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Resistance and Paul Robeson

by Dr Emma Poulter

Paul Robeson: actor and activist

Robeson was born in Princeton New Jersey in 1898. His father was a former enslaved African who became a pastor.

His mother was a teacher who died when he was five. Robeson's achievements and talents were phenomenal. He excelled both in his studies and as an athlete as a youth and received a scholarship to Rutgers College.

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He went on to obtain a law degree from Columbia University, supporting himself by playing professional football on the weekends. After graduation he procured a job with a New York law firm until a stenographer he was dictating to refused to write down a memo, saying ‘I never take dictation from a nigger', Robeson left the firm shortly afterwards.

Encouraged by his wife and friends, Robeson became involved in amateur theatrical productions.

Appearing on the London stage in productions like Show Boat and Othello his reputation grew. Travels through Europe in the 1930s brought Ro