Paul Robeson Research Paper

Born April 9, 1898, Paul Leroy Robeson was an American singer and actor who became widely involved and well known for his work in the Civil Rights Movement. Paul Robeson was born in Princeton, New Jersey and was the youngest son of the Reverend William D. Robeson, who was born a slave in the early 1800s. Robeson's mother, a teacher from Philadelphia, died early in his childhood, when he was only five. Robeson entered history in 1915 when he earned an academic scholarship because of his high grades while attending high school in Massachusetts at Somerville High School. He was the third black student ever at Rutgers and the first black football player at the school. He became a 12-letter athlete (including Baseball, Basketball, Track and Football)

Robeson became one of the most popular concert singers of his time, due to his trademark song "Ol' Man River'. He even wrote a play, "Othello" which became the longest-running Shakespeare play in Broadway history to this day, and ran for nearly three hundred performances. It is still considered to this day as one of the great-American Shakespeare productions. Shortly after his fame grew in the United States, he quickly became equally well-famed and well-loved internationally. Not only were his talents in the theater and singing world but he also spoke fifteen languages, and performed benefits throughout the world for causes of social justice. Robeson believed that the famous have a responsibility to fight for justice and peace, which was more than any other famous performer of his time. (Paul,

His son, Paul Robeson, Jr was born in November of 1927 in New York while Robeson was on tour in Europe. Shortly after his marriage, after having advanced in his theater career, Robeson and his small family bought a house in Hampstead, which is a small village in London, England to be his home away from home. Early in their marriage, his wife, Eslanda, or Essie, learned that Robeson had been involved in extramarital affairs, but she tolerated them out of the goodness of her heart. However, when she learned that Robeson was having another affair, she unfavorably altered the characterization of him in his biography. Despite the given uncovering of this issue, there was no public evidence that their relationship had been affected. (Guide,