Paul Robeson (162 page)

47
.
Daily Worker
, March 14, 1960; American Consulate to State Department, May 3, 1960 (May Day; Sterner interview with Stern). The day after he returned to London he participated in a ban-the-bomb rally in Trafalgar Square (
Daily Worker
, May 16, 1960; the London
Times
, May 16, 1960; the rally also called for admitting China to the UN). The May Day affair was apparently marred by a poor amplification system (Glasgow
Herald
, May 2, 1960). Interview with Andrew Faulds (PR, Jr., participating), Sept. 7, 1982. Just before leaving on tour, Robeson told a
Daily Worker
interviewer (Jan. 14, 1960), “I feel I have reached the beginning of another stage in my life.… It is something that reaches beyond art. I feel that a battle has been fought and won. Now I feel that I can relax.” He still had enough political verve to denounce the resurgence of anti-Semitic outrages in West Germany, and the American government for propping up the Adenauer regime.

48
. Interview with Diana Loesser, July 29, 1986; Franz Krahl (
Neues Deutschland
) to PR, June 22, 1960, FBI Main 100-12304-622; PR to Helen Rosen, May 16, 1960, courtesy of Rosen; Faulds interview (PR, Jr., participating), Sept. 7, 1982.

49
. PR to Helen Rosen, March 6, 7, 1960, courtesy of Rosen.

50
. PR to Helen Rosen, May 10, 16, 1960, courtesy of Rosen; FBI New York 100-25857-4248 (“permanent”); Washington
Post
, June 21, 1960; PR's speech in Melbourne, Australia, Nov. 1960 (“my folks”), tape courtesy of Lloyd L. Davies.

51
. Earl Robinson to PR, Sept. 12, 1959; Willard Uphaus to Robesons, Nov. 8, 1959, RA; also the positive report in George Murphy, Jr., to ER, Jan. 29, 1961, MSRC: Murphy. PR wrote A. Philip Randolph that he had “avidly followed” plans for the creation of a Negro Trade Union Congress and paid him the conciliatory compliment—despite Randolph's longstanding and outspoken hostility toward Communism—of having “so wisely led” the Pullman Porters. In the same letter PR applauded the “courageous activity” and “growing unity of Negro and white American Youth in breaking down the tottering walls of segregation and discrimination,” and also expressed his pleasure that “all sections of the Negro People” were “drawing together,” despite “some differences of opinion in some spheres, particularly that of International Relations.” Finally, Robeson expressed the poignant hope of being “able to greet you in person in the near future” (PR to Randolph, July 22, 1960, RA). There is no known reply from Randolph.

52
. ER to Freda Diamond, July 17, 1960, RA. In another letter to Freda Diamond (June 27, 1960, RA), ER contrasted the unpromising U.S. scene with developments abroad: “the picture this side looks better and better. War and nuclear policies are being repudiated everywhere, tactfully, but quietly and very firmly. I think the U.S. is going to have to take low. Will be healthy.” PR's remark on Kennedy is as quoted in the
National Guardian
, Oct. 1960. In a postelection estimate of Kennedy, John Pittman wrote the Robesons from Moscow: “… he will at least begin by trying to emulate some of FDR's statesmanship. He will undoubtedly bring many Negroes into the project of ‘saving Africa from communism.' … Under such a banner, he is sure to have the support of the right-wing labor bureaucracy, including Mr. Randolph” (Pittman to the Robesons, Dec. 10, 1960, RA).

53
. ER to Freda Diamond, June 27, July 7, 17, Aug. 19, 1960; ER to Ruth Gage Colby, Sept. 10, 1960, RA. During the summer PR also completed the second series of ten radio broadcasts and a special Christmas program for the BBC, as well as a long-playing, stereophonic album for EMI (with a fifty-fifty royalty split). Though the trip to Ghana never came off, it involved considerable preliminary planning and correspondence, including letters between ER and President Nkrumah (A. W. Ephson to PR, Feb. 23, March 25, April 6, 23, 1960; K. A. Gbedemah
to PR, April 23, 1960; Nkrumah to ER.July 29, Aug. 10, Sept. 7, 1960—all in RA). Hearing of PR's difficulties in getting his passport renewed, Nkrumah suggested he become a citizen of Ghana—as W. E. B. Du Bois was soon to do.

54
. Roucaute to PR, June 29, 1960; ER to Roucaute, July 18, 1960; Leschemelle to ER, July 22, 1960, RA; FBI Main 100-12304-603, 608;
L'Humanité
, Sept. 1–6, 1960;
Daily Worker
, Sept. 25, 1960; ER to Direktor, Interkonzert, Aug. 14, 1960, RA (Budapest). He spent a lot of time in Paris with his brother Ben, who had come overseas for a World War I reunion (ER to Rockmore, Sept. 9, 1960, RA). For more on Fajon, see Edward Mortimer,
The Rise of the French Communist Party, 1920–1947
(Faber and Faber, 1984).

55
. Diana Loesser, the wife of Franz Loesser, handled most of the details of the Robesons' visit to the GDR, and her correspondence with Essie about arrangements is in RA. Also pertinent are Walter Friedrich (president of the Peace Council) to PR, Aug. 29, 1960; George Spielmann to ER and PR, August 2, 1960, RA (Peace Medal);
New Zeit
, Oct. 7, 1960 (interview with PR in which he said, “I will tell the peoples of other countries that I have seen the true Germany”);
Neues Deulschland
, Oct. 9, 1960 (PR press conference);
Morning Freiheit
, Oct. 23, 1969 (Graham); Brigitte Boegelsack, “Paul Robeson's Legacy in the German Democratic Republic,”
Arbeitschefte
(Paul Robeson For His 80th Birthday), (Akademie der Kunste [Berlin], 1978); and the English-language “souvenir book,”
Days with Paul Robeson
(Der Deutsche Friedensrat, 1961). The latter records one additional honor given Robeson during his stay: honorary membership in the German Academy of Arts. The American legate in Bonn requested U.S. Army Intelligence and the Office of Special Investigation (OSI) “to furnish any information coming to their attention” regarding PR's “activities” while in Berlin, but the agencies “indicated that they had no information” (Bonn to Hoover, Nov. 22, 1960, FBI Main 100-12304-618). Essie had been to the GDR the previous year as well, to help celebrate its tenth anniversary (Paul had been unable to go, because of his
Othello
commitments). During her trip Essie visited the site of the Nazi camp at Ravensbriick and helped dedicate a monument to the women who died there. She was accompanied by the GDR Minister Toeplitz, the Deutsches Theater actress Mathilde Danegger, and Erica Buchmann, the Communist Party member who had been imprisoned in Ravensbrück from 1934 to 1945. Buchmann introduced Essie to Rosa Thalmann, widow of the German Communist leader (interview with Diana Loesser, July 29, 1986, who is also the source for the story about the medals).

56
. PR to Clara Rockmore, Sept. 9, 1960, courtesy of Rockmore; the contract for the New Zealand-Australia tour is in RA; R. J. Kerridge to Harold Davison, Sept. 30, 1960 (TV fees); ER to Freda Diamond, July 7, 1960, RA). The offer was put together by Kerridge who was the owner of the largest chain of motion-picture houses in New Zealand and the sponsor of all Soviet-bloc performers in the country, along with the well-known Australian impresario D. D. O'Connor, who sponsored PR's tour.

57
. Sydney
Morning Herald
, Oct. 13, i960;
Telegraph
, Oct. 13, 1963;
Sunday Truth
(Brisbane), Oct. 16, 1960; ER to Diamond, Nov. 13, 1960, RA.

58
. Nancy Wills to me, Nov. 12, 1983. In 1987 Wills wrote a theater piece on PR's life, which was produced in Brisbane (
The Age
, Sept. 18, 1987).

59
. ER to Freda Diamond, Nov. 13, 1960, RA; D. D. O'Connor to ER, Oct. 24, 1960, RA (Hobart).

60
. The Sydney
Morning Herald
, Nov. 8, 1960 (platform manner); PR postcard to Clara Rockmore, Nov. 29, 1960, postmarked Feb. 12, 1961 (Maori), courtesy of Rockmore. Comparing New Zealand with Australia, ER wrote, “America is here, all over the place. But much more in Australia than in New Zealand. So, as you can imagine, we by far prefer New Zealand, which we found very beautiful, and very friendly. Australians are much more like Americans” (to Freda Diamond, Nov. 13, 1960, RA). A sample of PR's excellent musical reviews in New Zealand is the
Evening Post
(Wellington),
Oct. 21, 1960: “The voice, even at the age of 62, is the remembered voice of the records, of no great range nor sophisticated cultivation but with a rich vibrant sonority.” I have not detailed the musical reviews of the tour because they are so repetitive and also so much of a piece with the kinds of reviews PR got throughout his career: they were largely positive and often glowing (“a great entertainment by a great man”—Melbourne
Sun
, Nov. 17, 1960), emphasizing the richness of his personality over the richness of his art, though an occasional critic complained about the narrow range of his voice and his selections (Melbourne
Nation
, Nov. 19, 1960; Adelaide
Advertiser
, Nov. 28, 1960) or the “naivete” of his interpolated political references (Sydney
Sun
, Nov. 8, 1960; Sydney
Daily Mirror
, Nov. 8, 1960). Janetta McStay, the young New Zealand pianist who was the assisting artist for the tour, also got her share of excellent notices—as did Larry Brown.

61
. New Zealand
Woman's Weekly
, Nov. 2, 1960; New Zealand
Herald
, Oct. 18, 1960;
People's Voice
, Oct. 19, 26, Nov. 2, 1960 (Maori Centre); Christchurch
Star
, Oct. 24, 1960; Otago
Daily Times
, Nov. 3, 1960; ER to Freda Diamond, Nov. 13, 1960, RA;
The Press
(New Zealand), Oct. 27, 1960 (sample ER interview); ER to Rosens, Nov. 26, 1960, courtesy of Helen Rosen. Perhaps Robeson's most notable contact with workers in Australia was his appearance, by invitation of the Building Workers' Industrial Union, on the job site for the construction of the Sydney Opera House. PR sang to the workers, they presented him with a hard hat with his name on it, and, to great applause, he autographed the cuffs of their working gloves (correspondence of P. Clancy, secretary of BWIU, to PR, RA; also Australian TV interview with Miriam Hampson, transcript courtesy of Sterner).

62
. James P. Parker, American Consul in Auckland, to State Department, Nov. 7, 1960, FBI New York 100-25857-4294. Although there was no civic reception, the mayor of Auckland, D. M. Robinson, did entertain the Robesons at a private morning tea, and in Wellington, the seat of government, Prime Minister Nash and the Minister of the Interior and Culture received them in their offices. PR did a “Spotlight” television show, arranged to include three sympathetic interviewers, in which he was “friendly and gay (not angry)” and which had “a very fine effect” (ER to PR, Jr., Dec. 15, 1960). She sent a duplicate letter to Mikhail Kotov of The Soviet Peace Committee (same date, RA), designed to fulfill a promise to Tass for an article. There is considerable correspondence in RA concerning invitations and arrangements in regard to social occasions and public appearances; the letters from Flora Gould (New Zealand Peace Council), Rona Bailey (New Zealand), and William Morrow (New South Wales Peace Committee) contain especially important details.

63
. I'm grateful to Lloyd L. Davies of the Aboriginal Legal Service of Western Australia, who saw a newspaper “call” of mine for information on PR and responded with anecdotes of his own about PR's visit to Australia and sent two tapes of speeches PR gave while there (one of which, at Paddington, is quoted above). Davies subsequently placed a “call” of his own in the Australian press, which reaped an additional trove of letters and photos, which he then forwarded to me (one of them is a letter from Faith Bandler, May 11, 1983, but the Bandler quotation above is in fact from an interview she gave to Australian television about PR—the transcript courtesy of Sterner). In regard to the Australian press, PR is quoted on the aborigines in the
Sunday Mirror
(Sydney), Nov. 13, 1960;
Truth
(Brisbane), Nov. 13, 1960; and the Melbourne
Age
, Nov. 16, 1960. In his book
Broad Left, Narrow Left
(Alternative Pub. Coop.), Len Fox has an account of PR seeing the aboriginal film that corroborates the Faith Bandler version (Fox to Davies, May 16, 1983, courtesy of Davies). The Perth newspaper
The West Australian
(Dec. 1, 1960) described PR as so wound up during his press conference that it was “difficult for anyone else to get a word in edgeways.” He began by protesting the treatment of the aborigines and ended by warning that anyone who tried to get tough with Russia “could get hurt, and they have plenty to hurt you with.”

64
.
Lloyd L. Davies to me, Jan. 14, June 24, 1983. In her letter to Davies of May 11, 1983, Faith Bandler points out that PR “did not have many opportunities to meet Aborigines while here,” though he did meet Charles Leon and several of his friends at a reception in Paddington Town Hall. Another of Davies's correspondents, Vic Bird (letter of June 18, 1983), recalls an occasion, in the Collingwood-Fitzroy area of New South Wales when Mr. and Mrs. Jack Lynch, peace activists, arranged at the Robesons' request for them to meet two aboriginal women at the home of Mr. and Mrs. Sam Goldbloom; according to Vic Bird, who was a guest at the Goldblooms' that evening, Robeson left the group of some forty to fifty people in order to go off to an anteroom and have a talk with the two women. It's possible that Judy Ingles was the woman who arranged the meeting between PR and the two aborigines (Ingles to Robesons, Nov. 24, 1960, RA, along with enclosure about her work on the aborigines). The Bandler and Bird letters were kindly forwarded to me, along with much other material, by Lloyd L. Davies. I'm also grateful to Annette Cameron of Maylands, Western Australia, who sent me her own brief memoir (Cameron to me, June 25, 1983), which includes an account of a union committee at Midland Trailway Workshops arranging an outdoor event for Robeson after management had refused to let him inside to sing. The tape of PR's speech to the West Australian Peace Council is courtesy of Lloyd L. Davies. Though PR continued to speak out in Western Australia and also in Adelaide, South Australia, the press and public seemed more indifferent to his politics than in New South Wales and Victoria. John C. Ausland, the American Consul in Adelaide, explained it this way: “… they are eager for novelty and, for the most part, completely indifferent to international politics”; Ausland was speaking of Australians in general (Ausland to State Department, Dec. 15, 1960, FBI New York 100-25857-4306).