In 1915,
Robeson was awarded a four-year academic scholarship to Rutgers University. He
was inducted into the Phi Beta Kappa Society and Rutgers' Cap & Skull Honor
Society. He was valedictorian of his graduating class in 1919. Rutgers awarded
Robeson honorary Master of Arts degree in 1932 and an honorary Doctorate of
Humane Letters on his 75th birthday in 1973.
In addition
to his academic achievements, Robeson had an outstanding athletic career as the
first Black football player at the University winning 15 varsity letters in
baseball, football, basketball, and track and field. He was named to the All
American Football Team twice in spite of open racism and violence expressed by
his teammates. In 1995, he was inducted posthumously into the College Football
Hall of Fame.
In 1923,
Robeson earned a law degree from the Columbia Law School. There, he met his
wife Eslanda Cordoza Goode, the first black woman to head a pathology
laboratory. Robeson took a job with a law firm after graduation, but left the
firm and the practice of law when a white secretary refused to take dictation
from him. He decided to use his artistic talents in theater and music to
promote African and African-American history and culture.
What
followed was a brilliant career as an actor and concert singer which spanned
nearly four decades. Robeson made his concert debut in 1925 with a highly
successful program of Black music. He went on to such stage successes in Show
Boat, Porgy and Bess and Othello, which was hailed by some critics as the
play's greatest interpretation. He starred in 13 films between the 1920s and
the early 1940s, but decided to stop making movies until there were better
opportunities for blacks.
Paul
Robeson used his deep baritone voice to promote black spirituals, to share the
cultures with other countries, and to support the social movements of his time.
He sang for peace and justice in 25 languages throughout the United States,
Africa, Asia Europe, and the Soviet Union.
Robeson
became known as a citizen of the world, as comfortable with the people of
Moscow and Nairobi as with the people of Harlem. Wherever he traveled, Robeson
championed the cause of the common person. Among his friends, he counted future
African Leader Jomo Kenyatta, India's Nehru, anarchist Emma Goldman and writers
James Joyce and Ernest Hemingway.
During the
McCarthy Era of the 1950s, every attempt was made to silence and discredit Paul
Robeson because of his political views and dedication to civil rights. In 1958,
he embarked on a successful three-year tour of Europe and Australia.
Unfortunately, illness ended his professional career in 1961. He lived the
remainder of his years as a private citizen in his sister's home in
Philadelphia. He died on January 23, 1976 at the age of
77.
For his
steadfast commitment to his social conscience, Paul Robeson - activist,
scholar, artist, athlete - was shunted from the center of America's cultural
stage to its wings. For a generation, his memory was obscured and his
achievements forgotten, but the centennial of his 1989 birth has sparked new
debate about his place in our history.
01 - Ol' Man River
02 - My Old Kentucky
03 - Lazy Bones
04 - My Lindy Lu
05 - Poor Old Joe
06 - Old Folks At Home (Swanee River)
07 - Just Keepin' On
08 - Little Pal
09 - Water Boy
10 - Shenandoah
11 - Swing Low, Sweet Chariot
12 - Joshua Fit The Battle Of Jericho
13 - Wagon Wheels
14 - Got The South In My Soul
15 - St Louis Blues
16 - Rockin' Chair
17 - River Stay 'Way From My Door
18 - Canoe Song
19 - Congo Lullaby
20 - Love Song
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2 Kommentare:
I remember back in the early 1960s Paul Robeson was a fairly well known artist to the general public whereas the blues singers like Muddy Waters & Elmore James were largely unknown except to a small group of hard core blues fans. So often when you mentioned to someone that you liked blues they'd say - "Oh me too I love Paul Robeson" and they'd start singing Ol' Man River...
Thanks a lot for sharing your memories with us. All the best!
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