Paul robeson excelled as an athlete, actor, singer, and activist, qualifying him as a contemporary renaissance man. Martin dubermans classic biography, reissued by the new press, offers a monumental and powerfully affecting portrait of one of this centurys most notable performers, political radicals. On this date in 1898, paul leroy robeson, was born in princeton, n. The immediate family sat to gether and included in addition to mr. Paul leroy robeson was born on april 9, 1898, in princeton, new jersey, to anna louisa and william drew robeson, an escaped slave. Passionate and enormously talented, paul robeson lived one of the great lives of the twentieth century. This biography offers detailed information about his childhood, life, achievements and timeline.
Paul robeson american singer, actor, and political. Robeson s mother died from a fire when he was 6 and his clergyman father moved the family to somerville, where the youngster excelled in academics and sang in church. Brown helped robeson write here i stand, and he crafted the tone, which is at once accessible and impassioned, originally aimed at the black religious community. On april 9, 1898, an eighth child was born to maria luisa bustill, the quaker abolitionist, and william drew, the former slave who had escaped to the north, gone to college, and become a minister. General, professional, passport case and organizations, the collection consists mainly of correspondence, manuscripts and printed matter, and represents for the most part office files of the united freedom fund, established in 1952. He grew up in princeton, new jersey, where he gained fame as one of the greatest football players ever. His wife, essie, who had published a book on her husband in 1930 titled paul robeson, negro, sued for divorce in 1932. He was exceptionally famous for his political views on antiimperialism, communism, and. Check back with rutgers today throughout the year as we present a special series chronicling robesons life. More than a question of the politics of race and gender, the debate is about whether meltingpot culture, the foundation of american life, should be replaced by a mosaic culture incorporating the values of the diverse groups that make up. Paul robeson was a famous africanamerican singer, actor, and civil rights activist.
Robesons mother was a teacher and died when he was five. The paul robeson collection 19261956 documents robeson s artistic and political career from 1949 to 1956. Paul robeson biography childhood, life achievements. Paul robeson biography, albums, streaming links allmusic. Martin dubermans paul robeson is a staggering accomplishment, an exhaustively researched biography that engrosses the reader for 750 pages. What paul robeson said history smithsonian magazine. Paul robeson was an american singer, actor, civil rights activist, and college football player. In this book he details the tumultuous journey that he was forced to undergo to play college football. How paul robeson found his political voice in the welsh. Paul leroy robeson was born in 1898, the son of a runaway slave, william drew robeson. Robeson entered rutgers university on a scholarship in 1915 earned with. While robesons considerable achievements are highlighted, this is no hagiography robesons shortcomings particularly his many affairs, and naivete towards stalin are also on display.
Historian martin dubermans biography of paul robeson is an outstanding example of narrative scholarship. Robeson was awarded a fouryear scholarship to rutgers, becoming that. A biography and millions of other books are available for amazon kindle. He was an outstanding american football player at rutgers university.
History, political science, african american history, literature, general business and other social science and humanities fields. Paul robeson biography afrocentric voices in classical. Paul robeson was one of the most talented and outstanding africanamerican. As his family moved to europe, he grew up in england visiting the st marys town and country school in london and moscow, in the soviet. On this weeks podcast, we talk to ishmael reed about his reissued classic novel mumbo jumbo and. The lengthy book covers every aspect of the great entertaineractivists life and is the type of biography that an interested reader finds difficult to put down. His father, william, was of igbo origin and was born into slavery, william escaped from a plantation in his teens and eventually became the minister of princetons witherspoon street presbyterian.
After becoming one of the most famous and beloved performers in the world, and then an outspoken advocate for human rights, he was tragically crushed by political forces, a victim of the cold war. Paul robeson centennial celebration resources about paul robeson 18981976 books at the beginning, our prime interest is books in print or recently out of print and we will list soon to be published books and hope you will keep your eyesears open. Robeson, at 75, is feted in absentia the new york times. Paul robeson, celebrated american singer, actor, and black activist. Robeson was born in brooklyn to entertainer and activist paul robeson and eslanda goode robeson.
Two appendices cover robesons film work as offscreen narrator and singer and his many stage appearances. If you are a parent of a child playing sports, here i stand by paul robeson is a mandatory read. The story of how an american icon was driven to death to be told in film. How paul robeson found his political voice in the welsh valleys african american star robeson built his singing career in the teeth of racism in the early 1900s. Paul robeson by martin duberman goodreads share book.
Paul leroy robeson was born the youngest of seven children on april 9, 1898, in princeton, new jersey. Martin dubermans classic biography is a monumental and powerfully affecting portrait of one of this centurys most notable performers, political radicals, and champions of racial equality. Passionate, enormously talented, and, at times, seemingly larger than life, paul robeson lived one of the great lives of the twentieth century. Paul leroy robeson was born the last of eight children in the robeson family, on april 9, 1898, in princeton, new jersey. His mother, of mixed african, cherokee, and caucasian ancestry, was a teacher. The son of a former slave turned preacher, robeson attended rutgers university in new brunswick, n. Some of the robeson family moved to ireland, but this topic is not covered in this.
Then you can start reading kindle books on your smartphone, tablet, or computer no kindle device required. January 23, 1976 philadelphia, usa paul bustill robeson was a famous africanamerican athlete, singer, actor, and advocate for the civil rights of people around the world. Paul robeson was born april 9, 1898 in princeton, new jersey, the youngest son of the rev. Enter your mobile number or email address below and well send you a link to download the free kindle app. Early notables of the robeson family pre 1700 another 33 words 2 lines of text are included under the topic early robeson notables in all our pdf extended history products and printed products wherever possible. The books are not yet listed in any particular order within the general sections. Original research is provided from primary materials housed at the schomburg center for black culture in harlem and the fbi archives in washington, d. There arent any picturebook biographies of paul robeson, but my mom found me this illustrated kids book biography written by a black person, even. Pauls mother, anna louisa robeson, was a member of the distinguished bustill family of philadelphia, which included patriots in the revolutionary war 177583, when the american colonies fought for independence from great britain. Gollancz 1930 paul robeson goes to washington by eslanda goode robeson, national paul robeson committee 1956 the undiscovered paul robeson, an artists journey by paul robeson, jr. Rutgers is honoring paul robesons legacy as a scholar, athlete, actor, singer and global activist in a yearlong celebration to mark the 100th anniversary of his graduation. This is a biography of one of the most significant black figures in american historya brilliant scholar and athlete, he became world famous as a singer and actor. Paul robesons life was interesting for sure, never a dull moment, so any biography on him is going to be good.
Highly idealistic, passionately exhorting, deeply committed to the common people, this paul robeson gem remains a vital challenge to the racism that still dogs american society. Lessons from paul robesons father rutgers university. His mother, maria, was from a prominent q uaker f amily of mixed ancestry. At the same time, robeson was an academic superstar who managed to excel on and off the field.
Paul robeson biography life, family, childhood, children. Genealogy profile for paul robeson genealogy for paul leroy robeson 1898 1976 family tree on geni, with over 200 million profiles of ancestors and living relatives. Paul robeson was born in 1898, and as the son of a pastor, he learned to love written and spoken words at an early age. Paul leroy robeson was born in 1898 in princeton, new jersey, to william drew robeson and maria louisa bustill. November 2, 1927 april 26, 2014 was an american author, archivist and historian. Paul robeson was a famous african american athlete, singer, actor and advocate for the civil rights of people around the world. Upon graduating from rutgers at the head of his class, he rejected a career as a.
But this towering figure left behind a legacy that is ambigu. Her actions were encouraged by the fact that robeson had fallen in love and planned to marry yolande jackson, a white englishwoman. I really appreciate the thoughtfulness of language in this book. Find paul robeson movies, filmography, bio, co stars, photos, news and tweets. The paul robeson irc houses a vast collection of books and journals on u. Genealogy for paul leroy robeson 1898 1976 family tree on geni, with over 200 million profiles of ancestors and living relatives. Within the love of his family he also learned to be proud of being black and to stand up for others and what he believed was right. Add to that martin dubermans great writing, and youve got a book that is a total package of interesting and entertaining. His father, william drew robeson, was a runaway slave who fought for the north in the civil war 186165, when northern forces clashed with those of the south over secession, or the souths desire to leave the union. Paul robeson 1 singer, actor, activist racist incident soured law career 2 found a moral cause in song 3 went to the soviet union 4 would not denounce communism 5 pariah status 6 selected writings 7 selected discography 8 sources 9 paul robeson 10singer, actor, civil rights 1. Here i stand by paul robeson, beacon press 1971 paul robeson.
Paul lero y robes on was born in princeton, new jersey, in 1898, to reverend william d rew robe son and maria louisa bustill. His mothers family was quaker and his father, who escape slavery as a teen, was a presbyterian minister. Looking for books by paul robeson jr see all books authored by paul robeson jr. In 1915 he enrolled at rutgers college, new jersey, and in 1920 he entered columbia university law school. Although hes been dead for nearly a quarter century, paul robeson still looms large as an american cultural and political symbol. His early accomplishments as a professional football player, columbia law school graduate, and an actor on broadway in the 1920s seemed but a. I was kind of worried that the length of this book was going to get to me, but oh man, this book is so good.