Paul Robeson (126 page)

44.
CVV to ER, Jan. 12, 1931, RA (Carnegie); ER to LB, March 7, 1931, NYPL/Schm: Brown. Judging from the programs in RA, PR added the following “art songs” (as the press called them) to his repertory: Beethoven's “Die Ehre Gottes,” Mozart's “O Isis,” Schumann's “Two Grenadiers” and “What Care I Now,” Purcell's “Passing By,” Borodin's “A Dissonance,” and Gretchaninov's “The Captive.”

45.
“R. W.” [Roy Wilkins], “Talking It Over,” Kansas City
Call
, Feb. 13, 1931; Wilkins,
Standing Fast
, p. 104 (“bumpers”) PR to ER, Jan. 27, 1931, RA. Earlier, Robeson had also complained to Ethel Mannin that interviewers “get it all wrong” when he talked to them (Mannin,
Confessions
, pp. 158–59). The promoters of the Kansas City concert found themselves short of Robeson's guaranteed fee of two thousand dollars per concert. Robeson, not wanting to disappoint the audience, finally insisted on singing (Pittsburgh
Courier
, Feb. 21, 1931). Robeson stayed with the Fairfax family in Kansas City, who often played host to visiting black artists (since hotels wouldn't take them). He took time to listen to a talented young woman, Etta Moten, sing for him in the Fairfax living room and encouraged her to continue with her career (she later toured for years in the role of Bess in
Porgy and Bess
, and became the wife of Claude Barnett, head of the Associated Negro Press). Comparing vocal ranges with Etta Moten, he said to her, “I only have an octave, but it's the right octave” (phone interview with Etta Moten Barnett, April 18, 1985).

46.
ER Diary, Dec. 15, 1930, RA (birthday). There are several short notes from Coward to ER in RA, none revelatory.

47.
PR to ER, Jan. 27, 1931, RA; CVV to ER, Jan. 12, 1931, RA; ER to CVV and FM, Dec. 19, 1930, Feb. 4, 1931, Yale: Van Vechten.

48.
Harlem Home Journal
, April 11, 1931; ER Diary, March 4–April 14, 1931, RA. In her diary Essie refers to possibly having a gynecological procedure performed in New York (for the pertinent entry, see note 15, pp. 578–79). In regard to her friendship with Noel Coward, Essie wrote, “We had begun back in December in London, when I was all upset with Paul. Noel Coward had been marvelous to me, had come often to the flat to talk with me, dine with me, and I had been out with him.… When Paul finished his tour of the provinces and came into town, Noel invited him to the theatre with me and out to supper afterwards. We had a lovely talk, and Paul was impressed” (ER Diary, April 18, 1931, RA). After 1931, Essie's friendship with Coward cooled, but she did go backstage after seeing
Design for Living
in New York in 1933 and recorded that she and Coward had “a nice chat” (ER Diary, Feb. 13, 1933). I have found no evidence of a sexual affair. Graham Payn, Coward's longtime lover and the editor of his diaries, which start in the 1940s, has gone through the earlier material and recalls no reference to Essie Robeson (phone interview with Payn,
Sept. 3, 1982). Nonetheless, the oblique reference in PR's letter (Jan. 27, 1931, RA) leaves the matter in doubt.

49.
ER Diary, April 15, 1931, RA; ER to PR, “pencil draft,” Nov. 1931, RA; ER to CVV and FM, April 20, 1931, Yale: Van Vechten; ER to Grace and James Weldon Johnson, April 18, 1931, Yale: Johnson.

50.
Era
(London), May 27, 1931 (rehearsals); ER Diary, May 10, 1931, RA. O'Neill first had the idea of PR's doing Yank (Light to ER, n.d.; O'Neill to ER, April 10, 1930, RA) and was enthusiastic enough about it to make sure the Gate Theatre in London, which had done an earlier production of the play, did not revive it at a time and in a manner that might conflict with Robeson's production (O'Neill to Bright, June 12, 1930, UCLA: Bright).

51.
A mixed review for Robeson appeared in
New Age
, May 21, 1931, and the two negatives were in
The Lady
(never a fan of Robeson's), May 21, 1930, and the
Sun Dispatch
, May 17, 1930: “Cannot Paul Robeson control that lovely voice of his? If he uses it as abandonedly in the future as he did on Monday night, it means that every part he takes will seem like the tragedy of an opera singer, who has missed his vocation, rather than the author's conception of any other human character.” The
Graphic
comment on his physique is in May 23, 1931. The many negatives for the play include
The Times
, May 12, 1930; the
Daily Express
, May 12, 1930;
Stage
, May 14, 1930;
News-Chronicle
, May 12, 1930;
Star
, May 12, 1930 (“splendidly vital”; “racial consciousness”); also on the racial dimension,
Daily Express
, May 12, 1931;
Morning Post
, May 12, 1931;
Star
, May 12, 1931;
Reynolds News
, May 17, 1931;
Sunday Times
, May 17, 1930 (“expressionism”); ER Diary, May 11, 1931, RA.

52.
ER to CVV and FM, May 23, 1931, Yale: Van Vechten.

53.
Ethel A. Gardner to LB, May 21, 27, 1931, NYPL/Schm: Brown; ER Diary, May 15, July 27, 30 (Gambs), 1931, RA;
Daily Herald
, May 22, 1931 (no acting);
Daily Express
, May 11, 1931 (repertory theater);
The Observer
, May 10, 1931 (Africa, Russia). An editorial in the
Evening Standard
(May 22, 1931) expressed concern over Robeson's announced plans to sing Russian music: “Something more than mere voice or even the greatest artistry is required. For to sing a gypsy song one must be able to interpret the longings and desires of a highly complex, if somewhat savage, nation.”

54.
ER to PR, “pencil draft,” Nov. 1931, RA. In her Guggenheim application (RA), Essie described her purposes in going to Africa as a wish to study “the relation between the modern American Negro and the African, and to learn [to] how great an extent our original racial characteristics have been submerged by western culture and transplantation. I hope to find material for a Negro-African play and novel.”

55.
ER to LB, March 7, 1931, NYPL/Schm: Brown.

56.
ER to CVV and FM, Sept. 6, 1931, Yale: Van Vechten (PR's concerts); ER to Grace Nail Johnson, Sept. 6, 1931, JWJ Papers, Yale (Africa); ER Diary, June 11 (hemorrhage), June 15 (nursing home), Aug. 19 (ill), 1931, RA; PR to Dr. Lowinger, Aug. 5, 1931, RA. Essie described living arrangements in Kitzbühel, and also Pauli's governess, in detail in ER to Noel Sullivan, Sept. 29, 1931, BLUC. Essie left for Austria on Aug. 7. Judging from the full schedule she maintained between Aug. 5 and 7, it seems unlikely she had an abortion while still in London. After entering the sanatorium in Austria, she wrote in her diary (Aug. 19, 1931), “They know what its all about!”—implying, though not specifying, an abortion. One suggestion that she and Paul slept together is in her diary, June 17, 1931, which reads, “Paul came to dinner, and we had a very pleasant afternoon. He remained all night, and we had a delightful talk about many things.” She saw Michael Harrison with particular frequency (ER Diary, June 2, 11, 18, 21, July 25, Aug. 5, 1931, RA).

PR's occasional concerts during these months did not meet with notable favor, though he did some further experimenting—including readings from the “Uncle Remus” stories, using local trios
to perform instrumental music, adding a few Russian songs, and continuing to sing some lieder. In regard to the latter,
The Observer
's critic (Oct. 4, 1931) commented: “Sterner control over rhythm is needed in these more formal songs. The improvisatory method of the spiritual is not stable enough to give them complete expression.” On the other hand, Ethel A. Gardner sent Larry Brown encouraging reports of the tour—good houses, with Paul “improving all the time” (EG to LB, July 14, 1931, NYPL/Schm: Brown; also June 18, 30, July 6, 21, 28, Aug. 14, 25, Sept. 8, 15, 21, Oct. 1, 6, 12, 23, 27, 1931). Gardner made some new records with Robeson (including “Daniel”) and accompanied him during six radio broadcasts, arranging some new songs for him.

57.
PR to ER, Aug. 27, 1931, RA; ER to CVV and FM, Sept. 6, 1931, Yale: Van Vechten; ER Diary, “September 1931,” RA; ER to Grace Nail Johnson, Sept. 6, 1931, Yale: Johnson.

58.
PR to Freda Diamond, Sept. 7, 1931, courtesy Diamond; ER Diary, Oct. 5, 7 (divorce), 28 (Ashcroft), 1931, RA.

59.
ER Diary, Nov. 8 (“strangely”), 10 (“degenerating”), 1931, RA.; EG to LB, Oct. 10, 1931, NYPL/Schm: Brown (cancellation). Robeson gave the Albert Hall concert a month later, but it was not well received. The
Daily Sketch
(Dec. 14, 1931) complained that he seemed “in difficulty with his upper notes,” and
The Times
(Dec. 14, 1931) felt “Mr. Robeson's voice was not in its best condition.” (EG to LB, Oct. 10, 1931, NYPL/Schm: Brown).

60.
ER to PR, “pencil draft,” Nov. 1931, RA.

61.
Robeson had employed Andy at least as early as 1930 (ER Diary, “October, 1930,” RA). They probably met through Larry Brown; in any case, the Andy-Larry Brown friendship predated the Andy-Robeson one (Andrews to Helen Rosen, May 15, 1967, courtesy of Rosen). Helen Rosen confirms that Essie “hated” Andy and strongly suspected that he arranged many of Robeson's assignations (multiple interviews with Rosen). For more on Andy, see pp. 476, 496.

62.
ER to PR, “pencil draft,” Nov. 1931 RA. Edwina Mountbatten's biographer records that she was “extremely fond” of “Hutch” (Leslie Hutchinson) and gave him “a gold cigarette case engraved with her name and a loving message, and it would have been extraordinary for Leslie Hutchinson not to show this with some pride to his friends” (Richard Hough,
Edwina, Countess Mounlbatten of Burma
[Weidenfeld and Nicolson, 1983], p. 125).

63.
ER to PR, “pencil draft,” Nov. 1931, RA.

64.
Ibid.

65.
ER Diary, Nov. 29, 1931, RA; ER to CVV and FM, Dec. 20, 1931, Yale: Van Vechten.

66.
ER Diary, Dec. 5, 8, 10, 23, 29, 30, 1931, RA. For
Uncle Tom's Cabin
she tried to enlist Larry Brown as composer, and hoped to interest Jerome Kern and Ziegfeld (ER to LB, March 7, 1931, NYPL/Schm: Brown).

CHAPTER
9
THE DISCOVERY OF AFRICA
(1932–1934)

1.
New York
Sun, Times, Herald Tribune
—all Jan. 19, 1932; New York
Post
, Jan. 28, 1932 (Russian); Goldman to Berkman, Feb. 5, 1933, IISH (courtesy of Paul Avrich); ER Diary, Jan. 20, 1932, RA (“keen”).

2.
Boston
Globe
, Jan.27,1932(“excellent”); Boston
Herald
, Jan. 27, 1932 (“untutored”); Des Moines
Register
, Feb. 5, 1932 (“blues”); PR to CVV, postcard, postmarked Feb. 5, 1932, Yale: Van Vechten;
Gazette
(Montreal), Feb. 29, 1932.

3.
Prince Touvalou to ER, April 27, 1932, RA (Guitry); Jannett Hamlyn to Larry Brown, May 21, 1932, NYPL/Schm: Brown (Guitry); ER Diary, March 15, 22, 25, April 8, 1932, RA; ER to George Horace Lorimer, May 6, 1932; ER to Brown, March 7, 1932, NYPL/Schm: Brown. Essie completed
Uncle Tom's Cabin
in May, showed it to various
friends (including Buddy Herring and Tony Butts), who encouraged her, and sent it in mid-May to the Theatre Guild, to Cochran, the London producer, and to Fox Films in New York (ER Diary, March 17, April 3, 4, 11, 18, 28, 29, May 17, 23, 1932, RA). ER to CVV, June 2, 1932, Yale: Van Vechten (
Uncle Tom
). At around the same time, Essie got rather daunting news from her editor at Harper & Brothers, Eugene F. Saxton, who let her down gently about the “ineffectiveness” of her novel,
Black Progress
, which she had submitted to him. Essie then tried to persuade Saxton that it was really intended as a “travel book” about Harlem, not as a novel, but when he dutifully reread it in that light, his judgment remained negative. She accepted the final rejection in good spirits and even with magnanimity, writing Saxton that he was “a peach” for having responded so thoughtfully and in so much detail (Saxton to ER, March 28, May 5, 1932; ER to Saxton, April 10, May 17, 1932, RA).

4.
ER Diary, April 8, May 27, 31, June 4, 6, 25 (journalism), 1932, RA. ER, Ms. “I Believe in Divorce” (from which the first quotation comes) and “Divorce,” both in RA. During her trip to Paris, Essie met and got friendly with Bricktop, the singer–nightclub owner. Bricktop told her she had expected not to like her, since “she heard I didn't bother with niggers, and was high hat,” but in fact they “got on beautifully.” Bricktop sent her car to take Essie out to her house at St. Cloud a few days after they first met and ended up, according to Essie, “thick as thieves” (ER Diary, June 10, 13, 17, 1932, RA). On another trip to Paris, a few months later, Essie met Marcel Duchamp through the actress Rita Romilly, saw him nearly every day during her week-long stay, and suggested in her diary that the two had been romantically drawn to each other (ER Diary, Sept. 26, 29, Oct. 1, 2, 4, 1932, RA).

5.
N.Y.
Daily Mirror
, May 2, 1932. The
Mirror
's story was widely circulated: e.g., New York
Amsterdam News
, May 4, 1932; Philadelphia
Tribune
, May 5, 1932. Cunard's stylish part of the story is stylishly told in Anne Chisholm,
Nancy Cunard
(Knopf, 1979), pp. 194–96.

6.
The
Daily Mirror
story of May 2, 1932, does not, in fact, quote Robeson at all—let alone use the word “insult”; Cunard to PR, Dec. 10, 1930 (
Negro
invitation), May 2, 1932 (“amazing”); Dabney to Schomburg, May 5, 1932; McKay to Schomburg, June 15, 1933; Smith to Schomburg, May 7, 1932, NYPL/Schm. Albert A. Smith was, along with Henry O. Tanner, one of two blacks in the American Professional Artists League (Paris). The anonymous threat to Cunard, signed “X22” and dated May 2, 1932, is in UT: Cunard.

7.
Daily Mirror
, May 20, 1932;
The New York Times
, May 20, 1932; New York
Herald Tribune
, May 20, 1932; Ferber to Woollcott, as quoted in
The Portable Woollcott
(Viking, 1946), pp. 162–63; James Weldon Johnson to PR, June 2, 1932, Yale: Johnson. Ferber told much the same opening-night story to the Robesons themselves (ER Diary, Jan. 5, 1932, RA), saying it was “one of the great moments in the theater, for her.”