Gilliam|1978|pp=47–49}}

During a hiatus in New York, Robeson learned that Essie was several months pregnant.{{harvnb|Duberman|1989|p=106}}; cf. {{harvnb|Boyle|Bunie|2005|p=184}} Paul Robeson Jr. was born in November 1927 in New York, while Robeson and Brown toured Europe.{{harvnb|Robeson|2001|p=143}}; cf. {{harvnb|Duberman|1989|p=106}}, {{harvnb|Boyle|Bunie|2005|p=184}} Essie experienced complications from the birth,{{harvnb|Duberman|1989|p=110}}; cf. {{harvnb|Robeson|2001|p=147}}, {{harvnb|Gilliam|1978|p=49}} and by mid-December, her health had deteriorated dramatically. Ignoring Essie's objections, her mother wired Robeson and he immediately returned to her bedside.{{harvnb|Boyle|Bunie|2005|p=186}}; cf. {{harvnb|Duberman|1989|p=112}}, {{harvnb|Robeson|2001|p=148}} Essie completely recovered after a few months.{{Cite web |title=Paul Robeson |url=https://www.tumblr.com/blackkudos/614854668036816896/paul-robeson |access-date=2024-06-23 |website=Tumblr |language=en-US}}

In 1928, Robeson played "Joe" in the London production of the American musical Show Boat, at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane.{{cite news|title=Drury Lane Theatre: 'Showboat'|date=May 4, 1928|newspaper=The Times|page=14|quote=Mr. Robeson's melancholy song about the 'old river' is one of the two chief hits of the evening.}}; {{cite web|title=Show Boat |publisher=theatrecrafts.com |url=https://www.theatrecrafts.com/pages/home/shows/showboat/}}; {{harvnb|Duberman|1989|pp=113–115}}, {{harvnb|Boyle|Bunie|2005|pp=188–192}}, {{harvnb|Robeson|2001|pp=149–156}} His rendition of "Ol' Man River" became the benchmark for all future performers of the song.{{sfn|Boyle|Bunie|2005|p=192}} Some black critics objected to the play due to its usage of the then-common racial epithet "nigger".{{cite news|first=J A|last=Rogers|title='Show Boat' Pleasure-Disappointment": Rogers Gives New View Says Race Talent Is Submerged|date=October 6, 1928|work=Pittsburgh Courier|page=A2|quote=[Show Boat] is, so far as the Negro is concerned, a regrettable bit of American niggerism introduced into Europe.|id={{ProQuest|201884274}}}}; {{harvnb|Duberman|1989|p=114|registration=yes}}, {{harvnb|Gilliam|1978|p=52}}. It was, nonetheless, immensely popular with white audiences.{{cite news|title=Mrs. Paul Robeson Majestic Passenger: Coming to Settle Business Affairs of Her Distinguished Husband|date=August 22, 1928 |newspaper=New York Amsterdam News|page=8|id={{ProQuest|226257877}} }}; cf. {{harvnb|Boyle|Bunie|2005|pp=193–197}}; cf. {{harvnb|Duberman|1989|p=114}}, {{harvnb|Gilliam|1978|p=52}}. He was summoned for a Royal Command Performance at Buckingham Palace{{cite news|title=Sings For Prince Of Wales|date=July 28, 1928|work=Pittsburgh Courier |page=12|id={{ProQuest|201895989}}}}; {{harvnb|Duberman|1989|p=115}}, {{harvnb|Boyle|Bunie|2005|p=196}}, {{harvnb|Robeson|2001|p=153}}. and Robeson was befriended by Members of Parliament from the House of Commons.{{cite news|title=English Parliament Honors Paul Robeson|date=December 1, 1928|work=Chicago Defender |page=A1|id={{ProQuest|492188338}}}}; cf. {{harvnb|Seton|1958|p=30}}; cf. {{harvnb|Robeson|2001|p=155}}, {{harvnb|Boyle|Bunie|2005|p=?}} Show Boat continued for 350 performances and, as of 2001, it remained the Royal's most profitable venture.{{sfn|Boyle|Bunie|2005|p=192}} The Robesons bought a home in Hampstead.{{harvnb|Boyle|Bunie|2005|pp=205–07}}; cf. {{harvnb|Robeson|2001|pp=153–156}}, {{harvnb|Gilliam|1978|p=52}}, {{harvnb|Duberman|1989|p=118}}. 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."{{sfn|Duberman|1989|pp=126–127}} However, an incident at the Savoy Grill, in which he was refused seating, caused him to issue a press release describing the insult which subsequently became a matter of public debate.{{sfn|Duberman|1989|pp=123–124}}

Essie had learned early in their marriage that Robeson had extramarital affairs, but she tolerated them.{{cite magazine|title=Writing Robeson|magazine=The Nation|date=December 28, 1988|first=Martin|last=Duberman|volume=267|issue=22|pages=33–38}}; cf. {{harvnb|Gilliam|1978|p=57}}, {{harvnb|Boyle|Bunie|2005|pp=159–160}}, {{harvnb|Robeson|2001|pp=100–101}} However, when she discovered that he was having another affair, she unfavorably altered the characterization of him in his biography,{{sfn|Robeson|2001|pp=163–165}} and defamed him by describing him with "negative racial stereotypes".{{harvnb|Robeson|2001|pp=172–173}}; cf. {{harvnb|Boyle|Bunie|2005|pp=230–234}}, {{harvnb|Duberman|1989|pp=139–140}} Despite her uncovering of this tryst, there was no public evidence that their relationship had soured.{{harvnb|Duberman|1989|pp=143–144}}; cf. {{harvnb|Robeson|2001|pp=165–166}}

The couple appeared in the experimental Swiss film Borderline (1930).{{harvnb|Nollen|2010|p=24}}; cf. {{harvnb|Duberman|1989|pp=129–130}}, {{harvnb|Boyle|Bunie|2005|pp=221–23}} He then returned to the Savoy Theatre, in London's West End to play Othello, opposite Peggy Ashcroft as Desdemona.{{harvnb|Duberman|1989|pp=133–138}}; cf. {{harvnb|Nollen|2010|pp=59–60}} He cited the lack of a "racial problem" in London as significant in his decision to move to London.{{cite news |title=Paul Robeson Quits America for London |agency=Associated Press |publisher=San Bernardino Sun |date=May 14, 1931 |url=https://cdnc.ucr.edu/?a=d&d=SBS19310514.1.1&srpos=16&e=------193-en--20--1--txt-txIN-Michael+Maloney----1931--- |access-date=October 21, 2022 |archive-date=October 21, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221021190803/https://cdnc.ucr.edu/?a=d&d=SBS19310514.1.1&srpos=16&e=------193-en--20--1--txt-txIN-Michael+Maloney----1931--- |url-status=live }} Robeson was the first black actor to play Othello in Britain since Ira Aldridge.{{harvnb|Morrison|2011|p=114}}; cf. {{harvnb|Swindall|2010|p=23}}, {{harvnb|Robeson|2001|p=166}} The production received mixed reviews which noted Robeson's "highly civilized quality [but lacking the] grand style".{{harvnb|Nollen|2010|p=29}}; cf. {{harvnb|Gilliam|1978|p=60}}, {{harvnb|Boyle|Bunie|2005|pp=226–229}} 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."{{harvnb|Robeson|2001|pp=176–77}}; cf. {{harvnb|Nollen|2010|p=29}}

After Essie discovered Robeson had been having an affair with Ashcroft, she decided to seek a divorce and they split up.{{harvnb|Robeson|2001|pp=178–182}}; cf. {{harvnb|Boyle|Bunie|2005|pp=238–240, 257}}; cf. {{harvnb|Gilliam|1978|pp=62–64}}, {{harvnb|Duberman|1989|pp=140–144}} While working in London, Robeson became one of the first artists to record at the new EMI Recording Studios (later known as Abbey Road Studios), recording four songs in September 1931, almost two months before the studio was officially opened.{{Cite web |title=The Genius of Paul Robeson {{!}} As Told by Cameron Colbeck |url=http://www.abbeyroad.com/news/the-genius-of-paul-robeson-as-told-by-abbey-roads-cameron-colbeck-2938 |access-date=August 27, 2022 |website=Abbey Road |language=en-GB |archive-date=October 8, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221008024905/https://www.abbeyroad.com/news/the-genius-of-paul-robeson-as-told-by-abbey-roads-cameron-colbeck-2938 |url-status=live }} Robeson returned to Broadway as Joe in the 1932 revival of Show Boat, to critical and popular acclaim.{{cite news|first=Annie|last=Oakley|title=The Theatre and Its People|date=May 24, 1932|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=695EAAAAIBAJ&dq=robeson&pg=4621%2C562518|work=Border Cities Star|page=4|access-date=May 29, 2020|archive-date=July 28, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200728044549/https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=695EAAAAIBAJ&dq=robeson&pg=4621%2C562518|url-status=live}}; cf. {{harvnb|Boyle|Bunie|2005|pp=253–254}}, {{harvnb|Duberman|1989|p=161}}, {{harvnb|Robeson|2001|pp=192–193}} He received, with immense pride, an honorary master's degree from Rutgers.{{harvnb|Duberman|1989|p=161}}; cf. {{harvnb|Boyle|Bunie|2005|pp=258–259}}, {{harvnb|Robeson|2001|pp=132, 194}} It is said that Foster Sanford, his college football coach advised him that divorcing Essie and marrying Ashcroft would do irreparable damage to his reputation.Sources are unclear on this point. {{harvnb|Duberman|1989|p=145}}; cf. {{harvnb|Robeson|2001|p=182}} In any case, Ashcroft and Robeson's relationship ended in 1932,{{harvnb|Duberman|1989|pp=162–163}}; cf. {{harvnb|Boyle|Bunie|2005|pp=262–263}}, {{harvnb|Robeson|2001|pp=194–196}} and Robeson and Essie reconciled, leaving their relationship scarred permanently.{{harvnb|Robeson|2001|pp=195–200}}; cf. {{harvnb|Boyle|Bunie|2005|pp=267–268}}, {{harvnb|Duberman|1989|p=166}}

In 1933, Robeson played the role of Jim in the London production of Chillun, virtually gratis,{{harvnb|Boyle|Bunie|2005|pp=271–274}}; {{harvnb|Duberman|1989|p=167}}, {{harvnb|Robeson|2001|p=204}}. then returned to the United States to star as Brutus in the film The Emperor Jones{{snd}}the first film to feature an African American in a starring role, "a feat not repeated for more than two decades in the U.S."{{sfn|Boyle|Bunie|2005|p=269–271}}{{harvnb|Nollen|2010|pp=41–42}}; cf. {{harvnb|Robeson|2001|p=207}}; {{harvnb|Duberman|1989|pp=168–169}} His acting in The Emperor Jones was well received. On the film set he rejected any slight to his dignity, despite the widespread Jim Crow atmosphere in the United States.{{harvnb|Boyle|Bunie|2005|pp=275–279}}; cf. {{harvnb|Duberman|1989|pp=167–168}} Upon returning to England, he publicly criticized African Americans' rejection of their own culture.{{cite news|title=Black Greatness|date=September 8, 1933|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=Nv4-AAAAIBAJ&dq=paul%20robeson&pg=3427%2C2173739|work=The Border Cities Star|page=4|access-date=May 29, 2020|archive-date=July 28, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200728044655/https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=Nv4-AAAAIBAJ&dq=paul+robeson&pg=3427%2C2173739|url-status=live}}; cf. {{harvnb|Boyle|Bunie|2005|pp=284–285}}; {{harvnb|Duberman|1989|pp=169–170}} Despite negative reactions from the press, such as a New York Amsterdam News retort that Robeson had made a "jolly well [ass of himself]",{{sfn|Boyle|Bunie|2005|pp=285–286}} he also announced that he would reject any offers to perform central European (though not Russian, which he considered "Asiatic") opera because the music had no connection to his heritage.{{sfn|Boyle|Bunie|2005|pp=284–285}}

In early 1934, Robeson enrolled in the School of Oriental and African Studies, a constituent college of the University of London, where he studied phonetics and Swahili.{{cite tweet |user=SOAS |number=1050025312770244609 |date=October 10, 2018 | title=Photograph of Paul Robeson's admission form for SOAS in 1934 }}{{Cite web|url=https://www.soas.ac.uk/news/newsitem92596.html|title=Paul Robeson SOAS tribute with the late Tony Benn now available on YouTube {{!}} SOAS University of London|website=Soas.ac.uk|language=en|access-date=August 13, 2018|archive-date=February 7, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210207151911/https://www.soas.ac.uk/news/newsitem92596.html|url-status=dead}} His "sudden interest" in African history and its influence on cultureThe rationale for Robeson's sudden interest in African history is viewed as inexplicable by one of his biographers and no biographers have stated an explanation for what Duberman terms a "sudden interest"; cf. {{harvnb|Cameron|1990|p=285}} coincided with his essay "I Want to be African", wherein he wrote of his desire to embrace his ancestry.{{sfn|Nollen|2010|p=52}}

File:Paul Robeson and Ágay Irén - London, 1934.tif on the set of Sanders of the River, London, 1934]]

His friends in the anti-imperialist movement and his association with British socialists led him to visit the Soviet Union.{{sfn|Nollen|2010|p=52}} Robeson, Essie, and Marie Seton traveled to the Soviet Union on an invitation from Sergei Eisenstein in December 1934.{{sfn|Duberman|1989|pp=182–185}} A stopover in Berlin enlightened Robeson to the racism in Nazi Germany{{cite journal|title=The Paul Robeson–Jackie Robinson Saga and a Political Collision|journal=Journal of Sport History|date=Summer 1979|first=Ronald A.|last=Smith|volume=6|issue=2}}; {{harvnb|Duberman|1989|pp=184–185, 628–629}} and, 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."{{harvnb|Robeson|1978a|pp=94–96}}; cf. (Smith, Vern (January 15, 1935). "'I am at Home,' Says Robeson at Reception in Soviet Union", Daily Worker).

He undertook the role of Bosambo in the movie Sanders of the River (1935),{{sfn|Nollen|2010|p=45}} which he felt would render a realistic view of colonial African culture. Sanders of the River made Robeson an international movie star;{{sfn|Nollen|2010|pp=53–55}} but the stereotypical portrayal of a colonial African{{harvnb|Nollen|2010|p=53}}; cf. {{harvnb|Duberman|1989|pp=78–82}} was seen as embarrassing to his stature as an artist{{cite journal|title=Sanders on the River|journal=Cinema Quarterly|date=Spring 1935|first=Paul|last=Rotha|volume=3|issue=3|pages=175–176|quote=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.}}; {{harvnb|Duberman|1989|pp=180–182}}; contra: {{cite news |title=Leicester Square Theatre: Sanders of the River |newspaper=The Times |page=12 |date=April 3, 1935 }} and damaging to his reputation.{{harvnb|Low|1985|p=257}}; cf. {{harvnb|Duberman|1989|pp=181–182}} The Commissioner of Nigeria to London protested the film as slanderous to his country,{{sfn|Low|1985|pp=170–171}} and Robeson thereafter became more politically conscious in his choice of roles.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. {{harvnb|Nollen|2010|p=53}}; {{harvnb|Duberman|1989|p=182}} He appeared in the play Stevedore at the Embassy Theatre in London in May 1935,{{Cite book|url={{google books |plainurl=y |id=jl8Nu4IlqMMC|page=209}}|page=209|title=Stars: The Film Reader|last1=Fischer|first1=Lucy|last2=Landy|first2=Marcia|date=2004|publisher=Psychology Press|isbn=978-0415278928|language=en}} which was favorably reviewed in The Crisis by Nancy Cunard, who concluded: "Stevedore is extremely valuable in the racial{{snd}}social question{{snd}}it is straight from the shoulder".{{Cite magazine|url={{google books |plainurl=y |id=CVgEAAAAMBAJ|page=238}}|magazine=The Crisis|volume=42|issue=8|first=Nancy|last=Cunard|date=August 1935|publisher=The Crisis Publishing Company, Inc.|language=en|title=Stevedore in London}} In early 1936, he decided to send his son to school in the Soviet Union to shield him from racist attitudes.{{sfn|Robeson|2001|pp=280–281}} He then played the role of Toussaint Louverture in the eponymous play by C. L. R. James{{sfn|James|Høgsbjerg|Dubois|2012}} at the Westminster Theatre, and appeared in the films Song of Freedom,{{IMDb title|0028282}} and Show Boat in 1936,{{IMDb title|0028249}} and My Song Goes Forth,{{cite web|url=http://www.villonfilms.com/filmrec.php?queryIndex=0|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20010522014343/http://www.villonfilms.com/filmrec.php?queryIndex=0|url-status=dead|archive-date=May 22, 2001|title=Africa Sings|publisher=Villon Films|access-date=July 10, 2012}} King Solomon's Mines.{{IMDb title|0029081}} and Big Fella, all in 1937.{{IMDb title|0028629}} In 1938, he was named by American Motion Picture Herald as the 10th most popular star in British cinema.{{cite news|url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article29211761|title=Most Popular Stars of 1937: Choice of British Public|newspaper=The Mercury (Hobart, Tas.: 1860–1954)|location=Hobart, Tas.|date=February 12, 1938|access-date=April 25, 2012|page=5|publisher=National Library of Australia|archive-date=July 28, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200728044632/https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/29211761|url-status=live}}; cf. {{harvnb|Richards|2001|p=18}}.

File:Einstein-Wallace-Robeson-Kingdon 300x236.jpg's home in Princeton, October 1947]]

In 1935, Robeson met Albert Einstein when Einstein came backstage after Robeson's concert at the McCarter Theatre. The two discovered that, as well as a mutual passion for music, they shared a hatred for fascism. The friendship between Robeson and Einstein lasted nearly twenty years, but was not well known or publicized.Jerome, F. (2004) [https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.1086/430653 Einstein, Race, and the Myth of the Cultural Icon] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230124070217/https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.1086/430653 |date=January 24, 2023 }}. Isis, vol. 95, no. 4 (December 2004), pp. 627–639. The University of Chicago Press.

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.{{harvnb|Seton|1958|p=53}}; cf. {{harvnb|Robeson|1981|p=38}}, {{harvnb|Duberman|1989|p=220}} In 1937, he used his concert performances to advocate the Republican cause and the war's refugees.{{harvnb|Robeson|2001|p=292}}; cf. {{harvnb|Boyle|Bunie|2005|pp=375–378}} He permanently modified his renditions of "Ol' Man River" – initially, by singing the word "darkies" instead of "niggers"; later, by changing some of the stereotypical dialect in the lyrics to standard English and replacing the fatalistic last verse ("Ah gits weary / An' sick of tryin' / Ah'm tired of livin' / An skeered of dyin{{'"}}) with an uplifting verse of his own ("But I keep laffin' / Instead of cryin' / I must keep fightin' / Until I'm dyin{{'"}}) – transforming it from a tragic "song of resignation with a hint of protest implied" into a battle hymn of unwavering defiance.Glazer defines it as a change from a "lyric of defeat into a rallying cry". {{harvnb|Glazer|2007|p=167}}; cf. {{harvnb|Robeson|2001|p=293}}, {{harvnb|Boyle|Bunie|2005|p=381}}, {{harvnb|Lennox|2011|p=124}}, {{harvnb|Robeson|1981|p=37}}, {{harvnb|Hopkins|1998|p=313}}. His business agent expressed concern about his political involvement,{{sfn|Duberman|1989|p=222}} but Robeson overruled him and decided that contemporary events trumped commercialism."Paul Robeson at the Unity Theater", Daily Express, June 20, 1938; cf. {{harvnb|Duberman|1989|pp=222–223}}. In Wales,{{cite web|url=http://www.agor.org.uk/cwm/themes/Life/international_relations/paul_robeson.asp|title=Paul Robeson|year=2002|work=Coalfield Web Materials|publisher=University of Wales Swansea|access-date=March 3, 2006|archive-date=February 3, 2006|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060203181631/http://www.agor.org.uk/cwm/themes/Life/international_relations/paul_robeson.asp|url-status=dead}} he commemorated the Welsh people killed while fighting for the Republicans,{{sfn|Boyle|Bunie|2005|p=396}} where he recorded a message that became 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."{{cite news|title=Spanish Relief Efforts: Albert Hall Meeting £1,000 Collected for Children|date=June 25, 1937|work=The Manchester Guardian|page=6|id={{ProQuest|484207378}}}}; cf. {{harvnb|Brown|1997|p=77}}, {{harvnb|Robeson|2001|p=372}}

After an invitation from J. B. S. Haldane,{{sfn|Beevor|2006|p=356}} he traveled to Spain in 1938 because he believed in the International Brigades's cause,{{sfn|Wyden|1983|pp=433–434}} visited the hospital of Benicàssim, singing to the wounded soldiers.{{cite news|url=http://blogs.comunitatvalenciana.com/rutas-culturales/2016/10/26/paulrobeson/|title=Paul Robeson|newspaper=Rutas Culturales|access-date=October 29, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161030000718/http://blogs.comunitatvalenciana.com/rutas-culturales/2016/10/26/paulrobeson/|archive-date=October 30, 2016|url-status=dead}} Robeson also visited the battlefront{{harvnb|Beevor|2006|p=356}}; cf. {{harvnb|Eby|2007|pp=279–280}}, {{harvnb|Landis|1967|pp=245–246}} and provided a morale boost to the Republicans at a time when their victory was unlikely.{{sfn|Wyden|1983|pp=433–434}} Back in England, he hosted Jawaharlal Nehru to support Indian independence, whereat Nehru expounded on imperialism's affiliation with Fascism.{{cite news |id={{ProQuest|484443209}} |title=India's Struggle for Freedom : Mr. Nehru on Imperialism and Fascism |newspaper=The Manchester Guardian |date=June 28, 1938 |page=6 }}; {{harvnb|Duberman|1989|p=225}} Robeson reevaluated the direction of his career and decided to focus on the ordeals of "common people".{{harvnb|Duberman|1989|p=223}} {{harvnb|Nollen|2010|p=122}} He appeared in the pro-labor play Plant in the Sun, in which he played an Irishman, his first "white" role.{{clarify|date=August 2017}}{{harvnb|Nollen|2010|p=122}} With Max Yergan, and the International Committee on African Affairs (later known as the Council on African Affairs), Robeson became an advocate for African nationalism and political independence.{{harvnb|Boyle|Bunie|2005|p=320}}; cf. {{harvnb|Von Eschen|2014|p=?}}

File:Paul Robeson - Birmingham Town Hall - 1939-03-07.jpg, England, on March 7, 1939, in aid of a local charity, the Birmingham Mail Christmas Tree Fund.{{cite news |title=Robeson's Return |work=Birmingham Mail |date=March 8, 1939 |page=10}} The advertised pianist was Lawrence Brown.{{cite news |title=Priestley's Present Paul Robeson with Lawrence Brown at the piano |work=Birmingham Mail |date=February 20, 1939 |page=1}}]]

Paul Robeson was living in Britain until the start of the Second World War in 1939. His name was included in the Sonderfahndungsliste G.B. as a target for arrest if Germany had occupied Britain.{{cite news | title=Nazi's black list discovered in Berlin | newspaper=The Manchester Guardian| via=Guardian Century – 1940–1949 | date=September 14, 1945 | url=https://www.theguardian.com/century/1940-1949/Story/0,6051,127730,00.html | access-date=June 22, 2021 | archive-date=October 1, 2022 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221001002033/https://www.theguardian.com/century/1940-1949/Story/0,6051,127730,00.html | url-status=live }}

File:"Paul Robeson, world famous Negro baritone, leading Moore Shipyard (Oakland, CA) workers in singing the Star Spangled Ba - NARA - 535874.tif) workers in singing the "Star Spangled Banner", September 1942]]

File:Robeson Hagen Othello.jpg in the Theatre Guild production of Othello (1943–44)]]

Robeson's last British film was The Proud Valley (1940), set in a Welsh coal-mining town.{{cite web|url=http://edinburghfilmguild.org.uk/programme_notes/the_proud_Valley.pdf|title=The Proud Valley|last=Bourne|first=Stephen|author-link=Stephen Bourne (writer)|author2=Dr. Hywel Francis|publisher=Edinburgh Film Guide|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120203160114/http://edinburghfilmguild.org.uk/programme_notes/the_proud_Valley.pdf|url-status=dead|archive-date=February 3, 2012|access-date=November 29, 2011}} The film was still being shot when Hitler's invasion of Poland led to England's declaration of war at the beginning of September 1939; several weeks later, just after the completion of filming, Robeson and his family returned to the United States, arriving in New York in October 1939.{{harvnb|Swindall|2015|pp=89–90}}. They lived at first in the Sugar Hill neighborhood of Harlem, and in 1941 settled in Enfield, Connecticut.{{harvnb|Swindall|2015|pp=90, 96}}.

After his well-received performance of Ballad for Americans on a live CBS radio broadcast on November 5, with a repeat performance on New Year's Day 1940, the song became a popular seller.{{sfn|Duberman|1989|pp=236–238}}{{harvnb|Swindall|2015|pp=91–92}}. In 1940, the magazine Collier's named Robeson America's "no. 1 entertainer".Furst, Randy (October 7, 2015). "Singer Paul Robeson was banned at the University of Minnesota during the Cold War." Star Tribune. Retrieved April 14, 2024.{{harvnb|Price|2007|pages=8–9}} Nevertheless, during a tour in 1940, the Beverly Wilshire Hotel was the only major Los Angeles hotel willing to accommodate him due to his race, at an exorbitant rate and registered under an assumed name, and he therefore dedicated two hours every afternoon to sitting in the lobby, where he was widely recognised, "to ensure that the next time Black{{bracket|s}} come through, they'll have a place to stay." Los Angeles hotels lifted their restrictions on black guests soon afterwards.Earl Robinson with Eric A. Gordon, Ballad of an American: The Autobiography of Earl Robinson (Scarecrow Press: Lanham, Md., 1998), p. 99.{{cite web |url=https://lareviewofbooks.org/article/long-overdue-paul-robeson-revival-talented-person-20th-century/ |title=We Are Long Overdue for a Paul Robeson Revival |website=Los Angeles Review of Books |date=May 8, 2014 |author=Peter Dreier |access-date=August 3, 2019 |archive-date=March 2, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210302212135/https://lareviewofbooks.org/article/long-overdue-paul-robeson-revival-talented-person-20th-century/ |url-status=live }}

Robeson narrated the 1942 documentary Native Land which was labeled by the FBI as communist propaganda.FBI record, "Paul Robeson". FBI 100-25857, New York, December 8, 1942. After an appearance in Tales of Manhattan (1942), a production which he felt was "very offensive to my people" due to the way the segment was handled in stereotypes, he announced that he would no longer act in films because of the demeaning roles available to blacks.{{sfn|Duberman|1989|pp=259–261}}

According to democratic socialist writer Barry Finger's critical appraisal of Robeson, while the Hitler-Stalin pact was still in effect, Robeson counseled American blacks that they had no stake in the rivalry of European powers. Once Russia was attacked, he urged blacks to support the war effort, now warning that an Allied defeat would "make slaves of us all."Barry Finger, [http://nova.wpunj.edu/newpolitics/issue25/finger25.htm "Paul Robeson: A Flawed Martyr"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120112204045/http://nova.wpunj.edu/newpolitics/issue25/finger25.htm |date=January 12, 2012}}, in: New Politics, vol. 7, no. 1 (Summer 1998). Robeson participated in benefit concerts on behalf of the war effort and at a concert at the Polo Grounds, he met two emissaries from the Jewish Anti-Fascist Committee, Solomon Mikhoels and Itzik Feffer.{{sfn|Lustiger|2003|pp=125–127}} Subsequently, Robeson reprised the role of Othello at the Shubert Theatre in 1943,{{IBDB title|1345|Othello|description=(1943)}} and became the first African American to play the role with a white supporting cast on Broadway. The production was a success, running for 296 performances on Broadway (a record for a Shakespeare production on Broadway that still stands),{{Cite web|url=https://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/world-records/418759-longest-running-shakespeare-play-broadway|title=Longest-running Shakespeare play (Broadway)|publisher=Guinness World Records|access-date=October 21, 2023|archive-date=October 21, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231021080028/https://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/world-records/418759-longest-running-shakespeare-play-broadway|url-status=live}} and winning for Robeson the first Donaldson Award for Best Actor in a Play. During the same period, he addressed a meeting with Commissioner Kenesaw Mountain Landis and team owners in a failed attempt to convince them to admit black players to Major League Baseball.{{sfn|Dorinson|Pencak|2004|p=[{{google books|plainurl=y|id=Otiz7Mi-iUYC|page=1}} 1]}} He toured North America with Othello until 1945,{{sfn|Duberman|1989|p=295}} and subsequently, his political efforts with the Council on African Affairs to get colonial powers to discontinue their exploitation of Africa were short-circuited by the United Nations.{{sfn|Duberman|1989|pp=296–97}}

During this period, Robeson also developed a sympathy for the Republic of China's side in the Second Sino-Japanese War. In 1940, the Chinese progressive activist, Liu Liangmo taught Robeson the patriotic song "Chee Lai!" ("Arise!"), known as the March of the Volunteers.{{Cite book|chapter-url={{google books |plainurl=y |id=eMvaMuZkwvcC|page=207}}|title=Chinese American Voices: From the Gold Rush to the Present|editor-last=Yung|editor-first=Judy|editor-last2=Chang|editor-first2=Gordon H.|editor-last3=Lai|editor-first3=H. Mark|date=2006|publisher=University of California Press|isbn=978-0520243095|language=en|last=Liu |first=Liangmo Translated by Ellen Yeung. |chapter=Paul Robeson: The People's Singer (1950)}} Robeson premiered the song at a concert in New York City's Lewisohn Stadium and recorded it in both English and Chinese for Keynote Records in early 1941.{{Cite book|chapter-url={{google books |plainurl=y |id=-daxO76KmV8C|page=217}}|title=Re-envisioning the Chinese Revolution: The Politics and Poetics of Collective Memories in Reform China|editor-last=Lee|editor-first=Ching Kwan|date=2007|publisher=Stanford University Press|isbn=978-0804758536|language=en|last=Chi |first=Robert|chapter=The March of the Volunteers': From Movie Theme Song to National Anthem}} Robeson gave further performances at benefit concerts for the China Aid Council and United China Relief at Washington's Uline Arena on April 24, 1941.{{Cite book|url={{google books |plainurl=y |id=vYZPIE7UKggC|page=136}}|title=Death Blow to Jim Crow: The National Negro Congress and the Rise of Militant Civil Rights|last=Gellman|first=Erik S.|date=2012|publisher=Univ of North Carolina Press|isbn=978-0807869932|language=en}} The Washington Committee for Aid to China's booking of Constitution Hall had been blocked by the Daughters of the American Revolution owing to Robeson's race.{{Cite book |last=Gao |first=Yunxiang |title=Arise, Africa! Roar, China! Black and Chinese Citizens of the World in the Twentieth Century |date=2021 |publisher=University of North Carolina Press |isbn=9781469664606 |location=Chapel Hill}}{{Rp|page=71}} The indignation was so great that Eleanor Roosevelt and Hu Shih, the Chinese ambassador, became sponsors. However, when the organizers offered tickets on generous terms to the National Negro Congress to help fill the larger venue, both sponsors withdrew, objecting to the NNC's Communist ties.{{Cite book|url={{google books |plainurl=y |id=MzFhJ5v0TL0C|page=25}}|page=25|title=The Undiscovered Paul Robeson: Quest for Freedom, 1939–1976|last=Robeson|first=Paul Jr.|date= 2009|publisher=Wiley|isbn=978-0470569689|language=en}}

Robeson opposed the U.S. support for Chiang Kai-shek and the Kuomintang in China, and denounced U.S. support for Chiang at political events over the course of 1945–1946, including the World Peace Conference and the National Peace Commission.{{Rp|pages=84–85}} In Robeson's view, the Kuomintang's anti-communist focus and blockade of the Communist guerrilla army meant that China was fighting Japan "with one hand tied behind its back".{{Rp|page=84}}

March of the Volunteers (Chee lai!) became newly founded People's Republic of China's National Anthem after 1949. Its Chinese lyricist, Tian Han, died in a Beijing prison in 1968, but Robeson continued to send royalties to his family.Liang Luo. [https://www.academia.edu/1493511/International_Avant-Garde_and_the_Chinese_National_Anthem "International Avant-garde and the Chinese National Anthem: Tian Han, Joris Ivens, and Paul Robeson" in The Ivens Magazine, No. 16] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190306150508/https://www.academia.edu/1493511/International_Avant-Garde_and_the_Chinese_National_Anthem |date=March 6, 2019 }}. European Foundation Joris Ivens (Nijmegen), October 2010. Retrieved 2015-01-22.

After the Moore's Ford lynchings of four African Americans in Georgia on July 25, 1946, Robeson met with President Truman and admonished Truman by stating that if he did not enact legislation to end lynching,{{sfn|Duberman|1989|p=307}} "the Negroes will defend themselves".{{sfn|Duberman|1989|p=307}}{{cite news|title=Group Confers with Truman on Lynching|date=September 24, 1946|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=kiojAAAAIBAJ&dq=paul%20robeson&pg=3729%2C2347331|work=Pittsburgh Post-Gazette|page=2|access-date=May 29, 2020|archive-date=July 28, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200728044630/https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=kiojAAAAIBAJ&dq=paul+robeson&pg=3729%2C2347331|url-status=live}} Truman immediately terminated the meeting and declared that the time was not right to propose anti-lynching legislation.{{sfn|Duberman|1989|p=307}} Subsequently, Robeson publicly called upon all Americans to demand that Congress pass civil rights legislation.{{sfn|Nollen|2010|pages=157–156}} Robeson founded the American Crusade Against Lynching organization in 1946. This organization was thought to be a threat to the NAACP antiviolence movement. Robeson received support from W. E. B. Du Bois on this matter and launched the organization on the anniversary of the signing of the Emancipation Proclamation, September 23.{{sfn|Lewis|2000|p=522}}

About this time, Robeson's belief that trade unionism was crucial to civil rights became a mainstay of his political beliefs as he became a proponent of the union activist and Communist Party USA member Revels Cayton.{{sfn|Duberman|1989|pp=249–250}} Robeson was later called before the Tenney Committee where he responded to questions about his affiliation with the Communist Party USA by testifying that he was not a member of the party.{{sfn|Duberman|1989|p=241}} Nevertheless, two organizations with which Robeson was intimately involved, the Civil Rights Congress{{Cite journal|last=Brady Siff|first=Sarah|date=May 2016|title=Policing the Policy: A Civil Rights Story|url=http://origins.osu.edu/article/policing-police-civil-rights-story|journal=Origins: Current Events in Historical Perspective|volume=9|access-date=September 21, 2018|archive-date=September 22, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180922024520/http://origins.osu.edu/article/policing-police-civil-rights-story|url-status=live}} and the Council on African Affairs,{{sfn|Duberman|1989|p=296}} were placed on the Attorney General's List of Subversive Organizations.{{cite news|first=Douglas B.|last=Cornell|title=Thomas Says Clark's List 'Farcical'|date=December 5, 1947|page=1|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=otQKAAAAIBAJ&dq=Douglas+B.+Cornell+1947+Civil+Rights+Congress&pg=PA1&article_id=5590,3959441

|newspaper=Prescott Evening Courier}}; cf. {{harvnb|Goldstein|2008|pp=62, 66, 88}} 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."Bay Area Paul Robeson Centennial Committee, [http://bayarearobeson.org/Chronology_5.htm Paul Robeson Chronology (Part 5)] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110525230149/http://www.bayarearobeson.org/Chronology_5.htm |date=May 25, 2011 }}.{{YouTube|id=6y-xfqP6FOE|title=Paul Robeson Speaks! 1948 Senate Testimony}}

In 1948, Robeson was prominent in Henry A. Wallace's bid for the Presidency of the United States,{{sfn|Duberman|1989|p=324}} during which Robeson traveled to the Deep South, at risk to his own life, to campaign for him.{{sfn|Duberman|1989|p=326–327}} In the ensuing year, Robeson was forced to go overseas to work because his concert performances were canceled at the FBI's behest.{{sfn|Robeson|2001|p=137}} While on tour, he spoke at the World Peace Council.{{sfn|Robeson|1978a|pp= 197–198}} The Associated Press published a false transcript of his speech which gave the impression that Robeson had equated America with a Fascist state.{{harvnb|Robeson|2001|pp=142–43}}; {{harvnb|Duberman|1989|pp=342–345, 687}} In an interview, Robeson said the "danger of Fascism [in the US] has averted".{{harvnb|Robeson|2001|pp=142–1143}}; cf. {{harvnb|Robeson|1978a|pp=197–198}}, {{harvnb|Seton|1958|p=179}}, [http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/coldwar/interviews/episode-6/robeson1.html Interview with Paul Robeson, Jnr.] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120130214551/http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/coldwar/interviews/episode-6/robeson1.html |date=January 30, 2012 }} Nevertheless, the speech publicly attributed to him was a catalyst for his being seen as an enemy of mainstream America."Studs Terkel, Paul Robeson – Speak of Me As I Am, BBC, 1998". Robeson refused to bow 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.{{cite web|url=http://archives.nypl.org/scm/20649|title=Paul Robeson collection: 1925–1956 [bulk 1943–1956]|work=Paul Robeson collection, Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, The New York Public Library|publisher=The New York Public Library, Archives & Manuscripts|access-date=March 9, 2018|archive-date=August 1, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170801033902/http://archives.nypl.org/scm/20649|url-status=live}}

File:Paul Robeson - Negro Songs - Soviet Ministry of Culture.JPG

Robeson traveled to Moscow in June 1949, and tried to find Itzik Feffer whom he had met during World War II. He let Soviet authorities know that he wanted to see him.{{sfn|Duberman|1989|pp=352–353}} Reluctant to lose Robeson as a propagandist for the Soviet Union,{{sfn|Lustiger|2003|pages=210–211}} the Soviets brought Feffer from prison to him. Feffer told him that Mikhoels had been murdered, and predicted that he would be executed.{{sfn|McConnell|2010|p=348}} To protect the Soviet Union's reputation,{{sfn|Seton|1958|pages=210–211}} 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,{{sfn|Duberman|1989|pages=353–354}} and kept the meeting secret for the rest of his life, except from his son.{{sfn|Seton|1958|pages=210–211}} On June 20, 1949, Robeson spoke at the {{ill|Paris Peace Congress|fr|Congrès mondial des partisans de la paix}} saying that "We in America do not forget that it was on the backs of the white workers from Europe and on the backs of millions of Blacks that the wealth of America was built. And we are resolved to share it equally. We reject any hysterical raving that urges us to make war on anyone. Our will to fight for peace is strong. We shall not make war on anyone. We shall not make war on the Soviet Union. We oppose those who wish to build up imperialist Germany and to establish fascism in Greece. We wish peace with Franco's Spain despite her fascism. We shall support peace and friendship among all nations, with Soviet Russia and the people's Republics." He was blacklisted for saying this in the mainstream press within the United States, including in many periodicals of the Negro press such as The Crisis.{{harvnb|Robeson|2001|pp=142–143}}

In order to isolate Robeson politically, the House Un-American Activities Committee subpoenaed Jackie Robinson{{harvnb|Duberman|1989|pp=358–360}}; cf. {{harvnb|Robinson|1978|pp=94–98}} to comment on Robeson's Paris speech. Robinson testified that Robeson's statements, "'if accurately reported', were silly'".{{harvnb|Duberman|1989|pp=361–362}}; cf. {{harvnb|Robinson|1978|pp=94–98}} Former first lady Eleanor Roosevelt noted, "Mr. Robeson does his people great harm in trying to line them up on the Communist side of [the] political picture. Jackie Robinson helps them greatly by his forthright statements."{{cite web |last=Butler |first=Danielle |title=Unpopular Black History Opinion: Jackie Robinson May Have Been an Opp |website=The Root |date=February 28, 2018 |url=https://www.theroot.com/unpopular-black-history-opinion-jackie-robinson-might-1823251643}} Days later, the announcement of a concert headlined by Robeson in New York City provoked the local press to decry the use of their community to support "subversives".{{harvnb|Duberman|1989|p=364}}; cf. {{harvnb|Robeson|1981|p=181}} The Peekskill riots ensued in which violent anti-Robeson protests shut down a Robeson concert on August 27, 1949,{{cite book |title=Paul Robeson: The Great Forerunner |last=Wright |first=Charles H. |chapter=Paul Robeson at Peekskill |pages=134–136 |publisher=International Publishers |year=1998 |orig-date=1978 |editor1=Freedomways |isbn=071780724X}} and marred the aftermath of the replacement concert held eight days later.{{harvnb|Duberman|1989|pp=364–370}}; cf. {{harvnb|Robeson|1981|p=181}}{{cite journal |last1=Williams |first1=Roger M. |title=A Rough Sunday at Peekskill |journal=American Heritage Magazine |date=April 1976 |url=https://www.americanheritage.com/rough-sunday-peekskill#3 |access-date=September 1, 2021 |archive-date=September 1, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210901224719/https://www.americanheritage.com/rough-sunday-peekskill#3 |url-status=live }}

In its review of Christy Walsh's massive 1949 reference, College Football and All America Review, the Los Angeles Times praised it as "the most complete source of past gridiron scores, players, coaches, etc., yet published",{{cite news |date=6 January 1950 |page=49 |newspaper=Los Angeles Times |title=Sports News |url=https://latimes.newspapers.com/search/results/?date=1950-01&keyword=%22the+most+complete+source+of+past+gridiron+scores%22 }} but it failed to list Robeson as ever having played on the Rutgers team{{sfn|Walsh|1949|p=689}} or ever having been an All-American.{{harvnb|Brown|1997|p=162}}; cf. {{harvnb|Robeson|1978b|p=4}} Walsh only listed a ten-man All-American team in 1917 and he listed no team the following year due to World War I. {{harvnb|Walsh|1949|pp=16–18, 32}}. The information in the book was compiled from information supplied by 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" {{harvnb|Walsh|1949|p=6}}. The Rutgers University list was presented to Walsh by Gordon A. McCoy, Director of Publicity for Rutgers, and although it says that Rutgers had two All-Americans as of 1949, Christy's book only lists the other All-American and not Robeson. {{harvnb|Walsh|1949|p= 684}} Months later, NBC canceled Robeson's appearance on Eleanor Roosevelt's television program, which furthered his erasure from public view.{{cite news |title=Mrs. Roosevelt Sees a 'Misunderstanding' |newspaper=The New York Times |date=March 16, 1950 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1950/03/16/archives/mrs-roosevelt-sees-a-misunderstanding.html |access-date=October 22, 2023 |archive-date=May 16, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210516091056/https://www.nytimes.com/1950/03/16/archives/mrs-roosevelt-sees-a-misunderstanding.html |url-status=live }}

Robeson opposed U.S. involvement in the Korean War and condemned America's nuclear threats against China.{{Rp|page=88}} In Robeson's opinion, the U.S. had manipulated the United Nations for imperialist purposes, and China's intervention in the Korean War was necessary to defend the security of millions of people in Asia.{{Rp|page=88}} Robeson credited "American peace sentiment" as a crucial factor in President Truman not using nuclear weapons and in recalling General Douglas MacArthur.{{Rp|page=88}}

A month after Robeson began criticizing his country's role in the Korean War, the Department of State demanded that he return his passport.{{Rp|page=97}} Robeson refused.{{Rp|page=97}} At the FBI's request, the State Department voided Robeson's passport and instructed customs officials to prevent any attempt by him to leave the country.{{Rp|page=97}} Confining him inside the U.S. afforded him less freedom to express{{sfn|Wright|1975|p=97}} what some saw as his "extreme advocacy on behalf of the independence of the colonial peoples of Africa".{{sfn|Von Eschen|2014|pp=181–185}} It's estimated that the revocation of Robeson's travel privileges, and the resulting inability to earn fees overseas, caused his yearly income to drop from $150,000 to less than $3,000. When Robeson met with State Department officials 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".{{sfn|Duberman|1989|pp=388–389}}

In 1950, Robeson co-founded, with W. E. B. Du Bois, a monthly newspaper, Freedom, showcasing his views and those of his circle. Most issues had a column by Robeson, on the front page. In the final issue, July–August 1955, an unsigned column on the front page of the newspaper described the struggle for the restoration of his passport. It called for support from the leading African-American organizations, and asserted that "Negroes, [and] all Americans who have breathed a sigh of relief at the easing of international tensions... have a stake in the Paul Robeson passport case". An article by Robeson appeared on the second page continuing the passport issue under the headline: "If Enough People Write Washington I'll Get My Passport in a Hurry."{{cite news |last1=Robeson |first1=Paul |title=If Enough People Write Washington I'll Get My Passport in a Hurry |work=Freedom |volume=V |issue=6 |publisher=Freedom Associates |date=July–August 1955 |hdl=2333.1/vhhmgvws |hdl-access=free }}

In 1951, an article titled "Paul Robeson – the Lost Shepherd" was published in The Crisis and attributed to Robert Alan,"Paul Robeson – the Lost Shepherd". The Crisis, November 1951, pp. 569–573. although Paul Jr. suspected it was written by Amsterdam News columnist Earl Brown.{{sfn|Duberman|1989|p=396}} J. Edgar Hoover and the U.S. State Department arranged for the article to be printed and distributed in Africa{{sfn|Foner|2001|pp=112–115}} in order to damage Robeson's reputation and reduce his popularity, and Communism's popularity, in colonial countries.{{sfn|Von Eschen|2014|p=127}} Another article by Roy Wilkins (now thought to have been the real author of "Paul Robeson – the Lost Shepherd") denounced Robeson as well as the CPUSA in terms consistent with the FBI's anti-Communist propaganda of the era.{{harvnb|Duberman|1989|p=396}}; cf. {{harvnb|Foner|2001|pp=112–115}}

In December 1951, Robeson, in New York City, and William L. Patterson, in Paris, presented the United Nations with a Civil Rights Congress petition titled We Charge Genocide.{{sfn|Duberman|1989|pp=397–398}}{{cite news | first = Douglas B. | last = Cornell | title = UN Asked to Act Against Genocide in United States | date = December 29, 1951 | url = https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=mdQmAAAAIBAJ&sjid=kgIGAAAAIBAJ&dq=we-charge-genocide&pg=2113%2C3191483 | work = The Afro American | page = 19 | access-date = September 5, 2021 | archive-date = September 5, 2021 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20210905231528/https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=mdQmAAAAIBAJ&sjid=kgIGAAAAIBAJ&dq=we-charge-genocide&pg=2113,3191483 | url-status = live }} 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. The petition was not officially acknowledged by the UN, and, though receiving some favorable reception in Europe and in America's Black press, was largely either ignored or criticized for its association with Communism in America's mainstream press.{{cite journal |last=Docker |first=John |editor-last=Curthoys |editor-first=Ned |journal=Humanities Research |volume=XVI |number=2 |year=2010 |pages=49–74 |title=Raphaël Lemkin, creator of the concept of genocide: a world history perspective |doi=10.22459/HR.XVI.02.2010.03 |doi-access=free |url=http://press-files.anu.edu.au/downloads/press/p24011/pdf/raphael.pdf |archive-date=22 April 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190422025329/http://press-files.anu.edu.au/downloads/press/p24011/pdf/raphael.pdf}}

In 1952, Robeson was awarded the International Stalin Prize by the Soviet Union.{{cite journal |title=Paul Robeson receives Stalin Peace Prize |date=October 1953 |url=https://credo.library.umass.edu/view/pageturn/mums312-b140-i428/#page/1/mode/1up |journal=New World Review |via=W. E. B. Du Bois Papers (MS 312). Special Collections and University Archives, University of Massachusetts Amherst Libraries }} Unable to travel to Moscow, he accepted the award in New York.{{cite news|title=Paul Robeson Gets Stalin Peace Prize|date=September 25, 1953|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=5FtTAAAAIBAJ&dq=stalin%20peace%20prize%20robeson&pg=7155%2C6420665|work=The Victoria Advocate|page=5|access-date=May 29, 2020|archive-date=July 28, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200728044552/https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=5FtTAAAAIBAJ&dq=stalin+peace+prize+robeson&pg=7155%2C6420665|url-status=live}} 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."{{sfn|Robeson|1978a|pp=347–349}} Robeson's opinions about the Soviet Union kept his passport out of reach and stopped his return to the entertainment industry and the civil rights movement.{{sfn|Duberman|1989|p=354}} In his opinion, the Soviet Union was the guarantor of political balance in the world.{{sfn|Robeson|1978a|pp=236–241}}

In a symbolic act of defiance against the travel ban, in May 1952, labor unions in the United States and Canada organized a concert at the International Peace Arch on the border between Washington state and the Canadian province of British Columbia.{{sfn|Duberman|1989|p= 400}} Robeson returned to perform a second concert at the Peace Arch in 1953,{{sfn|Duberman|1989|p= 411}} and over the next two years, two further concerts took place. 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.

{{Main|Paul Robeson congressional hearings}}

On June 12, 1956, Robeson was called before the House Un-American Activities Committee after he refused to sign an affidavit affirming he was not a Communist. He attempted to read his prepared statement into the Congressional Record, but the Committee denied him that opportunity.{{cite web |title=STATEMENT: Paul Robeson Before the House Un-American Activities Committee, June 12, 1956 |website=Black Agenda Report |url=https://www.blackagendareport.com/statement-paul-robeson-house-un-american-activities-committee-june-12-1956 |date=11 September 2024}} During questioning, he invoked the Fifth Amendment and declined to reveal his political affiliations. When asked why he had not remained in the Soviet Union, given his affinity with its political ideology, he replied, "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!"{{cite web|url=http://historymatters.gmu.edu/d/6440|title=Testimony of Paul Robeson before the House Committee on Un-American Activities, June 12, 1956|publisher=History Matters|access-date=January 30, 2015|archive-date=February 21, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210221223044/http://historymatters.gmu.edu/d/6440/|url-status=live}}{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VhnCrHZkgNk|title=Testimony of Paul Robeson before the House Committee on Un-American Activities, June 12, 1956|date=February 28, 2019 |publisher=YouTube|access-date=November 5, 2021|archive-date=November 5, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211105160911/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VhnCrHZkgNk|url-status=live}} At that hearing, Robeson stated "Whether I am or not a Communist is irrelevant. The question is whether American citizens, regardless of their political beliefs or sympathies, may enjoy their constitutional rights."{{cite web|url=https://www.archives.gov/education/lessons/robeson|title=The Many Faces of Paul Robeson |publisher=US National Archives|access-date=February 3, 2017|date=August 15, 2016|archive-date=February 27, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210227134310/https://www.archives.gov/education/lessons/robeson|url-status=live}}

Due to the reaction to the promulgation of Robeson's political views, his recordings and films were removed from public distribution, and he was universally condemned in the U.S. press.{{cite web|url=https://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/archived/intothemusic/paul-robeson/4691690|title=Paul Robeson: the singer who fought for justice and paid with his life|date=June 7, 2013|first=Nicole|last=Steinke|work=Australian Broadcasting Corporation|access-date=May 7, 2019|archive-date=January 24, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210124004825/https://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/archived/intothemusic/paul-robeson/4691690|url-status=live}} 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.{{sfn|Robeson|1978b|pp=3–8}}

In 1956, in the United Kingdom, Topic Records, at that time part of the Workers Music Association, released a single of Robeson singing the labor anthem "Joe Hill", written by Alfred Hayes and Earl Robinson, backed with "John Brown's Body". In 1956, after public pressure brought a one-time exemption to the travel ban, Robeson performed two concerts in Canada in February, one in Toronto and the other at a union convention in Sudbury, Ontario.{{sfn|Goodman|2013|page=224}}

Still unable to perform abroad in person, on May 26, 1957, Robeson sang for a London audience at St. Pancras Town Hall (where the 1,000 available concert tickets for "Let Robeson Sing" sold out within an hour) via the recently completed transatlantic telephone cable TAT-1.{{Cite web |title=Robeson sings: the first transatlantic telephone cable |url=https://www.sciencemuseum.org.uk/objects-and-stories/robeson-sings-first-transatlantic-telephone-cable |access-date=January 11, 2023 |website=Science Museum |language=en |date=October 10, 2018 |archive-date=January 11, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230111131959/https://www.sciencemuseum.org.uk/objects-and-stories/robeson-sings-first-transatlantic-telephone-cable |url-status=live }}{{cite episode|title=TAT-1|series=Hidden Histories of the Information Age|credits=Presenters: Aleks Krotoski|station=BBC Radio 4|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b04m3bcc|airdate=January 5, 2016|minutes=9:50|access-date=December 20, 2024|archive-date=June 20, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150620062847/http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b04m3bcc|url-status=live}} In October of that year, using the same technology, Robeson sang to an audience of "perhaps 5,000" at Porthcawl's Grand Pavilion in Wales.{{cite web|url=http://www2.warwick.ac.uk/services/library/mrc/explorefurther/images/robeson/|title=Showcase: Let Robeson Sing|last=Howard|first=Tony|date=January 29, 2009|publisher=University of Warwick|access-date=November 15, 2011|archive-date=February 20, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160220112912/http://www2.warwick.ac.uk/services/library/mrc/explorefurther/images/robeson/|url-status=live}}{{cite news |last1=Sparrow |first1=Jeff|author-link=Jeff Sparrow|title=How Paul Robeson found his political voice in the Welsh valleys|type=edited extract from Sparrow's No Way But This – In Search of Paul Robeson (2017)|url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2017/jul/02/how-paul-robeson-found-political-voice-in-welsh-valleys |newspaper=The Observer |access-date=September 7, 2021 |date=July 2, 2017 |archive-date=May 6, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220506081954/https://www.theguardian.com/books/2017/jul/02/how-paul-robeson-found-political-voice-in-welsh-valleys |url-status=live }}

Nikita Khrushchev's denunciation of Stalinism at the 1956 Party Congress silenced Robeson on Stalin, although Robeson continued to praise the Soviet Union.{{sfn|Duberman|1989|p=437}} 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.

Robeson's passport was finally restored in 1958 as a result of the U.S. Supreme Court's 5 to 4 decision in Kent v. Dulles where the majority ruled that the denial of a passport without due process amounted to a violation of constitutionally protected liberty under the 5th Amendment.{{cite journal |last1=Glass |first1=Andrew |title=Paul Robeson loses passport appeal, Aug. 16, 1955 |journal=Politico |date=August 16, 2018 |url=https://www.politico.com/story/2018/08/16/paul-robeson-loses-passport-appeal-aug-16-1955-774738 |access-date=September 7, 2017 |archive-date=November 26, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181126072600/https://www.politico.com/story/2018/08/16/paul-robeson-loses-passport-appeal-aug-16-1955-774738 |url-status=live }}

While still confined in the U.S., Robeson finished his defiant "manifesto-autobiography" Here I Stand, published on February 14, 1958. John Vernon noted in Negro History Bulletin that "few publications dared or cared to review it—as if he had no longer existed".{{cite journal |last=Vernon |first=John |journal=Negro History Bulletin |volume=63 |number=2/3 |date=April 1999 |jstor=24766680 |title=Paul Robeson, the Cold War, and the Question of African-American Loyalties |pages=47–51}} In a preface to the 1971 edition, Robeson's friend and collaborator Lloyd L. Brown wrote that "no white commercial newspaper or magazine in the entire country so much as mentioned Robeson's book. Leading papers in the field of literary coverage, like The New York Times and the Herald-Tribune, not only did not review it; they refused even to include its name in their lists of 'books out today'."{{cite book |title=Here I Stand |last=Robeson |first=Paul |page=x |others=Preface by Lloyd L. Brown |year=1971 |orig-date=1958 |publisher=Beacon Press |lccn=70159847}} Brown added that the boycott was not in effect in foreign countries, for example, Here I Stand was favorably reviewed in England, Japan, and India. The book also received prompt attention from the African-American press. The Baltimore Afro-American was the first to champion the merits of Robeson's autobiography. The Pittsburgh Courier, Chicago Crusader, and the Los Angeles Herald-Dispatch soon followed suit. The NAACP's magazine, The Crisis, was more critical in its appraisal.{{cite book|last1=Brown|first1=Lloyd L. |title=Paul Robeson: The Great Forerunner |chapter=Robeson's Here I Stand: The Book They Could Not Ban |editor1=Freedomways |publisher=Dodd, Mead & Company |year=1978b |location=New York |pages=151–156 |isbn=978-0396075455}}

After Robeson's passport was returned in June 1958, he immediately left the U.S. for Europe.{{Rp|page=116}} He embarked on a world tour using London as his base.{{cite news |title=Paul Robeson, Part IV: Erasure from Historical Memory |last=Puckett |first=John L. |publisher=West Philadelphia Collaborative History |url=https://collaborativehistory.gse.upenn.edu/stories/paul-robeson-part-iv-erasure-historical-memory}} He gave 28 performances in towns and cities around Great Britain. In April 1959, he starred in Tony Richardson's production of Othello at Stratford-upon-Avon.{{cite web |title=RSC Performances{{!}}OTH195904-Othellos-Shakespeare |url=https://collections.shakespeare.org.uk/search/rsc-performances/oth195904 |access-date=September 12, 2021 |website=Shakespeare Birthplace Trust |archive-date=September 12, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210912160240/https://collections.shakespeare.org.uk/search/rsc-performances/oth195904 |url-status=live }} In Moscow in August 1959, he received a tumultuous reception at the Luzhniki Stadium where he sang classic Russian songs along with American standards.{{sfn|Duberman|1989|p=469}} Robeson and Essie then flew to Yalta to rest and spend time with Nikita Khrushchev.{{sfn|Duberman|1989|pp=469–470}}

On October 11, 1959, Robeson took part in a service at London's St Paul's Cathedral, the first black performer to sing there.{{sfn|Duberman|1989|p=471}}

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.{{sfn|Robeson|1981|p=218}} He recovered and returned to Great Britain to visit the National Eisteddfod of Wales.

In 1960, in what was his final concert performance in Great Britain, Robeson sang to raise money for the Movement for Colonial Freedom at the Royal Festival Hall.{{cite book |last=Williams |first=Daniel G. |date=2015 |title=Wales Unchained: Literature, politics and identity in the American century |page=76 |publisher=University of Wales Press |isbn=978-1783162147 |url={{google books |plain-url=y |id=378mDAAAQBAJ|page=76}} }}

In October 1960, Robeson embarked on a two-month concert tour of Australia and New Zealand with Essie, primarily to generate money,{{sfn|Duberman|1989|pp=487–491}} at the behest of Australian politician Bill Morrow.{{sfn|Curthoys|2010|p= 171}} While in Sydney, he became the first major artist to perform at the construction site of the future Sydney Opera House.{{cite news |url=http://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/intothemusic/paul-robeson/4691690 |title=Paul Robeson: The singer who fought for justice and paid with his life |last=Steinke |first=Nicole |access-date=March 9, 2018 |archive-date=December 30, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171230204325/http://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/intothemusic/paul-robeson/4691690 |url-status=live }} After appearing at the Brisbane Festival Hall, they went to Auckland where Robeson reaffirmed his support of Marxism-Leninism,{{sfn|Duberman|1989|p=489}} denounced the inequality faced by the Māori and efforts to denigrate their culture.{{harvnb|Curthoys|2010|p=168}}; {{harvnb|Duberman|1989|p=489}} Thereabouts, Robeson publicly stated "... the people of the lands of Socialism want peace dearly".{{harvnb|Robeson|1978a|pp= 470–471}}.

During the tour he was introduced to Faith Bandler and other activists who aroused the Robesons' concern for the plight of the Aboriginal Australians.{{harvnb|Curthoys|2010|pp=164, 173–175}}; cf. {{harvnb|Duberman|1989|p=490}} Robeson subsequently demanded that the Australian government provide them with full citizenship and equal rights.{{harvnb|Curthoys|2010|pp=175–177}}; cf. {{harvnb|Duberman|1989}} He attacked the view that they were unsophisticated and uncultured, and declared that "there's no such thing as a backward human being, there is only a society which says they are backward."{{harvnb|Duberman|1989}}

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.{{harvnb|Curthoys|2010|pp=178–180}}; cf. {{harvnb|Duberman|1989|p=491}}

Back in London after his Australia and New Zealand tour, Robeson expressed a desire to return to the United States and participate in the civil rights movement, while his wife argued that he would be unsafe there and "unable to make any money" due to government harassment. In March 1961 Robeson again traveled to Moscow.{{sfn|Robeson|2001|p=309}}

During an uncharacteristically wild party in his Moscow hotel room, Robeson locked himself in his bedroom and attempted suicide by cutting his wrists.{{sfn|Duberman|1989|pp=498–499}} Three days later, under Soviet medical care, he told his son, who had received news about his condition and traveled to Moscow, that he felt extreme paranoia, he thought that the walls of the room were moving and, overcome by a powerful sense of emptiness and depression, he tried to take his own life.{{sfn|Nollen|2010|p=180}}

Paul Jr. has stated that his father's health problems stemmed from the CIA's and MI5's attempts to "neutralize" his father.{{cite AV media |medium=radio broadcast |people=(presenter) Amy Goodman |date=July 1, 1999 |title=Did the U.S. Government drug Paul Robeson? Part 1 |work=Democracy Now |url=http://www.democracynow.org/1999/7/1/did_the_cia_drug_paul_robeson |postscript=; |access-date=December 15, 2010 |archive-date=February 13, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210213142424/https://www.democracynow.org/1999/7/1/did_the_cia_drug_paul_robeson |url-status=live }} [http://www.democracynow.org/1999/7/6/did_the_u_s_government_drug part 2, July 6, 1999] {{Webarchive|date=December 17, 2010|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101217164721/http://www.democracynow.org/1999/7/6/did_the_u_s_government_drug}}{{sfn|Duberman|1989|pp=563–564}} He remembered that his father had had such fears before his prostate operation.{{sfn|Duberman|1989|pp=438–442}} He said that three doctors treating Robeson in London and New York had been CIA contractors, and that his father's symptoms resulted from being "subjected to mind de-patterning under MK-ULTRA", a secret CIA programme.{{cite magazine |title=Time Out: The Paul Robeson files |magazine=The Nation |date=December 20, 1999 |first=Paul Jr. |last=Robeson |volume=269 |issue=21 |page=9}} Martin Duberman wrote 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."{{sfn|Duberman|1989|pp=498–499}}

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{{when|date=September 2021}}, he became suicidal and suffered a panic attack while passing the Soviet Embassy.{{sfn|Duberman|1989|pp=735–736}} 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.{{sfn|Nollen|2010|pp=180–181}} During his treatment at the Priory, Robeson was being monitored by the British MI5.{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2003/mar/07/uk.race |title=Paul Robeson was tracked by MI5 |last=Travis |first=Alan |date=March 6, 2003 |newspaper=The Guardian |publisher=Guardian News and Media Limited |postscript=; |access-date=December 12, 2016 |archive-date=August 18, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160818074029/http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2003/mar/07/uk.race |url-status=live }} cf. {{cite news |newspaper=Western Mail |url=http://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-news/tm_objectid%3D15246932%26method%3Dfull%26siteid%3D50082%26headline%3Dmi5-tracked-robeson-amid-communist-fears-name_page.html |title=MI5 tracked Robeson amid communist fears |access-date=November 6, 2011 |archive-date=January 22, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120122003323/http://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-news/tm_objectid%3D15246932%26method%3Dfull%26siteid%3D50082%26headline%3Dmi5-tracked-robeson-amid-communist-fears-name_page.html |url-status=live }}

Both British and American 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.{{sfn|Duberman|1989|p=509}} Numerous memos advised that Robeson should be denied a passport renewal, an obstacle that was likely to further jeopardize his recovery process.{{sfn|Duberman|1989|pp=498–499}}

In August 1963, disturbed about his treatment, friends and family had Robeson transferred to the Buch Clinic in East Berlin.{{sfn|Nollen|2010|p=182}}{{cite book |last=Lamparski |first=Richard |year=1968 |title=Whatever Became of ... ? |volume=II |page=9 |publisher=Ace Books}} 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."{{sfn|Duberman|1989|pp=516–518}}

File:Robesonhouse.Philadelphia.JPG in Philadelphia (2009)]]

In December 1963, Robeson returned to the United States{{cite news |last1=Feron |first1=James |title=Robeson Will Return to the U.S. Monday to Retire ... |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1963/12/20/archives/robeson-will-return-to-us-monday-to-retire-he-stops-our-in-britain.html |access-date=September 14, 2021 |work=The New York Times |date=December 20, 1963 |pages=10 |archive-date=September 15, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210915010353/https://www.nytimes.com/1963/12/20/archives/robeson-will-return-to-us-monday-to-retire-he-stops-our-in-britain.html |url-status=live }} and for the remainder of his life lived mainly in seclusion.{{sfn|Duberman|1989|p=537}} He momentarily assumed a role in the civil rights movement, making a few major public appearances before falling seriously ill during a tour. Double pneumonia and a kidney blockage in 1965 nearly killed him.{{sfn|Duberman|1989|p=537}}

Robeson was contacted by Bayard Rustin and James Farmer and both of them asked him about the possibility of becoming involved in the mainstream of the Civil Rights Movement.{{sfn|Robeson|2001|p=346}}

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.{{sfn|Farmer|1985|pp=297–298}}

After Essie, who had been his spokesperson to the media, died in December 1965,{{sfn|Duberman|1989|pp=162–163}} Robeson moved in with his son's family in New York City.{{sfn|Robeson|1981|pp=235–237}} He was rarely seen strolling near his Harlem apartment on Jumel Place, and his son responded to press inquiries that his "father's health does not permit him to perform, or answer questions." In 1968, he settled at his sister's home in Philadelphia.{{sfn|Bell|1986|p=?}}

Numerous celebrations were held in honor of Robeson over the next several years, including at public arenas that had previously shunned him, 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".{{sfn|Duberman|1989|p=516}}

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."{{sfn|Nollen|2010|p=186}}

On January 23, 1976, following complications of a stroke, Robeson died in Philadelphia at the age of 77.{{Cite news |date=February 2, 1976 |title=Died |magazine=Time |url=https://time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,945524,00.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070819174059/https://time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,945524,00.html |archive-date=August 19, 2007 |url-status=dead |postscript=; |access-date=April 20, 2021 }} cf. {{harvnb|Duberman|1989|p=548}} He lay in state in Harlem{{sfn|Robeson|1981|pp=236–237}} and his funeral was held at his brother Ben's former parish, Mother Zion AME Zion Church,{{sfn|Duberman|1989|p=549}} where Bishop J. Clinton Hoggard performed the eulogy.{{Cite web |last=Hoggard |first=Bishop J. Clinton |title=Eulogy |url=http://www.paulrobesonfoundation.org/eulogy.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110727170029/http://www.paulrobesonfoundation.org/eulogy.html |archive-date=July 27, 2011 |publisher=The Paul Robeson Foundation}} His 12 pall bearers included Harry Belafonte{{sfn|Nollen|2010|p=187}} and Fritz Pollard.{{sfn|Carroll|1998}} He was interred in the Ferncliff Cemetery in Hartsdale, New York.{{sfn|Nollen|2010|p=187}}

Biographer Martin Duberman said of news media notices upon Robeson's death:

the "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] "gingerly" [paid him] "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.' "{{sfn|Duberman|1989|p=549}}

File:Bundesarchiv Bild 183-Z0414-148, Berlin, David Silberstein, Franz Loeser.jpg, 1981]]

Early in his life, Robeson was one of the most influential participants in the Harlem Renaissance.{{harvnb|Finkelman|2007|p=363}}; cf. {{harvnb|Dorinson|2004|p=74}} His achievements in sport and culture were all the more impressive given the barriers of racism he had to surmount.{{cite book|editor-first=Charles K.|editor-last=Ross|title=Race and Sport: The Struggle for Equality on and Off the Field|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WDJ9Q1KDkZIC&pg=PA149|date=2005|publisher=University Press of Mississippi|isbn=978-1578068975|last1=Miller|first1=Patrick B.|chapter=Muscular assimilationism: sport and the paradoxes of racial reform|pages=149–150|access-date=August 13, 2018|archive-date=January 5, 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240105031100/https://books.google.com/books?id=WDJ9Q1KDkZIC&pg=PA149#v=onepage&q&f=false|url-status=live}} Robeson brought Negro spirituals into the American mainstream.{{sfn|Duberman|1989|p=81}} He was among the first artists to refuse to perform to segregated audiences. Historian Penny Von Eschen wrote that while McCarthyism curbed American anti-colonialist politics in the 1940s such as Robeson's, "the [African independence movements] of the late 1950s and 1960s would vindicate his anti-colonial [agenda]."{{sfn|Von Eschen|2014|p=185}}

In 1945, he received the Spingarn Medal from the NAACP.{{cite web|url=http://www.naacp.org/pages/spingarn-medal-winners|title=Spingarn Medal Winners: 1915 to Today|work=naacp.org|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140802063355/http://www.naacp.org/pages/spingarn-medal-winners|archive-date=August 2, 2014|access-date=September 17, 2012}} Several public and private establishments he was associated with have been landmarked,{{cite web|url=http://www.cr.nps.gov/nhl/designations/Lists/LIST11.pdf|title=List of National Historic Landmarks by State|publisher=National Historic Landmarks Program|page=71|date=January 3, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111105084558/http://www.cr.nps.gov/nhl/designations/Lists/LIST11.pdf|archive-date=November 5, 2011|url-status=dead|access-date=January 14, 2012}} or named after him.{{cite web|url=http://andromeda.rutgers.edu/artgallery/|title=Paul Robeson Galleries|access-date=April 14, 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110805194126/http://andromeda.rutgers.edu/artgallery/|archive-date=August 5, 2011|url-status=dead}}; cf. [http://www.libraries.rutgers.edu/rul/libs/robeson_lib Paul Robeson Library] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080329003100/http://www.libraries.rutgers.edu/rul/libs/robeson_lib/ |date=March 29, 2008 }}, {{cite web|url=http://www.princeton.edu/main/news/archive/S07/40/11C40/index.xml|title=Princeton University – Ceremony to honor Robeson, Jan. 20|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111123051559/http://www.princeton.edu/main/news/archive/S07/40/11C40/index.xml|archive-date=November 23, 2011|url-status=dead|access-date=January 25, 2011}} [http://prcc.rutgers.edu/ The Paul Robeson Cultural Center] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100701064650/http://prcc.rutgers.edu/ |date=July 1, 2010 }}, [https://web.archive.org/web/20110807132009/http://studentaffairs.psu.edu/cultural/faq.shtml Frequently Asked Questions]

In 1950, Robeson was awarded the International Peace Prize for his Songs of Peace.{{Rp|page=94}}

His efforts to end Apartheid in South Africa were posthumously rewarded in 1978 by the United Nations General Assembly.{{cite web |url=http://www.nelsonmandela.org/omalley/index.php/site/q/03lv01538/04lv01539/05lv01562/06lv01571.htm |title=1978 |last=O'Malley |first=Padraig |publisher=Nelson Mandela Centre of Memory |access-date=February 12, 2012 |archive-date=July 10, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170710093903/https://www.nelsonmandela.org/omalley/index.php/site/q/03lv01538/04lv01539/05lv01562/06lv01571.htm |url-status=live }} Paul Robeson: Tribute to an Artist won an Academy Award for best short documentary in 1980.{{cite web|url=http://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1980|title=1980|publisher=Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences|access-date=October 2, 2015|archive-date=April 2, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402002939/http://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1980|url-status=live}} In 1995, he was named to the College Football Hall of Fame.{{cite news |first=Nancy |last=Armour |title=Brown, Robeson inducted into college football hall |date=August 26, 1995 |publisher=Reid MacCluggage |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=K5hGAAAAIBAJ&dq=robeson%20and%20brown%20inducted%20in%20hall&pg=1186%2C4831956 |work=The Day |page=C6 |access-date=May 29, 2020 |archive-date=July 28, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200728044557/https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=K5hGAAAAIBAJ&dq=robeson+and+brown+inducted+in+hall&pg=1186%2C4831956 |url-status=live }} In the centenary of his birth, which was commemorated around the world,{{Cite web|url=http://www.cpsr.cs.uchicago.edu/robeson/peacearch.html|title=Robeson Peace Arch Concert Anniversary|website=Cpsr.cs.uchicago.edu|access-date=April 1, 2014|archive-date=June 30, 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070630074624/http://www.cpsr.cs.uchicago.edu/robeson/peacearch.html|url-status=live}} he was awarded a Lifetime Achievement Grammy Award,{{cite news|title=From the Valley of Obscurity, Robeson's Baritone Rings Out; 22 Years After His Death, Actor-Activist Gets a Grammy|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1998/02/25/arts/valley-obscurity-robeson-s-baritone-rings-22-years-after-his-death-actor.html|work=The New York Times|date=February 25, 1998|access-date=February 18, 2017|archive-date=March 9, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210309113302/http://www.nytimes.com/1998/02/25/arts/valley-obscurity-robeson-s-baritone-rings-22-years-after-his-death-actor.html|url-status=live}} as well as a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.{{cite magazine|title=The Paul Robeson centennial|magazine=Ebony|date=May 1, 1998|volume=53|issue=7|pages=110–114|publisher=Johnson Publishing Company|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lyO8WRXttnoC&pg=PA110|access-date=August 26, 2018|archive-date=July 28, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200728044546/https://books.google.com/books?id=lyO8WRXttnoC&pg=PA110|url-status=live}}; cf. {{harvnb|Wade-Lewis|2007|page=108}} Robeson is also a member of the American Theater Hall of Fame.{{Cite web|url=http://www.theaterhalloffame.org/members.html#QR|title=Theater Hall of Fame | The Official Website | Members | Preserve the Past • Honor the Present • Encourage the Future|website=Theaterhalloffame.org|access-date=May 22, 2014|archive-date=August 24, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190824183552/http://www.theaterhalloffame.org/members.html#QR|url-status=live}}

{{As of|2011}}, the run of Othello starring Robeson was the longest-running production of a Shakespeare play ever staged on Broadway.{{Cite web|url=https://shakespeareandbeyond.folger.edu/2016/02/26/a-contract-for-othello-paul-robeson/|title=A contract for Othello|date=February 26, 2016|website=Shakespeare & Beyond|language=en-US|access-date=October 16, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191016204413/https://shakespeareandbeyond.folger.edu/2016/02/26/a-contract-for-othello-paul-robeson/|archive-date=October 16, 2019|url-status=dead}} He received a Donaldson Award for his performance.{{cite web|url=https://www.loc.gov/exhibits/treasures/tri203.html|title=Paul Robeson as Othello|website=Library of Congress|date=July 29, 2010|archive-date=April 28, 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100428025429/https://www.loc.gov/exhibits/treasures/tri203.html|url-status=dead}} His Othello was characterised by Michael A. Morrison in 2011 as a high point in Shakespearean theatre in the 20th century.{{sfn|Morrison|2011|pp=114–140}} In 1930, while performing Othello in London, Robeson was painted by the British artist Glyn Philpot; this portrait was sold in 1944 under the title Head of a Negro and thereafter thought lost, but was rediscovered by Simon Martin, the director of the Pallant House Gallery, for an exhibition held there in 2022.{{Cite web|url=https://pallant.org.uk/whats-on/glyn-philpot-flesh-and-spirit/|title=Pallant House Gallery: Glyn Philpot: Flesh and Spirit|access-date=April 14, 2022|archive-date=April 10, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220410140650/https://pallant.org.uk/whats-on/glyn-philpot-flesh-and-spirit/|url-status=live}}

Robeson archives exist at the Academy of Arts;{{cite web|url=http://www.hu-berlin.de/pr/publikationen/humboldt/201001/geschichte/paul-robeson-zu-gast-unter-den-linden|title=Paul Robeson zu Gast Unter den Linden – Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin|language=de|publisher=Hu-berlin.de|access-date=March 9, 2018|archive-date=July 18, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110718061227/http://www.hu-berlin.de/pr/publikationen/humboldt/201001/geschichte/paul-robeson-zu-gast-unter-den-linden|url-status=dead}} Howard University,{{sfn|Duberman|1989|p=557}} and the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture.{{Cite book|url=http://browse.nypl.org/iii/encore/record/C__Rb16670166?lang=eng|title=Paul Robeson Archive|publisher=New York Public Libraries|location=New York|access-date=March 9, 2018|archive-date=July 28, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200728044553/http://browse.nypl.org/iii/encore/record/C__Rb16670166?lang=eng|url-status=live}} In 2010, Susan Robeson launched a project at Swansea University, supported the Welsh Assembly, to create an online learning resource in her grandfather's memory.{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-wales-10853209|title=Paul Robeson's granddaughter at Ebbw Vale eisteddfod|work=BBC News|language=en-GB|access-date=August 12, 2016|date=August 3, 2010|last1=Prior|first1=Neil|archive-date=August 5, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200805134904/https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-wales-10853209|url-status=live}}

In 1976, the apartment building on Edgecombe Avenue in the Washington Heights section of Manhattan where Robeson lived during the early 1940s was officially renamed the Paul Robeson Residence, and declared a National Historic Landmark.{{cite web|url={{NHLS url|id=76001248}}|title=National Register of Historical Places Inventory – Nomination Form: Paul Robeson Residence|access-date=January 16, 2012|last=Gomez|first=Lynn|date=January 16, 2012|publisher=United States Department of the Interior: National Park Service|archive-url=https://www.webcitation.org/64kC75iuO?url=http://pdfhost.focus.nps.gov/docs/NHLS/Text/76001248.pdf|archive-date=January 16, 2012}}{{cite web|url=http://www.nps.gov/history/nr/travel/civilrights/ny1.htm|title=We Shall Overcome – Paul Robeson Home|first=Ginny|last=Finch|website=Nps.gov|access-date=May 20, 2016|archive-date=January 14, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130114215827/http://www.nps.gov/history/nr/travel/civilrights/ny1.htm|url-status=live}}{{Cite web|url=https://npgallery.nps.gov/pdfhost/docs/NHLS/Photos/76001248.pdf|title=Paul Robeson Residence Accompanying 3 photos, exterior, from 1976|website=Npgallery.nps.gov|access-date=March 10, 2018|archive-date=November 7, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181107145508/https://npgallery.nps.gov/pdfhost/docs/NHLS/Photos/76001248.pdf|url-status=live}} In 1993, the building was designated a New York City landmark as well.{{cite nycland}}, p. 211. Edgecombe Avenue itself was later co-named Paul Robeson Boulevard.

In 1978, the Telegraph Agency of the Soviet Union announced that the Latvian Shipping Company had named one of its new 40,000-ton tankers Paul Robeson in honor of the singer. The agency said the ship's crew established a Robeson museum aboard the tanker.{{cite news|title=Tanker Named 'Paul Robeson'|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=_OkgAAAAIBAJ&pg=5046%2C162623|newspaper=The Hour|agency=UPI|date=June 1, 1978|access-date=June 27, 2015|archive-date=July 28, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200728044644/https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=_OkgAAAAIBAJ&pg=5046%2C162623|url-status=live}} After Robeson's death, a street in the Prenzlauer Berg district of East Berlin was renamed Paul-Robeson-Straße, and the street name remains in reunified Berlin. An East German stamp featuring Robeson's face was issued with the text "For Peace Against Racism, Paul Robeson 1898–1976."{{Cite book|last=Farber|first=Paul M.|title=A Wall of Our Own : an American History of the Berlin Wall|date=2020|isbn=978-1-4696-5510-9|location=Chapel Hill|publisher=University of North Carolina Press|pages=196|oclc=1141094001}}

In 2001, (Here I Stand) In the Spirit of Paul Robeson, a public artwork by American artist Allen Uzikee Nelson, was dedicated in the Petworth neighborhood in Washington, D.C.

In 2002, a blue plaque was unveiled by English Heritage on the house in Branch Hill, Hampstead where Robeson lived in 1929–30.{{cite web|url=http://untoldlondon.org.uk/articles/read/english_heritage_unveil_a_blue_plaque_to_honour_paul_robeson|title=English Heritage Unveil A Blue Plaque To Honour Paul Robeson|work=untoldlondon.org.uk|access-date=May 7, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140429201756/http://untoldlondon.org.uk/articles/read/english_heritage_unveil_a_blue_plaque_to_honour_paul_robeson|archive-date=April 29, 2014|url-status=dead}} On May 18, 2002, a memorial concert celebrating the 50th anniversary of Robeson's concert across the Canadian border took place on the same spot at Peace Park in Vancouver.{{cite news |last1=Gill |first1=Alexandra |title=Paul Robeson's legendary border-straddling concert |url=https://www.theglobeandmail.com/life/paul-robesons-legendary-border-straddling-concert/article754799/ |website=The Globe and Mail |access-date=May 18, 2021 |archive-date=September 23, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210923124635/https://www.theglobeandmail.com/life/paul-robesons-legendary-border-straddling-concert/article754799/ |url-status=live }}

In 2004, the U.S. Postal Service issued a 37-cent stamp honoring Robeson.{{cite web|title=Stamp Series|publisher=United States Postal Service|url=http://beyondtheperf.com/stamp-series|access-date=September 2, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130810160707/http://beyondtheperf.com/stamp-series|archive-date=August 10, 2013|url-status=dead}} In 2006, a plaque was unveiled in his honor at the University of London's School of Oriental and African Studies.{{Cite news|url=https://socialistworker.co.uk/art/9625/Paul+Robeson+tribute+at+Soas|title=Paul Robeson tribute at Soas|work=Socialist Worker (Britain)|access-date=August 13, 2018|archive-date=August 14, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180814001821/https://socialistworker.co.uk/art/9625/Paul+Robeson+tribute+at+Soas|url-status=live}}{{Cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2006/sep/22/arts.pop|title=Leader: In praise of ... Paul Robeson|last=Leader|date=September 21, 2006|newspaper=The Guardian|language=en|access-date=August 13, 2018|archive-date=August 14, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180814040626/https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2006/sep/22/arts.pop|url-status=live}} In 2007, 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.{{cite web|title=Paul Robeson: Portraits of the Artist|publisher=The Criterion Collection|url=http://www.criterion.com/boxsets/443-paul-robeson-portraits-of-the-artist|access-date=March 9, 2018|archive-date=July 10, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180710102438/https://www.criterion.com/boxsets/443-paul-robeson-portraits-of-the-artist|url-status=live}} In 2009, Robeson was inducted into the New Jersey Hall of Fame.{{cite news|url=http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2009/05/2009_new_jersey_hall_of_fame_i.html|title=2009 New Jersey Hall of Fame Inductees Welcomed at NJPAC|first=Rohan|last=Mascarenhas|date=May 3, 2009|work=The Star-Ledger|access-date=March 9, 2018|archive-date=November 5, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131105012448/http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2009/05/2009_new_jersey_hall_of_fame_i.html|url-status=live}}

File:PAUL ROBESON - ACTOR, ARTIST, ATHLETE - NARA - 535624.jpg

The main campus library at Rutgers University-Camden is named after Robeson,{{cite web|title=Paul Robeson Library|publisher=Rutgers University Camden|url=http://www.libraries.rutgers.edu/robeson|access-date=March 9, 2018|archive-date=January 29, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180129073926/https://www.libraries.rutgers.edu/robeson|url-status=live}} as is the campus center at Rutgers University-Newark.{{cite web|title=Paul Robeson Campus Center|publisher=Rutgers University Newark|url=http://www.newark.rutgers.edu/about-us/have-you-met-rutgers-newark/paul-robeson-campus-center|access-date=March 9, 2018|archive-date=September 28, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170928010054/https://www.newark.rutgers.edu/about-us/have-you-met-rutgers-newark/paul-robeson-campus-center|url-status=live}} The Paul Robeson Cultural Center is on the campus of Rutgers University, New Brunswick.{{Cite web|url=http://prcc.rutgers.edu/|title=Home Page|website=prcc|access-date=March 9, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180307072735/http://prcc.rutgers.edu/|archive-date=March 7, 2018|url-status=dead}}

In 1972, Penn State established a formal cultural center on the University Park campus. Students and staff chose to name the center for Robeson.{{cite web|url=https://studentaffairs.psu.edu/cultural/prcc-history|title=Paul Robeson Cultural Center History|publisher=Paul Robeson Cultural Center at PSU|access-date=May 28, 2018|archive-date=March 5, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210305075736/https://studentaffairs.psu.edu/cultural/prcc-history|url-status=live}} A street in Princeton, New Jersey, is named after him. In addition, the block of Davenport Street in Somerville, New Jersey, where St. Thomas AME Zion Church still stands, is called Paul Robeson Boulevard.{{cite web|url=http://www.somervillenj.org/content/4066/4794/default.aspx|title=Somerville History|publisher=Borough of Somerville|access-date=May 28, 2018|archive-date=May 28, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180528134643/http://www.somervillenj.org/content/4066/4794/default.aspx|url-status=dead}} In West Philadelphia, the Paul Robeson High School is named after him.{{Cite web|url=https://robeson.philasd.org/|title=Paul Robeson High School – The School District of Philadelphia|website=Robeson.philasd.org|access-date=October 2, 2019|archive-date=March 10, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180310192839/https://robeson.philasd.org/|url-status=live}} To celebrate the 100th anniversary of Robeson's graduation, Rutgers University named an open-air plaza after him on Friday, April 12, 2019. The plaza, next to the Voorhees Mall on the College Avenue campus at Rutgers, New Brunswick, features eight black granite panels with details of Robeson's life.{{Cite news|url=http://amsterdamnews.com/news/2019/apr/18/rutgers-dedicates-plaza-paul-robeson/|title=Rutgers dedicates plaza to Paul Robeson|newspaper=New York Amsterdam News|date=April 18, 2019|access-date=May 2, 2019|archive-date=January 13, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210113061557/http://amsterdamnews.com/news/2019/apr/18/rutgers-dedicates-plaza-paul-robeson/|url-status=live}}

On March 6, 2019, the city council of New Brunswick, New Jersey, approved the renaming of Commercial Avenue to Paul Robeson Boulevard.{{Cite web | last=Loyer | first=Susan | title=New Brunswick: Commercial Avenue renamed Paul Robeson Boulevard | url=https://www.mycentraljersey.com/story/news/local/middlesex-county/2019/03/28/new-brunswick-commercial-avenue-renamed-paul-robeson-boulevard/3299518002/ | date=March 28, 2019 | access-date=October 16, 2019 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190610172842/https://www.mycentraljersey.com/story/news/local/middlesex-county/2019/03/28/new-brunswick-commercial-avenue-renamed-paul-robeson-boulevard/3299518002/ | archive-date=June 10, 2019 | url-status=dead }}

A dark red heirloom tomato from the Soviet Union was given the name Paul Robeson.{{Cite web |url=http://www.seedaholic.com/tomato-paul-robeson.html |title=Tomato 'Paul Robeson' Seeds |access-date=April 13, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170615135938/http://www.seedaholic.com/tomato-paul-robeson.html |archive-date=June 15, 2017 |url-status=dead }}{{cite web|title=Paul Robeson Tomato|url=https://www.rareseeds.com/paul-robeson-tomato|website=Rareseeds.com|language=en|access-date=July 25, 2022|archive-date=July 25, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220725033240/https://www.rareseeds.com/paul-robeson-tomato|url-status=dead}}

In 1949, some Chinese editors published children cartoons presenting him as an artistic and revolutionary hero.{{cite web |last1=Gao |first1=Yunxiang |title=Why the People's Republic of China embraced Paul Robeson |url=https://aeon.co/essays/why-the-peoples-republic-of-china-embraced-paul-robeson |website=Aeon Essays |access-date=August 18, 2022 |language=en |archive-date=August 18, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220818104246/https://aeon.co/essays/why-the-peoples-republic-of-china-embraced-paul-robeson |url-status=live }} In contemporary China, Robeson continues to be praised for his art and as a friend to China, including for his role in globalizing the March of the Volunteers.{{Rp|page=292}}

In 1954, the Kurdish poet Abdulla Goran wrote the poem {{transliteration|ku|Bangêk bo Pol Ropsin}} ("A Call for Paul Robeson"). In the same year, another Kurdish poet, Cegerxwîn, also wrote a poem about him, {{transliteration|ku|Heval Pol Robson}} ("Comrade Paul Robeson"), which was put to music by singer Şivan Perwer in 1976.{{cite journal|last=Yüksel|first=Metin|title=Solidarity without borders: The poetic tributes to Paul Robeson of Goran and Cegerxwîn|journal=Journal of Postcolonial Writing|year=2015|volume=51|issue=5|pages=556–573|doi=10.1080/17449855.2015.1065287|s2cid=143371833}} In 1970, American poet Gwendolyn Brooks published a poem entitled Paul Robeson.{{Cite web |last=Poets |first=Academy of American |title=Paul Robeson by Gwendolyn Brooks - Poems {{!}} Academy of American Poets |url=https://poets.org/poem/paul-robeson |access-date=2025-03-25 |website=poets.org |language=en}}

Black 47's 1989 album Home of the Brave includes the song "Paul Robeson (Born to Be Free)", which features spoken quotes of Robeson as part of the song.{{cite web|url=http://www.metrolyrics.com/paul-robeson-lyrics-black-47.html|title=Paul Robeson Lyrics|publisher=Metro Lyrics|access-date=March 9, 2018|archive-date=March 1, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180301164421/http://www.metrolyrics.com/paul-robeson-lyrics-black-47.html|url-status=dead}} These quotes are drawn from Robeson's testimony before the House Un-American Activities Committee in June 1956.

In 2001, Welsh rock band Manic Street Preachers released a song titled "Let Robeson Sing" as a tribute to Robeson, which reached number 19 on the UK Singles Chart.

In January 1978, James Earl Jones performed the one-man show Paul Robeson, written by Phillip Hayes Dean, on Broadway.{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1978/01/20/archives/stage-james-earl-jones-as-robeson-dramatic-monologue.html|title=Stage: James Earl Jones as Robeson|last=Eder|first=Richard|newspaper=The New York Times|date=January 20, 1978|access-date=March 9, 2018|archive-date=January 12, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210112124555/https://www.nytimes.com/1978/01/20/archives/stage-james-earl-jones-as-robeson-dramatic-monologue.html|url-status=live}}{{cite news |last1=Weber |first1=Bruce |title=Phillip Hayes Dean, the Playwright of Divisive 'Paul Robeson,' Dies at 83 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2014/04/23/arts/phillip-hayes-dean-playwright-of-paul-robeson-dies-at-83.html |work=The New York Times |date=April 23, 2014 |access-date=June 5, 2017 |archive-date=May 4, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210504153509/http://www.nytimes.com/2014/04/23/arts/phillip-hayes-dean-playwright-of-paul-robeson-dies-at-83.html |url-status=live }} This stage drama was made into a TV movie in 1979, starring Jones and directed by Lloyd Richards.{{cite web|website=Internet Movie Database|title=Paul Robeson (1979 TV Movie)|date=October 8, 1979|url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0078069|access-date=July 21, 2018|archive-date=August 18, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170818184247/http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0078069/|url-status=live}}

At the 2007 Edinburgh Festival Fringe, British-Nigerian actor Tayo Aluko, himself a baritone soloist, premiered his one-man show, Call Mr. Robeson: A Life with Songs, which has since toured various countries.{{Cite web|url=https://www.tayoalukoandfriends.com/robeson/|title=Call Mr. Robeson – Award-winning monodrama with songs celebrating the life and art of Paul Robeson|website=Tayoalukoandfriends.com|access-date=October 21, 2023|archive-date=February 16, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210216181259/https://www.tayoalukoandfriends.com/robeson/|url-status=live}}

A fictional Paul Robeson appears in The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles episode "Winds of Change" as a friend of Indiana Jones.{{Cite web |title=TheRaider.net – The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles |url=http://www.theraider.net/films/young_indy/chapter_19.php |access-date=June 3, 2023 |website=Theraider.net |archive-date=June 3, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230603170215/http://www.theraider.net/films/young_indy/chapter_19.php |url-status=live }}

World Inferno Friendship Society had a semi-biographical song about Paul Robeson's life on their 2006 album Red Eyed Soul.{{Citation |title=The World/Inferno Friendship Society – Paul Robeson |url=https://genius.com/The-world-inferno-friendship-society-paul-robeson-lyrics |access-date=2024-01-31}}

Tom Rob Smith's novel Agent 6 (2012) includes the character Jesse Austin, "a black singer, political activist and communist sympathizer modeled after real-life actor/activist Paul Robeson."{{cite news|url=https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/la-xpm-2012-jan-27-la-et-book-20120127-story.html|title=Book review: 'Agent 6' by Tom Rob Smith|author=Woods, Paula|date=January 27, 2012|work=Los Angeles Times|access-date=March 9, 2018|archive-date=August 23, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170823061130/http://articles.latimes.com/2012/jan/27/entertainment/la-et-book-20120127|url-status=live}} Robeson also appears in short fiction published in the online literary magazines the Maple Tree Literary Supplement{{Cite journal|last=Frank|first=David|title=The Robeson Connection|url=https://www.mtls.ca/issue23/david-frank/|journal=Maple Tree Literary Supplement|volume=23 (April–July 2018)|access-date=April 1, 2019|archive-date=April 19, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210419122421/https://www.mtls.ca/issue23/david-frank/|url-status=live}} and Every Day Fiction.{{Cite journal|last=Alexander|first=Morris|title=A Small World|url=https://everydayfiction.com/?s=small+world|journal=Every Day Fiction|volume=January 23, 2019|access-date=March 31, 2019|archive-date=April 14, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210414140325/https://everydayfiction.com/?s=small+world|url-status=live}}

Film director Steve McQueen's video work End Credits (2012–ongoing), shown at the Whitney Museum of American Art, the Tate Modern, the Art Institute of Chicago, and the Pérez Art Museum Miami, reproduces Robeson's declassified, although still heavily redacted, FBI files.{{Cite web|title=Steve McQueen: End Credits|url=https://www.artic.edu/exhibitions/2769/steve-mcqueen-end-credits|access-date=February 19, 2021|website=The Art Institute of Chicago|date=July 20, 2017|language=en|archive-date=October 30, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201030082627/https://www.artic.edu/exhibitions/2769/steve-mcqueen-end-credits|url-status=live}}

On September 7, 2019, Crossroads Theatre Company performed Phillip Hayes Dean's play Paul Robeson in the inaugural performance of the New Brunswick Performing Arts Center.{{cite web |title=Crossroads Premieres Paul Robeson at NBPAC's Grand Opening, Lion King Actor to Star |url=https://www.rutgers.edu/news/crossroads-premieres-paul-robeson-nbpacs-grand-opening-lion-king-actor-star |access-date=February 19, 2021 |website=Rutgers.edu |language=en |archive-date=April 11, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210411163301/https://www.rutgers.edu/news/crossroads-premieres-paul-robeson-nbpacs-grand-opening-lion-king-actor-star |url-status=live }}

Robeson was widely popular among Indian intellectuals and artists. Noted Indian singer-songwriter, Dr. Bhupen Hazarika met Robeson in 1949, befriended him and participated in civil rights activities.{{Cite news |last=Raman |first=Papri Sri |date=April 9, 2021 |title=Singer actor Paul Robeson is still missed and he still inspires 44 years after his death |work=National Herald |url=https://www.nationalheraldindia.com/opinion/singer-actor-paul-robeson-is-still-missed-and-he-still-inspires-44-years-after-his-death |access-date=October 18, 2022 |archive-date=October 18, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221018110945/https://www.nationalheraldindia.com/opinion/singer-actor-paul-robeson-is-still-missed-and-he-still-inspires-44-years-after-his-death |url-status=live }} Hazarika based his iconic Assamese song "Bistirno Parore" ("Of the wide shores") on Robeson's "Ol' Man River",{{Cite news |last=Goswami |first=Manash P. |date=April 9, 2021 |title=From Ol' Man River to Burha Luit |work=The Assam Tribune |url=https://assamtribune.com/from-ol-man-river-to-burha-luit/?infinitescroll=1 |access-date=October 18, 2022 |archive-date=October 18, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221018110945/https://assamtribune.com/from-ol-man-river-to-burha-luit/?infinitescroll=1 |url-status=live }}{{Cite news |last=Dutta |first=Pranjal |date=November 5, 2020 |title=The African American Bhupen Hazarika |work=The Sentinel |url=https://www.sentinelassam.com/editorial/the-african-american-bhupen-hazarika-509971 |access-date=October 18, 2022 |archive-date=October 18, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221018110944/https://www.sentinelassam.com/editorial/the-african-american-bhupen-hazarika-509971 |url-status=live }}{{Cite news |last=Raju |first=Archishman |date=April 9, 2019 |title=Remembering a Revolutionary Artist: Paul Robeson and His India Connection |work=The Wire (India) |url=https://thewire.in/the-arts/remembering-paul-robeson |access-date=October 18, 2022 |archive-date=October 18, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221018110950/https://thewire.in/the-arts/remembering-paul-robeson |url-status=live }} later translated into Bengali, Hindi, Nepali and Sanskrit. Singer-songwriter Hemanga Biswas sang the Bengali ballad "Negro bhai amar Paul Robeson" ("Our Negro brother Paul Robeson"). There were nation-wide celebrations in India on Robeson's 60th birthday in 1958, with the then prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru saying: "This occasion deserves celebration…because Paul Robeson is one of the greatest artistes of our generation."

A jazz poetry opera, "Paul Robeson: Man of the People" by Lasana Katembe and Ernest Dawkins debuted at The Cabaret in Indianapolis, Indiana on May 31, 2024, and will have its Chicago premiere on June 7, 2024.{{Cite web |date=2024-06-04 |title='Man of the People' celebrates the larger-than-life story of Paul Robeson |url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/2024/06/04/man-of-the-people-celebrates-the-larger-than-life-story-of-paul-robeson/ |access-date=2024-06-04 |website=Chicago Tribune |language=en-US}}{{Cite web |last=Mooieweer |first=Josh |date=2024-05-18 |title=Chicago Celebrates 'Paul Robeson: Man of the People' |url=https://www.petermcdowell.com/paulrobeson/ |access-date=2024-06-04 |website=Peter McDowell Arts Consulting |language=en-US}}

{{Main|Paul Robeson filmography}}

{{colbegin|colwidth=20em}}

• Body and Soul (1925)
• Camille (1926)
• Borderline (1930)
• The Emperor Jones (1933)
• Sanders of the River (1935)
• Show Boat (1936)
• Song of Freedom (1936)
• Big Fella (1937)
• My Song Goes Forth (1937)
• King Solomon's Mines (1937)
• Jericho/Dark Sands (1937)
• The Proud Valley (1940)
• Native Land (1942)
• Tales of Manhattan (1942)
• The Song of the Rivers (1954){{sfn|Richards|2005|p=231}}
• Paul Robeson: "I'm a Negro. I'm an American." (1989)

{{colend}}

{{main|Paul Robeson discography}}

Paul Robeson had an extensive recording career; discogs.com lists{{Cite web |title=Paul Robeson |url=https://www.discogs.com/artist/307214-Paul-Robeson |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220318002607/https://www.discogs.com/artist/307214-Paul-Robeson |archive-date=March 18, 2022 |access-date=March 18, 2022 |website=Discogs |language=en}} some 66 albums and 195 singles.

Selected albums

• Songs of Free Men (1943)
• Spirituals (1946)
• Swing Low, Sweet Chariot (1949)
• Paul Robeson: Favorite Songs (1959)
• Paul Robeson at Carnegie Hall (1959)
• "Encore, Robeson!" (Paul Robeson: Favorite Songs, Vol. 2) (1960)

• Freedom, American newspaper
• List of peace activists

{{Reflist}}

{{div col|colwidth=45em}}

• {{cite news|last=Robeson|first=Paul Leroy|title=The New Idealism|newspaper=The Daily Targum|date=June 10, 1919|volume=50|issue=1918–19|pages=570–571|url=http://andromeda.rutgers.edu/~natalieb/plrvaledictory.htm|access-date=November 10, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120314160921/http://andromeda.rutgers.edu/~natalieb/plrvaledictory.htm|archive-date=March 14, 2012|url-status=dead}}
• {{cite book|last=Robeson|first=Paul|editor-first1=Philip|editor-last1=Sheldon|editor-last2=Foner|editor-first2=Henry|title=Paul Robeson Speaks: Writings, Speeches, and Interviews, a Centennial Celebration|url={{google books|plainurl=y|id=V_CJfbpKOLwC}}|year=1978a|publisher=Citadel Press|isbn=978-0806508153}}
• {{cite book|editor-last=Wilson|editor-first=Sondra K.|title=The Messenger Reader: Stories, Poetry, and Essays from The Messenger Magazine|url={{google books|plainurl=y|id=6edZAAAAMAAJ}}|year=2000|publisher=Modern Library|location=New York|isbn=978-0375755392 }}

• {{cite book|last1=Boyle|first1=Sheila Tully|first2=Andrew|last2=Bunie|title=Paul Robeson: The Years of Promise and Achievement|url={{google books|plainurl=y|id=vuckDH3cD_EC}}|date=2005|publisher=University of Massachusetts Press|isbn=978-1558495050}}
• {{cite book|last=Brown|first=Lloyd L. |title=The Young Paul Robeson: 'On My Journey Now' |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=taQaAQAAIAAJ |year=1997 |publisher=Basic Books |isbn=978-0813331782}}
• {{cite book|last=Duberman|first=Martin B.|author-link=Martin Duberman|title=Paul Robeson|url={{google books|plainurl=y|id=8KMQQQAACAAJ}}|year=1989|publisher=Bodley Head|isbn=978-0370305752 }}
• {{cite book|last=Gilliam|first=Dorothy Butler|title=Paul Robeson: All-American|url={{google books|plainurl=y|id=rfgCoQEACAAJ}}|year=1978|publisher=New Republic Book Company}}
• {{cite book|last=Goodman|first=Jordan|year=2013|title=Paul Robeson: A Watched Man|publisher=Verso Books}}
• {{cite book|last=Robeson|first=Paul Jr.|title=The Undiscovered Paul Robeson, An Artist's Journey, 1898–1939|url={{google books|plainurl=y|id=H0k2fhNWzwAC}}|date=2001|publisher=John Wiley & Sons|isbn=978-0471151050}}
• {{cite book|first=Paul Jr.|last=Robeson|title=The Undiscovered Paul Robeson: Quest for Freedom, 1939–1976|url={{google books|plainurl=y|id=MzFhJ5v0TL0C}}|date= 2009|publisher=John Wiley & Sons|isbn=978-0470569689|ref=none}}
• {{cite book|last=Seton|first=Marie|title=Paul Robeson|url={{google books|plainurl=y|id=oyMLAQAAIAAJ}}|year=1958|publisher=D. Dobson }}
• {{cite book|last=Swindall|first=Lindsey R.|title=The Politics of Paul Robeson's Othello|url=http://www.upress.state.ms.us/books/1333|date=2010|publisher=University Press of Mississippi|isbn=978-1604738254|access-date=September 26, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150907195823/http://www.upress.state.ms.us/books/1333|archive-date=September 7, 2015|url-status=dead}} {{google books|id=pqPVuJG5Qh0C}}
• {{cite book|last=Swindall|first=Lindsey R.|title=Paul Robeson: A Life of Activism and Art|url=https://archive.org/details/paulrobesonlifeo0000swin|date=2015|publisher=Rowman & Littlefield|isbn=978-1442207943|url-access=registration|via=Internet Archive}} {{google books |id=vk4vdAbeMdkC}}

• {{cite book|last=Beevor|first=Antony|author-link=Antony Beevor|title=The Battle for Spain: The Spanish Civil War, 1936–1939|url={{google books|plainurl=y|id=VsGtxYCcE2MC}}|year=2006|publisher=Penguin Books|isbn=978-0143037651}}
• {{cite book|last=Bell|first=Charlotte Turner|title=Paul Robeson's Last Days in Philadelphia|url={{google books|plainurl=y|id=FqMfAAAACAAJ}}|date=January 1, 1986|publisher=Dorrance Publishing Company, Inc.|isbn=978-0805930269}}
• {{cite journal|last=Cameron|first=Kenneth M.|title=Paul Robeson, Eddie Murphy, and the Film Text of 'Africa{{'-}}|journal=Text and Performance Quarterly|date=October 1, 1990|volume=10|issue=4|pages=282–293|doi=10.1080/10462939009365979}}
• {{cite book|last=Carroll|first=John M.|title=Fritz Pollard: Pioneer in Racial Advancement|url={{google books|plainurl=y|id=rUQaS0pHIocC}}|date= 1998|publisher=University of Illinois Press|isbn=978-0252067990}}
• {{cite book|last=Curthoys|first=Ann|year=2010|chapter-url=http://press-files.anu.edu.au/downloads/press/p70821/pdf/ch0842.pdf|chapter=Paul Robeson's visit to Australia and Aboriginal activism, 1960|editor-first1=Frances|editor-last1=Peters-Little|editor-first2=Ann|editor-last2=Curthoys|editor-first3=John|editor-last3=Docker|url=https://press.anu.edu.au/publications/aboriginal-history-monographs/passionate-histories|title=Passionate Histories: Myth, Memory and Indigenous Australia|location=Canberra, Australia|pages=163–184|publisher=Australian National University Press|isbn=978-1921666650}} {{google books|id=EJMwU1kqo7sC|page=163}}
• {{cite book|editor-last1=Dorinson|editor-first1=Joseph|editor-last2=Pencak|editor-first2=William|title=Paul Robeson: Essays on His Life and Legacy|url={{google books|plainurl=y|id=Otiz7Mi-iUYC}}|date=2004|publisher=McFarland|isbn=978-0786421633}}
• {{harvc|last=Dorinson|first=Joseph|year=2004|chapter=Something to Cheer About: Paul Robeson, Athlete|pages=65–|in1=Dorinson|in2=Pencak}}
  • {{cite book|first=Cecil D.|last=Eby|title=Comrades and Commissars: The Lincoln Battalion in the Spanish Civil War|url={{google books|plainurl=y|id=IauHRMInoiIC}}|year=2007|publisher=Penn State Press|isbn=978-0271029108}}
  • {{cite book|first=James|last=Farmer|title=Lay Bare the Heart: An Autobiography of the Civil Rights Movement|url={{google books|plainurl=y|id=it2RdgDxFMMC}}|year=1985|publisher=Texas Christian University Press|isbn=978-0875651880}} – Article on book: Lay Bare the Heart
  • {{cite book|editor-first=Cary D.|editor-last=Wintz|title=Harlem Speaks: A Living History of the Harlem Renaissance|url={{google books|plainurl=y|id=MFwfAQAAIAAJ}}|date=2007|publisher=Sourcebooks|isbn=978-1402204364|last=Finkelman|first=Paul|chapter=Paul Robeson}}
  • {{cite book|last=Foner|first=Henry|year=2001|title=Paul Robeson: A Century of Greatness|publisher=Paul Robeson Foundation}}
  • {{cite book|editor-first1=Peter N.|editor-last1=Carroll|editor-first2=James D.|editor-last2=Fernández|title=Facing fascism: New York and the Spanish Civil War|url={{google books|plainurl=y|id=axQsAQAAIAAJ}}|year=2007|publisher=Museum of the City of New York|isbn=978-0-8147-1681-6|last=Glazer|first=Peter|chapter=The lifted fist: performing the Spanish Civil War, New York City, 1936–1939}}
  • {{cite book|first=Robert Justin|last=Goldstein|title=American blacklist: the attorney general's list of subversive organizations|url={{google books|plainurl=y|id=8aWfAAAAMAAJ}}|year=2008|publisher=University Press of Kansas|isbn=978-0700616046}}
  • {{cite book|first=James K.|last=Hopkins|title=Into the Heart of the Fire: The British in the Spanish Civil War|url={{google books|plainurl=y|id=ZtqnQOkaISAC}}|year=1998|publisher=Stanford University Press|isbn=978-0804731270}}
  • {{cite book|first1=C.L.R.|last1=James|first2=Christian|last2=Høgsbjerg|first3=Laurent|last3=Dubois|title=Toussaint Louverture: The Story of the Only Successful Slave Revolt in History; A Play in Three Acts|url={{google books|plainurl=y|id=SCAI6lgHuMgC}}|date=2012|publisher=Duke University Press|isbn=978-0822353140}}
  • {{cite book|first=Arthur H.|last=Landis|title=The Abraham Lincoln Brigade|url={{google books|plainurl=y|id=wKVAAAAAIAAJ}}|year=1967|publisher=Citadel Press}}
  • {{cite book|editor1-first=Elaine|editor1-last=Kelly|editor2-first=Amy|editor2-last=Wlodarski|year=2011|title=Art Outside the Lines: New Perspectives on GDR Art Culture|publisher=Editions Rodopi|isbn=978-90-420-3341-2|pages=111–130|last=Lennox|first=Sara|chapter=Reading Transnationally: the GDR and American Black Writers}}
  • {{cite book|first=Alan H.|last=Levy|title=Tackling Jim Crow, Racial Segregation in Professional Football|isbn=0-7864-1597-5|publisher=McFarland and Co., Inc.|date=2003}}
  • {{cite book|first=David L.|last=Lewis|title=W.E.B. Du Bois, 1919–1963: The Fight for Equality and the American Century|url={{google books|plainurl=y|id=QWtQfyI6WlQC|page=522}}|date=2000|publisher=Henry Holt and Company|isbn=978-0805025347}}
  • {{cite book|first=Rachael|last=Low|title=Film Making in 1930s Britain|url={{google books|plainurl=y|id=1xFulAEACAAJ}}|year=1985|publisher=Allen & Unwin|isbn=978-0047910425}}
  • {{cite book|first=Arno|last=Lustiger|title=Stalin and the Jews: The Red Book : the Tragedy of the Jewish Anti-Fascist Committee and the Soviet Jews|url={{google books|plainurl=y|id=RsNtAAAAMAAJ}}|year=2003|publisher=Enigma|isbn=978-1929631100}}
  • {{cite book|first=Manning|last=Marable|title=W.E.B. Du Bois: Black Radical Democrat|url={{google books|plainurl=y|id=GK7tAAAAMAAJ}}|year=2005|publisher=Paradigm Publishers|isbn=978-1594510199}}
  • {{cite journal |last1=McConnell |first1=Lauren |title=Understanding Paul Robeson's Soviet Experience |journal=Theatre History Studies |date=2010 |volume=30 |issue=1 |pages=138–153 |doi=10.1353/ths.2010.0003 |s2cid=191612284 }}
  • {{cite journal|title=Paul Robeson's Othello at the Savoy Theatre, 1930|journal=New Theatre Quarterly|date=May 2011|first=Michael A. |last=Morrison|volume=27|issue=2|pages=114–140|doi=10.1017/S0266464X11000261|s2cid=190731391}}
  • {{cite book|first=Scott Allen|last=Nollen|title=Paul Robeson: Film Pioneer|url={{google books|plainurl=y|id=vgy4V_kZr84C}}|date=2010|publisher=McFarland|isbn=978-0786457472}}
  • {{cite book|first=Bernard L.|last=Peterson|title=The African American Theatre Directory, 1816–1960: A Comprehensive Guide to Early Black Theatre Organizations, Companies, Theatres, and Performing Groups|url={{google books|plainurl=y|id=pH2npoewU5cC}}|date=1997|publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group|isbn=978-0313295379}}
  • {{cite book|first=Larry|last=Pitt|title=Football at Rutgers: A History, 1869–1969|url={{google books|plainurl=y|id=HRPwAAAAMAAJ}}|year=1972|isbn=978-0813507477}}
  • {{cite book|first=Clement Alexander|last=Price|author-link=Clement Alexander Price|title=Paul Robeson: Portraits of the Artist|year=2007|publisher=Criterion Collection|isbn=978-1934121191}}
  • {{cite book|first=Jeffrey |last=Richards|title=The Unknown 1930s: An Alternative History of the British Cinema, 1929–1939|url={{google books|plainurl=y|id=g1icpzTz6gcC}}|date=2001|publisher=I.B. Tauris|isbn=978-1860646287}}
  • {{cite book|first=Larry |last=Richards|title=African American Films Through 1959: A Comprehensive, Illustrated Filmography|url={{google books|plainurl=y|id=6SuSCgAAQBAJ|page=4}}|date=2005|publisher=McFarland|isbn=978-0786422746|pages=4–}}
  • {{cite book|last1=Robeson|first1=Paul Jr.|title=Paul Robeson: The Great Forerunner|chapter=Paul Robeson: Black Warrior |editor1=Freedomways|publisher=Dodd, Mead & Company|year=1978b|location=New York|pages=3–16|isbn=978-0396075455}}
  • {{cite book|first=Susan|last=Robeson|title=The whole world in his hands: a pictorial biography of Paul Robeson|url={{google books|plainurl=y|id=_iN2AAAAMAAJ}}|year=1981|publisher=Citadel Press|isbn=978-0806507545}}
  • {{cite book|last1=Robinson|first1=Eugene|title=Paul Robeson: The Great Forerunner|chapter=A Distant Image: Paul Robeson and Rutgers' Students |editor1=Freedomways|publisher=Dodd, Mead & Co.|year=1978|location=New York|isbn=978-0396075455}}
  • {{cite book|last=Sampson|first=Henry T.|title=Swingin' on the Ether Waves: A Chronological History of African Americans in Radio and Television Programming, 1925–1955|url={{google books|plainurl=y|id=zkuyoQEACAAJ}}|year=2005|publisher=Scarecrow Press|isbn=978-0810840874 }}
  • {{visible anchor|{{harvid|Stewart|1998}}|text={{cite book|editor-last1=Stewart|editor-first1=Jeffrey C.|title=Paul Robeson: artist and citizen|url={{google books |plainurl=y |id=yKvpAAAAMAAJ}}|date=1998|publisher=Rutgers University Press|isbn=978-0813525105|last=Harris|first=Francis C.|chapter=Paul Robeson: An Athlete's Legacy}}}}
  • {{cite book|first=Penny M.|last=Von Eschen|author-link= Penny Von Eschen |title=Race against Empire: Black Americans and Anticolonialism, 1937–1957|url={{google books |plainurl=y|id=3bHQAwAAQBAJ}}|date=2014|publisher=Cornell University Press|isbn=978-0801471704}}
  • {{cite book|first=Margaret|last=Wade-Lewis|title=Lorenzo Dow Turner: Father of Gullah Studies|url={{google books |plainurl=y|id=fr_uW5b73UYC}}|year=2007|publisher=University of South Carolina Press|isbn=978-1570036286}}
  • {{cite book|first=Christy|last=Walsh|title=College Football and All America Review|url={{google books|plainurl=y|id=-xygOwAACAAJ}}|year=1949|publisher=Murray & Gee |asin=B000SO41NA}}
  • {{cite book|first=Judith|last=Weisenfeld|title=African American Women and Christian Activism: New York's Black YWCA, 1905–1945|url={{google books|plainurl=y|id=taH6Y4a3AYwC}}|year=1997|publisher=Harvard University Press|isbn=978-0674007789}}
  • {{cite book|editor-first=Cary D.|editor-last=Wintz|title=Harlem Speaks: A Living History of the Harlem Renaissance|url={{google books|plainurl=y|id=MFwfAQAAIAAJ}}|date=2007|publisher=Sourcebooks|isbn=978-1402204364}}
  • {{cite book|first=Charles H.|last=Wright|title=Robeson: Labor's Forgotten Champion|url={{google books |plainurl=y |id=Jp4eAQAAIAAJ}}|date=1975|publisher=Balamp Publishing Co.|isbn=978-0913642061}}
  • {{cite book|first=Peter |last=Wyden|title=The Passionate War: The Narrative History of the Spanish Civil War, 1936–1939|url={{google books |plainurl=y|id=bIhpAAAAMAAJ}}|year=1983|publisher=Simon and Schuster|isbn=978-0671253301}}

  {{end div col}}

{{div col|colwidth=45em}}

• {{cite book|last=Balaji|first=Murali|title=The Professor and the Pupil: The Politics and Friendship of W.E.B Du Bois and Paul Robeson |year=2007|publisher=Nation Books |isbn=978-1568583556 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EY12AAAAMAAJ|ref=none}}
• {{cite book|last=Bogle|first=Donald|title=Toms, Coons, Mulattoes, Mammies, and Bucks: An Interpretive History of Blacks in American Films|edition=5th|url={{google books|plainurl=y|id=tNKicQAACAAJ}}|date=2016|publisher=Bloomsbury Academic|isbn=978-0826429537|ref=none}}
• Callow, Simon, "The Emperor Robeson" (review of Gerald Horne, Paul Robeson: The Artist as Revolutionary, Pluto, 250 pp.; and Jeff Sparrow, No Way But This: In Search of Paul Robeson, Scribe, 292 pp.), The New York Review of Books, vol. LXV, no. 2 (February 8, 2018), pp. 8, 10–11.
• {{cite book|last=Ehrlich|first=Scott|title=Paul Robeson|url={{google books|plainurl=y|id=XhO3fVh0EUEC}}|year=1989|publisher=Holloway House Publishing|isbn=978-0870675522|ref=none}}
• {{cite book|last=Hoyt|first=Edwin Palmer|title=Paul Robeson: The American Othello|url={{google books|plainurl=y|id=6W-0AAAAIAAJ}}|year=1967|publisher=World Publishing Company|ref=none}}
• {{cite book|last=Fordin|first=Hugh|title=Getting to Know Him: A Biography of Oscar Hammerstein II|url=https://archive.org/details/gettingtoknowhim00ford|url-access=registration|via=Internet Archive|year=1977|edition=1st|location=New York|publisher=Random House|isbn=0-394-49441-5|ref=none}}
• Naison, Mark. "Paul Robeson and the American Labor Movement". In {{harvb|Stewart|1998|ignore-err=yes}}.
• {{cite book|last=Pellowski|first=Michael |title=Rutgers Football: A Gridiron Tradition in Scarlet|url={{google books|plainurl=y |id=1OysjJ9pJfcC}}|year=2008|publisher=Rutgers University Press|isbn=978-0813542836|ref=none}}
• {{cite book|last=Ramdin|first=Ron|title=Paul Robeson: the man and his mission|url={{google books|plainurl=y|id=TXwIAQAAMAAJ}}|date= 1987|publisher=Peter Owen|ref=none}}
• {{cite book|last=Robeson|first=Eslanda Goode|author-link=Eslanda Goode Robeson|title=Paul Robeson, Negro|url={{google books|plainurl=y|id=tBh9CgAAQBAJ&}}|date=2013|publisher=Read Books Ltd.|isbn=978-1447494010|ref=none}}
• {{cite book|last=Robeson|first=Paul Jr.|title=Paul Robeson: Tributes and Selected Writings|url={{google books|plainurl=y|id=lET-mQEACAAJ}}|year=1976|publisher=Paul Robeson Archives|oclc=2507933|ref=none}}
• {{cite book|last1=Robeson|first1=Paul|last2=Brown|first2=Lloyd L.|title=Here I Stand|year=1988|publisher=Beacon Press|isbn=978-0807064450|title-link=Here I Stand (book)|ref=none}} {{google books|id=AfjnqbGHj2AC}}
• {{cite book|last1=Robinson|first1=Jackie|author1-link=Jackie Robinson|last2=Duckett|first2=Alfred|title=I Never Had It Made: An Autobiography of Jackie Robinson|url={{google books|plainurl=y|id=VEAxq7t7zYAC}}|date=2013|publisher=HarperCollins|isbn=978-0062287298|ref=none}}
• {{cite book|last=Rogovin|first=Vadim Zakharovich|author-link=Vadim Rogovin|title=1937: Stalin's Year of Terror|url={{google books|plainurl=y|id=PZ92ueBx7MQC}}|year=1998|publisher=Mehring Books|isbn=978-0929087771|ref=none}}
• {{cite book|last=Seton|first=Mary|title=Paul Robeson: The Great Forerunner|chapter=Paul Robeson on the English Stage|editor1=Freedomways|publisher=Dodd, Mead & Company|year=1978|location=New York|url={{google books|plainurl=y|id=T3eaAAAAIAAJ}}|isbn=978-0396075455|ref=none}}
• {{cite book|last=Snyder|first=Timothy|author-link=Timothy Snyder|title=Bloodlands: Europe Between Hitler and Stalin|url={{google books|plainurl=y|id=maEfAQAAQBAJ}}|date=2013|publisher=Basic Books|isbn=978-0465032976|ref=none}}
• {{cite book|last=Stuckey|first=Sterling|author-link=Sterling Stuckey|title=Going Through the Storm: The Influence of African American Art in History|url={{google books|plainurl=y|id=0DTqhq3KN1cC}}|year=1994|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0195086041|ref=none}}
• {{cite magazine|last=Weaver|first=Harold D. Jr.|title=Paul Robeson Was One of the Greatest Figures of the 20th Century|journal=Jacobin|date=June 19, 2021|url=https://jacobin.com/2021/06/harold-weaver-on-paul-robeson-racism-colonialism-actor-singer-activist-career-council-of-african-affairs|access-date=October 4, 2024|ref=none}}

{{div col end}}

• The Tallest Tree in Our Forest (1977)
• Paul Robeson: Tribute to an Artist (1979) {{IMDb title|0079704}}
• Paul Robeson – James Earl Jones One Man Show (1979 TV movie) {{IMDb title|0078069}}
• Paul Robeson: I'm a Negro, I'm an American (1989, DEFA, East Germany, dir. {{ill|Kurt Tetzlaff|de}}) {{cite web|title=Paul Robeson: I'm a Negro, I'm an American|url=https://ecommerce.umass.edu/defa/film/4949|website=DEFA Film library|publisher=University of Massachusetts|access-date=October 26, 2021}}
• Paul Robeson: Speak of Me as I Am (1998)
• His name was Robeson (1998) {{IMDb title|15206398}} Interview by director Nikolay Milovidov with Paul Robeson Jr. who shares his memories about a conversation Robeson had in 1949 in a room at the Moscow Hotel with the Jewish poet Itzik Feffer, who told Robeson the circumstances of Solomon Mikhoels' death.
• Paul Robeson: Here I Stand (1999) PBS American Masters, directed by St. Clair Bourne {{IMDb title|0190614}}
• Paul Robeson: Portraits of an Artist (2007) Irvington: Criterion Collection. {{ISBN|1934121193}}.

{{sister project links|d=Q273233|n=no|b=no|v=no|voy=no|m=no|mw=no|wikt=no|species=no|s=no}}

• {{IMDb name|0732079}}
• [http://vault.fbi.gov/Paul%20Robeson,%20Sr./ Paul Robeson]'s FBI records
• {{IBDB name|58036}}
• {{screenonline name| 446731 }}
• {{discogs artist|Paul Robeson}}
• {{YouTube channel|channel=UCW0ge28rEB93N6SSFreMMeA|text=Paul Robeson Youtube channel}}
• [https://www.zinnedproject.org/materials/subversives-stories-from-the-red-scare/ Subversives: Stories from the Red Scare]. Lesson by Ursula Wolfe-Rocca (Paul Robeson is featured in this lesson).

• [https://www.paulrobesonhouse.org/ Paul Robeson House]
• [https://www.paulrobesoncs.org/ Paul Robeson Charter School]
• [http://www.theprpac.org Paul Robeson Performing Arts Company]

• [https://www.marxists.org/archive/robeson/ Marxists.org]
• [https://www.archives.gov/education/lessons/robeson/ National Archives]
• [https://www.loc.gov/folklife/civilrights/survey/view_collection.php?coll_id=2785 Library of Congress]
• [https://digitalcommons.colum.edu/cmbr_guides/31/ Guide to the Paul Robeson Centennial Project Records], Center for Black Music Research, Columbia College Chicago

{{Paul Robeson|state=expanded}}

{{Navboxes

|title = Awards for Paul Robeson

|list =

{{NAACP Image Award – Hall of Fame Award}}

{{Spingarn Medal}}

}}

{{Lincoln Lions football coach navbox}}

{{1917 College Football Consensus All-Americans}}

{{1918 College Football Consensus All-Americans}}

{{Portal bar|United States|Politics|Film|Biography}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Robeson, Paul}}

Category:1898 births

Category:1976 deaths

Category:African-American activists

Category:20th-century African-American male actors

Category:20th-century American male actors

Category:20th-century American singers

Category:20th-century American male singers

Category:Activists for African-American civil rights

Category:Activists from New Jersey

Category:African-American male singers

Category:Akron Pros players

Category:All-American college football players

Category:Alumni of SOAS University of London

Category:American anti-fascists

Category:American anti-lynching activists

Category:American bass-baritones

Category:American basses

Category:American civil rights activists

Category:American expatriates in the United Kingdom

Category:American folk singers

Category:American football ends

Category:American male film actors

Category:American male Shakespearean actors

Category:American men's basketball players

Category:American people of Igbo descent

Category:American socialists

Category:Basketball players from Somerset County, New Jersey

Category:Burials at Ferncliff Cemetery

Category:Columbia Law School alumni

Category:Donaldson Award winners

Category:Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award winners

Category:Harlem Renaissance

Category:Hollywood blacklist

Category:Lincoln Lions football coaches

Category:Male actors from Somerville, New Jersey

Category:Milwaukee Badgers players

Category:Musicians from Somerville, New Jersey

Category:Family of Paul Robeson

Category:People from Princeton, New Jersey

Category:People from Westfield, New Jersey

Category:People involved with the civil rights movement

Category:Politics and sports

Category:Players of American football from Somerset County, New Jersey

Category:Progressive Party (United States, 1948) politicians

Category:Russian-language singers of the United States

Category:Rutgers Scarlet Knights football players

Category:Rutgers Scarlet Knights men's basketball players

Category:Somerville High School (New Jersey) alumni

Category:Sportspeople from Somerville, New Jersey

Category:Stalin Peace Prize recipients

Category:College Football Hall of Fame inductees

Category:Alpha Phi Alpha members

Category:African Americans in the Spanish Civil War