{"id":11941,"date":"2022-03-03T04:44:22","date_gmt":"2022-03-03T04:44:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blackhistorywales.org.uk\/resources\/?p=11941"},"modified":"2022-03-07T04:27:16","modified_gmt":"2022-03-07T04:27:16","slug":"paul-robeson","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blackhistorywales.org.uk\/resources\/paul-robeson\/","title":{"rendered":"Paul Robeson"},"content":{"rendered":"<section class=\"l-section wpb_row height_auto width_full\" id=\"structure\"><div class=\"l-section-h i-cf\"><div class=\"g-cols vc_row via_flex valign_top type_default stacking_default\"><div class=\"vc_col-sm-12 wpb_column vc_column_container\"><div class=\"vc_column-inner\"><div class=\"wpb_wrapper\"><h2 class=\"w-post-elm post_title us_custom_6745946f has_text_color entry-title color_link_inherit\">Paul Robeson<\/h2><div class=\"w-separator size_medium\"><\/div><div class=\"wpb_text_column us_custom_06b6a9ef has_text_color\"><div class=\"wpb_wrapper\"><h2>Summary of their achievements:<\/h2>\n<\/div><\/div><div class=\"w-separator size_small\"><\/div><div class=\"wpb_text_column\"><div class=\"wpb_wrapper\"><p class=\"c7\"><span class=\"c5\">Jeff Sparrow summarised Paul Robeson as a man who \u2018possessed one of the most beautiful voices of the 20th century. He was an acclaimed stage actor. He could sing in more than 20 different languages; he held a law degree; he won prizes for oratory. He was widely acknowledged as the greatest American footballer of his generation. But he was also a political activist, who, in the 1930s and 1940s, exerted an influence comparable to Martin Luther King and Malcolm X in a later era.\u2019 Robeson had a great bond with the labour movement and especially with Welsh miners; a relationship some acclaim to have shaped Robson\u2019s politics. \u201c<\/span><span class=\"c1\">It\u2019s from the miners in Wales,\u201d\u00a0<\/span><span class=\"c5\">Robeson explained<\/span><span class=\"c1\">, \u201c[that] I first understood the struggle of Negro and white together.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><div class=\"w-separator size_small\"><\/div><div class=\"w-tabs us_custom_c54fc31c style_default switch_click accordion remove_indents\" style=\"--sections-title-size:1.5rem\"><div class=\"w-tabs-sections titles-align_none icon_chevron cpos_right\"><div class=\"w-tabs-section active\" id=\"1598372999536-407fc4c6-9f59\"><button class=\"w-tabs-section-header active\" aria-controls=\"content-1598372999536-407fc4c6-9f59\" aria-expanded=\"true\"><h3 class=\"w-tabs-section-title\">Summary of their achievements:<\/h3><div class=\"w-tabs-section-control\"><\/div><\/button><div  class=\"w-tabs-section-content\" id=\"content-1598372999536-407fc4c6-9f59\"><div class=\"w-tabs-section-content-h i-cf\"><div class=\"wpb_text_column\"><div class=\"wpb_wrapper\"><p><span class=\"c5\">Jeff Sparrow summarised Paul Robeson as a man who \u2018possessed one of the most beautiful voices of the 20th century. He was an acclaimed stage actor. He could sing in more than 20 different languages; he held a law degree; he won prizes for oratory. He was widely acknowledged as the greatest American footballer of his generation. But he was also a political activist, who, in the 1930s and 1940s, exerted an influence comparable to Martin Luther King and Malcolm X in a later era.\u2019 Robeson had a great bond with the labour movement and especially with Welsh miners; a relationship some acclaim to have shaped Robson\u2019s politics. \u201c<\/span><span class=\"c1\">It\u2019s from the miners in Wales,\u201d\u00a0<\/span><span class=\"c5\">Robeson explained<\/span><span class=\"c1\">, \u201c[that] I first understood the struggle of Negro and white together.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><div class=\"w-tabs-section\" id=\"1598372999536-407fc4c6-9f59\"><button class=\"w-tabs-section-header\" aria-controls=\"content-1598372999536-407fc4c6-9f59\" aria-expanded=\"false\"><h3 class=\"w-tabs-section-title\">Country of birth:<\/h3><div class=\"w-tabs-section-control\"><\/div><\/button><div  class=\"w-tabs-section-content\" id=\"content-1598372999536-407fc4c6-9f59\"><div class=\"w-tabs-section-content-h i-cf\"><div class=\"wpb_text_column\"><div class=\"wpb_wrapper\"><p>Princeton, New Jersey, U.S.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><div class=\"w-tabs-section\" id=\"1598373377155-7db1d751-afa0\"><button class=\"w-tabs-section-header\" aria-controls=\"content-1598373377155-7db1d751-afa0\" aria-expanded=\"false\"><h3 class=\"w-tabs-section-title\">Ethnicity:<\/h3><div class=\"w-tabs-section-control\"><\/div><\/button><div  class=\"w-tabs-section-content\" id=\"content-1598373377155-7db1d751-afa0\"><div class=\"w-tabs-section-content-h i-cf\"><div class=\"wpb_text_column\"><div class=\"wpb_wrapper\"><p>African- American<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><div class=\"w-tabs-section\" id=\"1598372999560-8bf46256-727e\"><button class=\"w-tabs-section-header\" aria-controls=\"content-1598372999560-8bf46256-727e\" aria-expanded=\"false\"><h3 class=\"w-tabs-section-title\">When moved to Wales or the UK if applicable:<\/h3><div class=\"w-tabs-section-control\"><\/div><\/button><div  class=\"w-tabs-section-content\" id=\"content-1598372999560-8bf46256-727e\"><div class=\"w-tabs-section-content-h i-cf\"><div class=\"wpb_text_column\"><div class=\"wpb_wrapper\"><p>His ties with Wales, particularly Welsh miners started in 1929 when he accidently encountered a party of Welsh miners signing.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><div class=\"w-tabs-section\" id=\"1598373326678-5f1e2907-b34c\"><button class=\"w-tabs-section-header\" aria-controls=\"content-1598373326678-5f1e2907-b34c\" aria-expanded=\"false\"><h3 class=\"w-tabs-section-title\">Locations or regions in Wales most known in if applicable:<\/h3><div class=\"w-tabs-section-control\"><\/div><\/button><div  class=\"w-tabs-section-content\" id=\"content-1598373326678-5f1e2907-b34c\"><div class=\"w-tabs-section-content-h i-cf\"><div class=\"wpb_text_column\"><div class=\"wpb_wrapper\"><p>Started in the Rhondda but gradually his connections with Wales became more widespread.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><div class=\"w-tabs-section\" id=\"1598373415717-ed9954f2-7955\"><button class=\"w-tabs-section-header\" aria-controls=\"content-1598373415717-ed9954f2-7955\" aria-expanded=\"false\"><h3 class=\"w-tabs-section-title\">Relevant Dates of Achievements:<\/h3><div class=\"w-tabs-section-control\"><\/div><\/button><div  class=\"w-tabs-section-content\" id=\"content-1598373415717-ed9954f2-7955\"><div class=\"w-tabs-section-content-h i-cf\"><div class=\"wpb_text_column\"><div class=\"wpb_wrapper\"><p class=\"c7\"><span class=\"c0\">1915- Wins a four-year scholarship to Rutgers<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"c7\"><span class=\"c5\">1919- Make the All-American football team in Yale<br \/>\n1922- Cast as Jim in the play\u00a0<\/span><span class=\"c1\">Taboo<\/span><span class=\"c0\">\u00a0by Mary Hoyt Wiborg; he postponed studies so he could partake in this.<br \/>\n1924- Plays lead role in \u2018All God\u2019s Chillun Got Wings\u2019<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"c7\"><span class=\"c5\">1925- Starred in the London production of\u00a0<\/span><span class=\"c1\">The Emperor Jones\u00a0<\/span><span class=\"c5\">by Eugene O\u2019Neil<br \/>\n&#8211; Appeared in his first film Body and Soul<br \/>\n1928- Starred in London production of\u00a0<\/span><span class=\"c1\">Show Boat<br \/>\n1930- Starred in Othello<\/span><span class=\"c0\">\u00a0in London<br \/>\n1943- Starred in Othello in Broadway 1943 won great praise. The show ran for 296 performances which set an all-time record run for a Shakespearean play in Broadway history.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"c7\"><span class=\"c5\">1924-1942- Robeson stars in 11 films with the likes of<\/span><span class=\"c1\">\u00a0Jericho\u00a0<\/span><span class=\"c5\">1937 and\u00a0<\/span><span class=\"c1\">Proud Valley 1939<\/span><span class=\"c0\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"c7\"><span class=\"c0\">1984- Awarded with the NAACP Image Award<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"c7\"><span class=\"c0\">1998 Robeson was awarded the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"c7\"><span class=\"c0\">He was inducted posthumously into the College Football Hall of Fame<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"c7\"><span class=\"c0\">In 2007, Criterion released Paul Robeson: Portraits of the Artist, a box set containing several of his films, as well as a documentary and booklet on his life.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><div class=\"w-tabs-section\" id=\"1598373469771-c4d761a2-afce\"><button class=\"w-tabs-section-header\" aria-controls=\"content-1598373469771-c4d761a2-afce\" aria-expanded=\"false\"><h3 class=\"w-tabs-section-title\">Outline\/ detail of Early life:<\/h3><div class=\"w-tabs-section-control\"><\/div><\/button><div  class=\"w-tabs-section-content\" id=\"content-1598373469771-c4d761a2-afce\"><div class=\"w-tabs-section-content-h i-cf\"><div class=\"wpb_text_column\"><div class=\"wpb_wrapper\"><p>Robeson mother was Anna Louis and came for an abolitionist Quaker family and his father William Drew Robeson who was an escaped enslaved person. He lost his mother to a fire at the early age of six and he moved with his father to Somerville. It was here Robeson began to excel in academics and singing at church. He earned a scholarship to attend Rutgers University and was the third African to do so. During his time here he became one of their most decorated students; receiving top honours for his debate and oratory skills, winning 15 letters in four varsity sports and elected Phi Bet Kappa and became class valedictorian.<br \/>\nRobeson then attended Columbia University Law School from 1919-1923. To pay his tuition he would teach Latin and play pro football.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><div class=\"w-tabs-section\" id=\"1598373469771-c4d761a2-afce\"><button class=\"w-tabs-section-header\" aria-controls=\"content-1598373469771-c4d761a2-afce\" aria-expanded=\"false\"><h3 class=\"w-tabs-section-title\">Robeson and the Welsh Miners:<\/h3><div class=\"w-tabs-section-control\"><\/div><\/button><div  class=\"w-tabs-section-content\" id=\"content-1598373469771-c4d761a2-afce\"><div class=\"w-tabs-section-content-h i-cf\"><div class=\"wpb_text_column\"><div class=\"wpb_wrapper\"><p class=\"c7\"><span class=\"c5\">Robseon accidentally encountered a party of Welsh miners from Rhondda after their perfect harmonies grabbed his attention. They had been blacklisted by their employers after the general strike of 1926 and had walked all the way to London in desperate measures to find ways to feed their families. Robeson joined their march without hesitation. He remained with the protestors and when they stopped he sung\u00a0<\/span><span class=\"c1\">Ol\u2019 Man River<\/span><span class=\"c0\">\u00a0and a selection of spirituals chosen by the miners. After the protests he gave the miners a generous donation, allowing them to return by train with plenty of food and clothing. He continued to support the Welsh miners; contributing to the proceeds of a concert to the Welsh miner\u2019s relief fund. During his tour he frequently dedicated songs to the miners and their families in Cardiff, Aberdare and Neath. He also visited the Talygarn minders rest home in Pontyclun. He continued to visit Welsh mining towns and at a time where they suffered immensely and felt hopeless his connection brought much light. Robeson\u2019s legacy amongst Welsh mining towns remains and has been celebrated; for example, the Robeson exhibition in Pontypridd in 2001 and October 2015.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><div class=\"w-tabs-section\" id=\"1598373469771-c4d761a2-afce\"><button class=\"w-tabs-section-header\" aria-controls=\"content-1598373469771-c4d761a2-afce\" aria-expanded=\"false\"><h3 class=\"w-tabs-section-title\">Outline\/ detail of Career:<\/h3><div class=\"w-tabs-section-control\"><\/div><\/button><div  class=\"w-tabs-section-content\" id=\"content-1598373469771-c4d761a2-afce\"><div class=\"w-tabs-section-content-h i-cf\"><div class=\"wpb_text_column\"><div class=\"wpb_wrapper\"><p class=\"c7\"><span class=\"c0\">Robeson had a varied career and excelled in many areas. His political activism had a great impact amongst Welsh mining towns after the 1926 general strikes.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><div class=\"w-tabs-section\" id=\"1598373469771-c4d761a2-afce\"><button class=\"w-tabs-section-header\" aria-controls=\"content-1598373469771-c4d761a2-afce\" aria-expanded=\"false\"><h3 class=\"w-tabs-section-title\">Athletics:<\/h3><div class=\"w-tabs-section-control\"><\/div><\/button><div  class=\"w-tabs-section-content\" id=\"content-1598373469771-c4d761a2-afce\"><div class=\"w-tabs-section-content-h i-cf\"><div class=\"wpb_text_column\"><div class=\"wpb_wrapper\"><p class=\"c7\">Robeson was scouted and recruited by Fritz Pollard to play for the NFL\u2019s Akron Pros, which he did as he completed his law studies. He ended his football career in 1922.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/section>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Paul Robeson Summary of their achievements: Jeff Sparrow summarised Paul Robeson as a man who \u2018possessed one of the most beautiful voices of the 20th century. He was an acclaimed stage actor. He could sing in more than 20 different languages; he held a law degree; he won prizes for oratory. He was widely acknowledged...","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":11943,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"none","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-11941","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorised"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blackhistorywales.org.uk\/resources\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11941","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blackhistorywales.org.uk\/resources\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blackhistorywales.org.uk\/resources\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blackhistorywales.org.uk\/resources\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/9"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blackhistorywales.org.uk\/resources\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11941"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blackhistorywales.org.uk\/resources\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11941\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blackhistorywales.org.uk\/resources\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/11943"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blackhistorywales.org.uk\/resources\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11941"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blackhistorywales.org.uk\/resources\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11941"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blackhistorywales.org.uk\/resources\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11941"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}