antilynching campaign and conflicts with PR over, 305–7
HUAC hearings and, 359
PR’s Paris speech and (1949), 347–9
Peoria affair and (1947), 319
Spingarn Medal presented to PR, 295, 299–301
during World War II, 322–3
National Council for American-Soviet Friendship, 242, 443, 526
National Football Hall of Fame, 760 n 8, 763 n 21
National Guardian, 336, 350
National Insider, The, 512–13, 748 n 37
National Labor Conference for Negro Rights (1950), 387
National Maritime Union (NMU), 294
National Negro Congress (NNC), 247–52, 309–11, 317, 673 n 26, 677 n 43
National Negro Labor Council, 400, 425, 702 n 22, 714 n 47
National Non-Partisan Mass Delegation to Washington (1948), 324, 635 n 36
National Paul Robeson Committee, 449, 721 n 37
Native Land (film), 261
NBC, appearance by PR canceled by (1950), 384–5
Neale, Geraldine (Gerry) Maimie, see Bledsoe, Geraldine
Neale, Earl “Greasy” (football coach), 23
Nearing, Helen and Scott, 518, 752 n 51
Negro (Cunard, ed.), 158
Negroes in America (McKay), 96
“Negro in American Life, The” (pageant), 250
Negro People’s Ambulance to Republican Spain, 639 n 69
Negro Playwrights’ Company, 243
Nehru, Jawaharlal, 225–6, 243, 266, 378–9, 461, 462, 643 n 29, n 30, 727 n 35, n 37, 732 n 27
PR’s refusal to meet with (1949), 378–9, 698–9 n 38
Neruda, Pablo, 424, 463, 719 n 17
New Africa (magazine), 297, 299
New Age (newspaper), 360, 361
Newcombe, Don, 396
“New Idealism, The” (Commencement Day speech by PR), 26–7
Newman, Ernest, 608 n 2
Newsweek, 320, 370–1
New World Review, 436
New York Drama League, 61
New Yorker, The, 125–6, 569 n 15, 611 n 25
New York Herald Tribune, 71, 523
New York State, legislative committee hearings in (1955), 430
New York Times, The, 43, 62, 115, 341, 349, 430, 479–80, 523, 544, 717 n 8, 720 n 27
New York World, 62, 64, 76, 79, 82, 83
New Zealand, 1960 concert tour of, 487–90, 738 n 60, 739 n 61
Niagara Movement, 4
Nied, Frank, 34
Nigger Heaven (Van Vechten), 100
Nit, Johnny, 75
Nixon, Richard, 384, 485, 676 n 36
Nkrumah, Kwame, 171, 492, 500–1, 508, 737 n 53, 743 n 7, 746 n 25
North Atlantic Treaty Organization, 341, 350
Norton, Elliott, 276
Nyerere, Julius K., 547
O’Connor, D. D., 488
Odets, Clifford, 223, 677 n 39, 692 n 51
“Old Black Joe,” 45
“Ol’ Man River,” 113, 120, 203–4, 468, 606 n 29
changes in lyrics, 214, 369, 604–5 n 14
Oliver, Edna May, 159
Olivier, Laurence, 477, 664 n 45, 724 n 7
O’Neill, Eugene, 52, 53, 55, 58, 63–4, 66, 75, 77, 90, 132, 148, 167, 168, 585 n 14, n 19, 587 n 38, n 42, 592 n 18, 610 n 13, 622 n 25, n 26; see also All God’s Chillun Got Wings; Emperor Jones, The; Hairy Ape, The
O’Neill, Raymond, 56
Oorang Indians, 34
Opportunity (magazine), 66, 82
Osborne, John, 451
Osman, John, 516
Othello (Shakespeare), 13, 50, 78, 91, 432, 607 n 36
American production (1942–44), 263–5, 268–81, 660 n 15, 661 n 24, n 25, n 31, n 33, 662 n 34, n 35, n 36, 663 n 43, 664 n 44, n 45, n 47, 667 n 10, 668 n 4
Brattle Theater tryout, 263–5; reviews, 658 n 6, n 7
directing technique of Margaret Webster, 270–1, 661 n 24
dispute over José Ferrer and Uta Hagen, 268–9
end of run, 285–6
opening on Broadway, 276–7
out-of-town previews, 275–6, 663 n 39
recording of, 664–5 n 47
rehearsals, 275
return to New York for limited run (1945), 295
reviews, 277–8, 663–4 n 43, n 44
tour, 286, 288–91, 670 n 4; reviews, 668 n 21
black actors as Othello, 274–5, 661–2 n 33, n 34
interpretations of, 274–5, 476–7, 664 n 45
London production (1930), 122–3, 128–9, 133–9
plans for film, 612–3 n 29
plans for U.S. production, 138, 612 n 27
rehearsals, 134–6
reviews, 136–7, 611 n 24, 612 n 26
London production (1959), 466, 474–8 482, 519–20, 733 n 32
PR’s views on, 137, 274, 275, 611–12 n 25
Othello Recording Company, 408–9, 425, 714 n 47
Ovington, Mary White, 76
Owanga (opera), 615 n 43
Owen, Bill, 543
Owen, Chandler, 71
Pabst, G. W., 131, 193
Padmore, George, 171, 192, 197, 258, 634 n 34
pan-Africanism, 257, 628 n 59
Panama Canal Zone, 320–1, 680 n 12
Pandit, Vijaya Lakshmi (Nan), 225, 378, 471, 670 n 2, 705 n 38
Pankey, Aubrey, 358, 426, 518–9
Pankey, Kay, 358, 426, 518–9
Panyushkin (Soviet ambassador), 423
Paris
1925 visit to, 92
1927 concert in, 109–10
Paris Peace Conference (1949), see World Peace Congress
Parker, Charlie, 177, 397
Parker, Dorothy, 430, 654 n 51
Parks, Johnnie Mae, 456–7
Parks, Rosa, 447
Parks, Sam, 418, 456–7, 499
Parsons, Louella, 376
Patterson, Haywood, 387
Patterson, Louise Thompson, see Thompson, Louise
Patterson, William L. (Pat), 42, 106, 107, 190, 208, 220–1, 318, 324, 337, 347, 354, 389, 390, 431, 439, 442, 444–5, 542, 681 n 20, 717 n 12, 761 n 12
friendship with PR, 41, 293, 422–3, 444, 540, 710 n 19, 721–2 n 37
and Eslanda Robeson, 41, 187, 629 n 7, 691–2 n 49
Soviet and CPUSA ties, 187, 311, 338, 383, 429, 628 n 59, 629 n 7, 684 n 42
UN genocide petition, 397–8
Paul Robeson, Negro (ER), 139–40, 225, 566 n 2, 613 n 32, n 33
first draft of, 121–2, 606 n 33
Paul Robeson (Seton), 568–9 n 14, 571 n 30, 731 n 18
Paul Robeson Archive (GDR), 542–3, 759 n 44
Payn, Graham, 615 n 48
Payne, John C., 49, 88, 116, 118, 164, 192, 604 n 13, 620 n 17
Peace Arch concert (1952), 400, 706 n 46; (1953), 411; (1954), 425; (1955), 433
Peck, Theodora, 682 n 26, n 27
Peekskill events (1949), 364–74, 694–7 n 1–25
Peekskill Star, 364, 371
Peet, John, 750 n 48
Pell, Clarence C., 77
People’s Artists Inc., 364
Peoria, Illinois, cancellation of concert in (1947), 317–20, 678 n 5, n 6
Pepper, Claude, 305
Pericles (Shakespeare), offer for PR to star in (1957), 451–2
Perkins, Osgood, 138
Perlmutter, Morris, 436, 439, 496, 523–6, 532–3, 535–8, 751 n 50, 754 n 8, n 9, 755 n 14, 757 n 28, 758 n 42, 759 n 43
Perry, Lawrence, 52, 584 n 11
Perry, Lincoln (Stepin Fetchit), 657 n 65
Perry, Pettis, 420, 422, 455, 531, 712 n 34, 721 n 34
Perry, Rose, 420, 455, 531, 712 n 34, 718 n 15
Peterson, Dorothy, 235
Pettus, Terry, 401, 411
Philadelphia Art Alliance, 69
Phillips, Wendell, 17
Pickens, William, 65
Pinchot, Cornelia Bryce, 251–2
Pitt, Malcolm, 292, 668 n 23
Pittman, John, 244, 482, 532, 7
37 n 52
Pittsburgh, 1958 concerts in, 455–6
Pittsburgh Courier, 104, 330, 358, 444, 459, 602 n 48
Plantation Revue, 52
Plant in the Sun (Bengal), 223–5, 642 n 23
Plomer, William, 162, 612 n 26, 619 n 13
Poitier, Sidney, 261, 391, 524, 547, 657 n 63
Polevoi, Boris, 496, 542
Pollard, Fritz, 11, 34, 454, 549, 577 n 7, 621 n 25, 687 n 22
Pollitt, Harry, 491
Pollock, Arthur, 588 n 51
Pond, James B., 82, 84–6, 98, 602 n 54
Pool Group, 130, 609 n 6
Popular Front, 247, 249, 250
Porgy (play), 106, 113, 603–4 n 10
Porgy and Bess (Gershwin), 193, 215
Potash, Irving, 370
Powell, Adam Clayton, Jr., 248, 285, 322, 330, 333, 344–5, 346, 377, 384, 385, 411, 431, 447, 681 n 21, 688 n 30, 715 n 1, 716 n 5, 726 n 31
Powell, Bertha, 239
Powell, Lionel, 120, 121
Prague, see Czechoslovakia
Prattis, P. L., 273, 455–6, 459
Prayer Pilgrimage (1957), 447–8, 722 n 4
Presbyterian Hospital (New York), 34, 37, 41, 67, 578 n 11
Presbytery of New Brunswick, 6–8
Price, Nick, 515, 749 n 44
Priestley, J. B., 234
Primus, Pearl, 283, 284
Princeton, New Jersey, blacks in, 3, 5–6, 567–8
Princeton Packet (newspaper), 9
Princeton University, 3, 19, 28
Printemps, Yvonne, 157
Priory, the (psychiatric hospital), 502–3, 507, 511, 513–15, 743–5 n 9, n 11, n 12
Pritt, D. N., 480, 513, 748 n 31
Private Lives (Coward), 147, 160
Progressive Citizens of America (PCA), 321–2
Progressive Party, 316–335, 385, 420, 681 n 21, 682 n 22, n 26
1947–8 316–335
1948 election campaign, 321–2, 324–8, 333–5
1950 convention, 383
1952 election campaign, 404–6
Proschowsky, Frantz, 101, 660 n 20
Proud Valley, The (film), 228, 231, 232, 234, 239, 646 n 46, 648 n 14
Provincetown Players, 52–3, 55–67, 75, 76, 96, 603–4 n 10, 608 n 44
spirituals concert at (1925), 79–81
see also All God’s Chillun Got Wings; Emperor Jones, The
Pryde, James, 136
Pudovkin, Vsevolod, 187
Pulitzer, Mrs. Joseph, 36
“Pursuit of Happiness, The” (radio series), 236
Pushkin, Aleksandr, 166, 291
Quiett (Challenger), Frances (“Frankie”), 27, 33–4, 38, 40, 579 n 16
Quill, Michael J., 249, 303
Quilter, Sir Roger, 91, 597 n 12, 612 n 26
racial riots, Washington, D.C. (1919), 32
racism (racial prejudice or discrimination), 244–5, 282, 289–90
against black veterans, 305
Essie Robeson on, 88, 293, 294
during PR’s high school years, 14–15, 571 n 25, n 27, n 28, n 29
hotels, 99, 100, 288–9
in labor unions, 249–50
in London, 123–4, 607–8 n 38
on Othello tour (1944), 288–9
in Princeton, 3, 5–6
in restaurants, 87, 288, 308
at Rutgers, 20–1, 24–5
at Stotesbury and Miner (law office), 55
theaters and performing halls, 99, 251–2, 256, 317
at the turn of the century, 3–4
radio broadcasts, 235–6, 238
BBC, 480–1, 483, 737 n 53
Raikin, Bruno, 350, 352, 466, 470, 543
Rainbow Orchestra, 74
Randolph, A. Philip, 57, 71, 226, 239, 248, 252, 285, 295, 322, 343–4, 374, 392, 447, 540, 549, 726 n 31, 737 n 52
Rankin, John, 373, 390
Rascoe, Burton, 277
Rawls, Louis, 375–6
Rayburn, Sam, 373
Reagan, Caroline Dudley, 93, 116–18, 119, 605–6 n 20
Rebel Players, 223
Rector, Eddie, 75
Redgrave, Vanessa, 477, 734 n 33
Redmond, Don, 408
“Red Summer” (l919), 32
Reinhardt, Max, 77
Reiss, Winold, 78
Rettenberg, Edward, 679 n 10
Reuther, Walter, 357
Revue Nègre, 93
Rhee, Syngman, 387
Richardson, Henry, Jr., 290, 667 n 20
Richardson, Ralph, 134, 136
Richardson, Tony, 451–4, 476–7, 733 n 32
Rickenbacker, Capt. Eddie, 234
Rinzler, Alan, 526, 528
Robeson, Ben (brother), 5, 8, 9, 10, 14, 20, 30, 42, 54, 102–3, 113, 163, 277, 299, 410, 412, 420, 426–8, 435, 462, 464, 483, 500, 519, 525, 549, 569 n 16, 575 n 25, 684 n 42, 715 n 48, 738 n 54
death of, 519
parsonage offered as living quarters to PR, 426–8
on personal characteristics of PR, 54
relationship to PR, 427–8
Robeson, David Paul (grandson), 397, 464, 478, 524, 538
Robeson, Eslanda (Essie) (wife), PR’s 1922 trip to England, 47–8
1925 trip to Europe, 86–98
France, 91–8
London, 87–91
1928 stay in London, 115–24
1931 trip to England, 147–8
1934 trip to the Soviet Union, 183, 185–90
1936 trip to Africa, 204–6
1937 summer visit to the Soviet Union, 210–11
1938 trip to Spain, 215–20
1958–59 trips to the Soviet Union, 467–70, 473–5
1960 stay in the Soviet Union, 482–3
1965 trip to California, 530–1
acting career of, 91, 166, 621 n 21, 633 n 28
Big Fella, 207, 637 n 55
Borderline (film), 130, 609 n 10
African culture, opinion of, 149, 170, 616 n 54, 619 n 13, 676 n 39
on Josephine Baker, 93, 615 n 43
on Mrs. Patrick Campbell, 91
career options, 242–3, 292–4
on Cullen’s Leavin’ Time, 622–3 n 27
death of, 538, 759 n 44
Freda Diamond and, 241, 242, 247, 436
diary, reliability of, 576 n 2, 582 n 26, 592 n 21, 601 n 43
on economic depression of 1930s, 621 n 21
emotional collapse of PR and (1961–62), 498–508, 511–12, 743 n 11, 745 n 16
on The Emperor Jones (play), 59–60
family background of, 35–7, 578 n 9
first meeting with PR, 34–5, 37, 577–8 n 8
gay people and, 93–4, 599 n 19, 759 n 44
on Emma Goldman, 89
as grandmother, 524
health, 101–2, 139–40
1922 operation and convalescence, 47, 49, 51
1949, 681–2 n 21
1959, 473–5, 481–2
1960, 482, 485
1961, 743 n 7
1965, 532, 534–8
birth of Paul, Jr., and, 110, 112, 603 n 3
cancer, 435, 518, 524, 534–6, 752 n 51
gallstones, 743 n 7
nervous collapse, 143, 614 n 39, 615 n 48
operation and convalescence (1922), 47, 49, 51
Presbyterian Hospital (New York), as pathologist, 34, 37, 41, 67, 578 n 11
stay at, 47, 49, 51
on Nora Holt (Ray), 74
on Yolande Jackson, 143–5, 152–3, 619–20 n 15
as lecturer, 293, 294, 386, 669 n 25, 677 n 39, 700 n 12, 751 n 51
on London theater, 88, 90
marriage of PR and
career given precedence over family by PR, 613 n 35
courtship, 38–41, 577 n 8, 580 n 20
divorce rumors and speculations, 102–3, 143–8, 151, 152, 157–8, 160, 161, 164, 314, 618 n 4
Communist Party’s opposition to, 294
first discussions of, 143–5
psychics’ views of, 154
Enfield, Connecticut, home, 246, 247, 287, 292, 374, 411, 412, 651 n 31
first year, 42–3
friends and social activities, 42, 51–2, 56, 70–1, 73–6, 82, 86, 88, 91, 102, 115–16, 118, 492
on PR’s “laziness,” 54
in London (1928), 115–20
Ethel Mannin on, 118, 604 n 13
Gerry Neale, PR’s continuing involvement with, 40–1, 45–6, 583 n 30
political differences, 205, 436
pregnancy, possible, and possible abortion, 40, 102–3, 106–7, 150, 578–9 n 15, 616 n 56
reconciliations (1930) 143–4, (1932) 166, (1946) 315, (1955) 435–6, 507–8
PR’s expressions of affection for Essie, 126–7, 246, 247
separations, 147–8, 247, 411–12, 482, 507–8
Tony Salemmé on, 70
on Claude McKay, 96
money matters, 102, 714 n 47, 717 n 14
loan from Otto Kahn, 83–5, 119–20, 596 n 42, 606 n 28
Paul, Jr., and, 313–14
quarrels with PR, 102, 292, 601 n 44
Bob Rockmore and, 313–15, 677 n 41
as mother, 194–5, 245–6, 668–9 n 24
Nehru and, 225–6, 378–9, 643 n 30, 698–9 n 38
non-Communist affidavit signed by, 509–10
William Patterson and, 41, 187, 629 n 7, 691–2 n 49
Paul Robeson, Negro, 139–40, 225, 566 n 2, 570 n 21
first draft of, 121–2, 606 n 33
performing career of PR and, 157, 158
1927–28 European tour, 106–7, 109–12
1931 diary entries and letter on, 151–3
acting, Essie on PR’s, 89–90
All God’s Chillun Got Wings (O’Neill), 63, 66
Body and Soul, negotiations for, 77
Borderline (film), 130–1
Larry Brown as accompanist and arranger, 78, 79
Chaliapin, PR compared to, 78
concert artist, career as, 78
contract dispute between Caroline Dudley Reagan and PR, 116–19
Emperor Jones, The, 59–60
singing, Essie on PR’s, 91
spirituals, 79, 81
theatrical activities, 44, 53, 67, 582 n 26
personal characteristics of, 37–9, 60, 70, 94, 118, 205, 215, 238, 374
Ph.D. in anthropology, 292
photography, 242–3, 640 n 9
physical appearance of, 91, 504
clothes, 161, 622 n 25
political and social views and activities, 325, 332, 436, 579 n 19, 671 n 14, 680–1 n 16–21, 697 n 28, 718 n 16, 740 n 67, 754 n 11
1938 trip to Spain, 220
1950 speaking tour, 386, 700 n 11
in 1964 524, 754 n 8
black agenda effort (1947), 322–4
CPUSA and, 718 n 15
feminism, 386
“Loyalty” article, 691 n 49
Paul Robeson Page 131