Paul Robeson (1898-1976)

Paul's father born into slavery (1844) escapes with his brother via the Underground Railroad (1860), then enters Union Army. Paul's father attends Lincoln University & Seminary near Oxford, PA. He marries Maria Louisa Bustill in 1878, daughter of prominent African-American abolitionists. The family moves to Princeton, NJ and the father becomes a Presbyterian pastor.

• 1917, 1918 All-American professional football player (while in college).
• 1919 Valedictorian and Phi Beta Kappa Rutgers College; First African-American to play football at Rutgers.
• 1920 Moves to Harlem, New York.
• 1921 Marries DC-born medical chemist and activist Eslanda Cardozo Goode
• 1923 Graduates Columbia Law School.
• 1925 Body and Soul (film).1930 Borderline (film).
• 1930 Othello, at The Savoy, London (theater).
• 1933 The Emperor Jones (film).
• 1936 Show Boat, Hollywood (film).
• 1936 The Song of Freedom (film).
• 1937 Jericho, London. Issued in the US as Dark Sands (film).
• 1938 Entertains troops on front lines of Spanish Civil War. Well known in Wales for supporting miners' civil rights.
• 1940 The Proud Valley, London. Issued in the US as The Tunnel (film).
• 1942 Native Land (Robeson Narration and Song).
• 1942 Criticized media for poor roles for Blacks in film, so stopped acting in films.
• 1943-1944 Othello, Broadway (record breaking run).
• 1949 World Congress of Advocates of Peace, Paris.
• 1950 US State Department revokes passports of Robeson and his wife.
• 1953 USSR Peace Prize.
• 1958 Carnegie Hall Recital.
• 1958 Kent v. Dulles : Supreme Court rules that the right to travel is inherent in the "right to liberty" and forces the US State Department to reinstate Robeson's passport.
• 1958 Publishes the autobiography Here I Stand.
• 1959 Last performance of Othello, Stratford on Avon, England (theater).
• 1960 Retires from performing.
• 1976 New York Times publishes an obituary.
• 2003 Commemorated on US stamp.