-- Won a scholarship to Rutgers University, 1915; Phi Beta Kappa; debating champion and valedictorian of his graduating class; won 15 varsity letters in 4 sports including first team All-American in football; graduate of Columbia Law School.

-- Was the first African American actor to rise to international prominence; gave the definitive performance of Othello in the longest running Shakespearean play on Broadway.

-- Acclaimed as the leading concert singer in the 1930's and '40s; brought the Negro spiritual as an art form to the concert stage; was largely responsible for the international fame of the song "Joe Hill" which he sang throughout the world.

-- Traveled to Spain in 1938 to entertain Loyalist troops and their allies; toured Europe where his concerts turned into huge anti-Nazi demonstrations.

-- Was the first major concert artist to refuse to perform before segregated audiences; in 1946 led a delegation to Washington, DC to demand that President Truman sign anti-lynching legislation.

-- Walked scores of picket lines and sang at countless benefits for striking workers. "Everywhere I go," he said, "I find labor unions, particularly those in the CIO, leading the fight to get my people jobs;" received honorary membership in several major unions including the longshore and maritime unions.

-- Was an outspoken critic of the Cold War and was called to testify before the McCarthy HUAC committee in 1956; had his passport revoked, concert and recording contracts cancelled and his albums were taken off of the shelves.

-- Saying, "I will not retreat one thousandth part of one inch," he continued to sing in union halls and in the churches of the black community.

-- After writing his autobiography, Here I Stand, Paul Robeson died on January 23, 1976 at the age of 77.

-- by Rhonda Hanson, Talkin' Union magazine, no. 14, Spring, 1986.   

Paul and Paul, Jr.

Old man river, that old man river

He must know something,

  but don't say nothing.

That old man river, he just keeps

   rolling along.

Old Man River