Paul Robeson Biography Quotes 25 Report mistakes

Early Life and Family
Paul Leroy Robeson was born in 1898 in Princeton, New Jersey, into a family whose story embodied both the trauma and resilience of African American history. His father, the Reverend William Drew Robeson, had escaped enslavement and became a respected Presbyterian minister; his mother, Maria Louisa Bustill, came from a prominent Philadelphia family of educators. A household fire took his mother's life when Paul was still a child, and the family soon relocated to Somerville, New Jersey, after his father lost his pastorate amid racial tensions. The discipline and moral purpose that shaped Robeson's public life were rooted in his father's pulpit and in the Bustill tradition of learning and service.

Education, Athletics, and Law
At Somerville High School Robeson excelled academically and as an orator, achievements that paved the way to Rutgers University. There he became one of the most celebrated collegiate athletes of his era, earning varsity letters in multiple sports and being named a football All-American twice. Even as he faced open racial hostility, from opposing players and sometimes teammates, he established himself as a campus leader and a scholar with a commanding presence. After graduating with high honors, he moved to New York City to study at Columbia University's law school, supporting himself in part through part-time work and through performance. He married Eslanda Goode, a trained scientist who became his indispensable partner and manager; Eslanda's strategic guidance helped shift his path from the law to the stage. Robeson briefly practiced at a New York firm, but left after encounters with entrenched discrimination, concluding that his future lay where his talents and voice could reach broader audiences.

Stage Breakthrough and International Fame
Robeson's stage breakthrough came through the playwright Eugene O'Neill, who cast him in productions that made racial identity and modern tragedy central themes, including The Emperor Jones and All God's Chillun Got Wings. His performances drew critical acclaim in New York and London, where his depth and physical presence challenged stereotypes. In the 1930s he became a star of the British and American stage, and his portrayal of Othello became a landmark. The definitive Broadway production opened in 1943, with Uta Hagen as Desdemona and Jose Ferrer as Iago, and its long run rewrote expectations for Shakespeare on the American stage. In Britain he was celebrated in serious drama and in concert halls alike, connecting with audiences far beyond the United States.

Film and Music
Robeson's distinctive bass-baritone made him an international recording artist. In concert he championed African American spirituals, folk music from around the world, and classical repertoire, often in collaboration with the pianist and arranger Lawrence Brown. He deliberately framed spirituals as an art form carrying the memory and philosophy of a people, not merely entertainment. On stage and on record his signature songs included "Ol' Man River" from Show Boat, whose lyrics he eventually altered in performance to reflect a stance of resistance and dignity rather than resignation. In film he appeared in The Emperor Jones (1933), Show Boat (1936), and The Proud Valley (1940), among others. He publicly disowned Sanders of the River (1935) after producers recut the film to glorify colonial rule, a decision that revealed his insistence on artistic integrity and political accountability. He also popularized the patriotic cantata "Ballad for Americans", introducing many listeners to a pluralist vision of the nation at a time of crisis.

Commitment to Social Justice
As his fame grew, Robeson fused art with advocacy. He supported anti-lynching campaigns, labor movements, and anti-colonial struggles. He performed for volunteers in the Spanish Civil War, honored the courage of the International Brigades, and made common cause with Welsh miners whose songs and solidarity moved him deeply. In intellectual circles he was close to figures such as W. E. B. Du Bois, and he maintained a notable friendship with Albert Einstein; with each he discussed racism, democracy, and the ethical responsibilities of science and art. After World War II, Robeson's outspoken anti-fascism and his admiration for aspects of the Soviet experiment brought fierce backlash in the United States. In 1949, violence erupted around his concert appearances near Peekskill, New York, where audiences and performers were attacked by hostile mobs. Soon afterward the State Department revoked his passport, confining him within U.S. borders for much of the 1950s.

Robeson refused to recant. He appeared before the House Un-American Activities Committee in 1956 and defended his patriotism, invoking the sacrifices of his enslaved forebears and asserting the right to free thought and association. Cut off from international travel, he innovated: he sang to audiences abroad via telephone, including a famous cross-border concert at the Peace Arch on the U.S.-Canada line and transatlantic performances beamed to British halls and to Welsh communities that had claimed him as one of their own. After landmark court decisions on passport rights in 1958, he regained his travel documents and resumed overseas touring, welcomed by admirers who viewed him as a symbol of artistic excellence and moral courage.

Later Years, Health, and Legacy
The final phase of Robeson's life was marked by both renewed acclaim and personal strain. He performed in Europe, Africa, and the Pacific, including an impromptu 1960 appearance for construction workers at the future Sydney Opera House, an image of artist and laborer in common cause. Yet prolonged surveillance, blacklisting, and ceaseless pressure took a toll. Exhaustion and illness forced him into periods of seclusion in the early 1960s. He withdrew from public life as his wife and collaborator, Eslanda, pursued her own writing and anthropological work; her death in 1965 was a profound loss. In these years his son, Paul Robeson Jr., emerged as a devoted steward of the archives and causes that defined his father's life.

Robeson died in 1976 in Philadelphia. By then his reputation had begun to recover from the distortions of the McCarthy era, helped by a new generation of artists, scholars, and activists who placed him back at the center of 20th-century cultural history. Honors accumulated, including recognition from civil rights organizations such as the NAACP; his earlier receipt of international peace awards underscored the global scope of his commitments. Today he is remembered as an American original: a scholar-athlete from Rutgers who became a commanding actor, a master singer of spirituals, and an uncompromising advocate for human dignity. The people around him, Reverend William Drew Robeson and Maria Louisa Bustill, who shaped his conscience; Eslanda Goode Robeson, who sharpened his strategy and expanded his horizons; collaborators such as Lawrence Brown and Eugene O'Neill; colleagues Uta Hagen and Jose Ferrer; allies including W. E. B. Du Bois and Albert Einstein; and his son, Paul Robeson Jr., formed the network that made his far-ranging life possible. His example endures wherever artists lend their voices to the cause of freedom.

Our collection contains 25 quotes who is written by Paul, under the main topics: Witty One-Liners - Music - Freedom - Equality - Peace.

Other people realated to Paul: Uta Hagen (Actress), Carl Van Vechten (Writer), Irene Dunne (Actress), Harry Belafonte (Musician), Leslie Banks (Actor)