On this date in 1898, Paul Leroy Robeson, was born in Princeton, N.J., to Maria (Bustill) and William Robeson. His mother’s family was Quaker and his father, who escaped slavery as a teen, was a Presbyterian minister. Robeson was awarded a four-year scholarship to Rutgers, becoming that university’s third black student. He was a 12-letter athlete, Phi Beta Kappa scholar, Cap & Skull Honor Society member and valedictorian of his 1919 graduating class.
Robeson earned a law degree from Columbia in 1923 but encountered racial barriers, such as a white secretary refusing to take dictation from him. He turned to theater, starring in Eugene O’Neill’s “All God’s Chillun Got Wings” (1924) and “Emperor Jones.” Robeson changed the words to Jerome Kern’s song] “Ol’ Man River” when he starred in “Showboat.” It became the mellifluous singer’s signature song. He married Eslanda Goode (1921-65) and they had a son, Paul Jr..
He made 11 films and gave popular concert tours around the world but faced constant “Jim Crow” racism even in Europe. The increasingly radical Robeson, questioning why American blacks should be loyal to a country that denied them equal rights, was called before the House Committee on Un-American Activities in 1947 and was denied a passport until 1958. He spent time in Russia and abroad before returning to the U.S.
According to Warren Allen Smith in Who’s Who in Hell, Robeson was a nontheist. (D. 1976)
