Paul Robeson (164 page)

12
. PR, Jr., believes that the shock treatments and drug therapies at the Priory were a part of “a deliberate attempt to ‘neutralize' Robeson, traceable to the CIA and its British counterpart MI-5,” but no direct evidence has surfaced to
substantiate this conclusion. PR, Jr.'s views were expressed to me in multiple conversations and in his ms. comments. For more on this issue, see note 27, p. 747. A number of Essie's friends have suggested to me that although she may have acted imperfectly, she did so with Paul's interests foremost in her mind.

13
. From the limited records available to him, Dr. Max Fink concluded that the treatment Ackner prescribed “seems to have been entirely appropriate for the time. ECT was the most effective treatment for Robeson's condition” (phone interviews; letter of July 4, 1986). The Priory doctors did attempt to treat Robeson with many of the drugs then available—including Paratlin, Nardil, Tofranil, Tryptizol, Marsalid, and Meprobamate. Marsalid was a new, well-regarded drug, since replaced in the medical arsenal because it can cause liver-function disturbances, as indeed it did with Robeson. He also got the standard side effects of dry mouth and breathing difficulties from Tofranil and Tryptizol. In the words of Dr. John Flood, “the only treatment which had any effect, albeit temporary, was ECT” (Flood to Perlmutter, Jan. 17, 1964, RA). Ackner's comparable phrase, “without much benefit,” is in Ackner to Baumann, Aug. 24, 1963, RA. That Robeson derived some immediate (but not lasting) benefit from ECT treatment is documented in ER's letters to Sam and Helen Rosen, Dec. 20, 1961, Feb. 19, 26, March 1, 5, Nov. 27, 1962, courtesy of Rosen.

14
. Multiple interviews with Rosen.

15
. ER to Rose Rubin, Oct. 5, 1961; ER to Peggy Ashcroft, Oct. 12, 1961; ER to Freda Diamond, Oct. 13, 1961; Rockmore to ER, no date (Oct. 1?), 1961, carbon to PR, Jr., along with note about “furious,” Oct. 11, 1961; ER to Rockmore, Oct. 15, 29, 1961—all in RA; ER to Revels Cayton, Dec. 24, 1961, courtesy of Cayton. John Abt, the lawyer for the CPUSA, had been allowed to visit PR, and this fact, plus the account of Robeson's debilitated condition Abt gave on his return to the States, partly accounted for the Rockmores' concern and anger.

16
. ER to PR, Jr., Oct. 5, 7, 13, 29, 30, 1961; Shirley Du Bois to ER, Oct. 29, 1961—all in RA. In her Oct. 30 letter to PR, Jr., Essie reported that she and Big Paul had watched Martin Luther King, Jr., on the TV program “Face to Face”; she thought King “very good, but … a bit on the quiet side … a bit uninspired.…” As an example of Essie's “upbeat” accounts, the unusually detailed “
REPORT
” (four typed pages, RA) for Oct. 12–13, 1961, begins with how she found Big Paul “with relief nurse in garden on bench, happy, welcoming,” continues with his discussing the unsuitability of John Gielgud for the role of Othello (Zeffirelli's production had just opened, with Peggy Ashcroft playing Emilia), then has PR having a “nice chat” with a woman who approached them (she turned out to be the first wife of Beerbohm Tree), and ends with her expressing some slight concern about his inability to sleep and the high dose of medication being given him at night.

17
. ER to Rockmores, Oct. 29, 1961 (Gracie Fields); ER to Freda Diamond, Dec. 24, 1961—both in RA; ER to Helen Rosen, Dec. 8, 19, 1961, courtesy of Rosen.

18
. ER to Helen Rosen, Dec. 8, 1961 (courtesy of Rosen).

19
. PR, Jr., ms. comments (suicidal); interview with Harry Francis, 1971, cassette courtesy of PR, Jr.

20
. ER to Helen Rosen, Nov. 18 (two letters, same date), Dec. 24, 1961, courtesy of Rosen.

21
. ER to Sam and Helen Rosen, Feb. 9, 1962, courtesy of Helen Rosen.

22
. ER to Rosens, Feb. 11 (Robinson), 19, 26, March 1, 5, 1962, courtesy of Rosen; ER to Marian Forsythe (with copies to PR, Jr., the Rosens, and Bob Rockmore), March 16, 1962; also a note from PR to Marian, March 1, 1962, reassuring her that he was “feeling much, much better”—both courtesy of Paulina Forsythe; PR to Clara and Bob Rockmore, March 1, 1962, courtesy of Clara Rockmore.

23
. Interview with Katzenstein, July 26, 1986; Ackner to Baumann, Aug. 24, 1963; ER to Janet Jagan, Feb. 5, 1962; ER to Larry Brown, Oct. 3, 1962—all in RA; Andy to Larry Brown, Nov. 19, 1962, NYPL/Schm: Brown. Hearing from
Charles Howard about his visit to Paul, Ralph Bunche wrote Essie a note saying how sorry he was “to learn that Paul is incapacitated.… Although over the years Paul and I have not seen eye to eye on political matters, I have great affection for him and I send him warm personal regards.” ER wrote back how “
VERY
pleased” Paul was “to have your warm greetings” (Bunche to ER, Aug. 22, 1962; ER to Bunche, Aug. 25, 1962, RA).

24
. ER to Helen Rosen, Dec. 4, 14, 1961; ER to Rosens, April 10, 1962; ER to Rosens and Rubens, Oct. 11, 1962 (Larry's music, last visit)—all courtesy of Helen Rosen. PR's public tribute to Brown was during his Aug. 30, 1949, Rockland Palace speech (tape, RA). When Louise Bransten was in London in late 1961, she also was allowed to visit.

25
. ER to “Dear Friends,” March 24, 1962 (soliciting greetings), MSRC: Murphy. The many letters, cards, and telegrams are in RA; Nkrumah's letter is dated April 3, 1962; Helen Rosen's comment on the phone call is in Helen Rosen to PR, April 9, 1962, RA. They also named a new youth singing club in the GDR for Robeson (Deckert to PR, Aug. 17, 1962; PR to Deckert, Aug. 25, 1962, RA). The black militant Julian Mayfield wrote a glowing tribute to him in the Ghana
Evening News
, April 18, 1962. Nkrumah continued with his efforts to entice Robeson to settle down in Ghana, as Shirley and W. E. B. Du Bois had done (they were joined by Dorothy and Alphaeus Hunton in the spring of 1962 to work with Du Bois on the
Encyclopedia Africana
, sponsored by the Ghana Academy of Sciences [Hunton to Robesons, May 14, 1962, RA]). To meet Paul's needs, Nkrumah converted his original offer of a chair at the University of Ghana to a visiting professorship, but, although Paul willingly and gratefully agreed to have his name associated with the university, he made it clear (through Essie) that he had no idea whether he would again be able to work, and if so how much. It was a deep sorrow to him. (E. C. Quist-Therson, secretary to Nkrumah, to PR, April 10, 1962; ER to Nkrumah, March 4, May 24, 1962—all in RA). He was then invited to become an honorary fellow of the Institute of African Studies at the University of Ghana (Thomas Hodgkin to PR, Dec. 11, 1962; ER to Hodgkin, Feb. 17, 1963—both in RA).

Essie was unable to get back to work on the two books (one on the Congo, the other on politics) she had hoped to write, but between visits to the Priory she kept her hand in. She participated in the birthday rally for the
Daily Worker
(reading a few words of greeting from Paul), maintained an active political correspondence with Janet Jagan on developments in British Guiana, with Russian friends about the possible translation and publication of her work (Boris Polevoi had become editor-in-chief of the magazine
Youth
, and Mikhail Kotov assisted from several angles), and in the fall of 1962 covered the Commonwealth prime-ministers' conference for the Associated Negro Press, deeply engaged by the British debate over Common Market versus Commonwealth. (
Daily Worker:
George Matthews, editor, to ER, Feb. 9, March 1, 1962, RA;
London Daily Worker
, March 5, 1962; PR's brief remarks to the rally are in RA. British Guiana: ER to Jagan, Feb. 3, April 13, Aug. 27, 1962; Jagan to ER, July 2, 1962. Russia: ER to Kotov, Feb. 19, June 22, 1962. Commonwealth Conference: ER to Larry Brown, Oct. 3, 1962; ER to Freda Diamond, Oct. 26, 1962; ER to Indira Gandhi, September 19, 1962; ER to Nehru, September 19, 1962—all in RA.)

26
. ER to Rosens, May 10, 27, June 20, 1962; ER to Helen Rosen, May 31, 1962 (rise in PR's spirits)—all courtesy of Rosen. William Wolff to PR, May 14, 1962; Hille to PR, June 4, 1962; PR's brief ms. of Hille greetings and also the preface to George Cunelli's book,
Voice No Mystery
(dated July 19, 1962, and, judging from the style, written by Essie)—all in RA. A dozen years later Cunelli's book had still not been published. The way Cunelli explained it to Robeson, “The publishers … put some obstacles in my way, asking diminished admiration for Soviet achievements in visual art and vocal problems, and could I ask my past pupil, Laurence Olivier, to write a Preface instead of Paul Robeson.
I refuse this opportunist proposition” (Cunelli to PR, June 3, 1974, courtesy of Paulina Forsythe). Essie thought that writing the preface to the book had been important in getting Paul a labor permit (ER to Rosens and Rubens, Oct. 11, 1962, courtesy of Rosen).

27
. FBI New York 100-25857-4379, March 5, 1962 (Key Figure); FBI Main 100-12304-641 (passing). Robeson was finally deleted from the Key Figures list at the New York Office in January 1963. As early as April 1961, shortly after PR's suicide attempt, an FBI memo speculated that “the death of Robeson would be much publicized … his name and past history would be highlighted … in propagandizing on behalf of the international communist movement” (FBI Main 100-12304-621).

Both in print and in private discussion, PR, Jr., has strenuously argued the possibility that the U.S. government deliberately “neutralized” his father, perhaps by slipping him the hallucinogen BZ (which the United States is on record as using elsewhere) in Moscow in March 1961, perhaps by playing a role in the course his medical treatment took, particularly in the administering of a protracted series of ECT. I have done everything I could think of—including a lawsuit against the FBI for the release of Robeson files denied me under the Freedom of Information Act—to unearth the evidence that would allow for a conclusion one way or the other on PR, Jr.'s speculations. So many of the government documents forwarded to me under the FOIA (or extracted by lawsuit) are inked over that I have found it impossible to say for sure that there is
nothing
to his charges (especially since PR's Priory records are apparently lost; after a prolonged search, the deputy hospital director informed me that she was unable to locate the “relevant medical notes.” [Alison Boyle to me, March 29, 1988]). So little of even a circumstantial nature has surfaced to support PR, Jr.'s case that I have had to draw the conclusion, tentative though it must remain for now, that the case is unproved.

28
. ER to the Rosens; ER to the Rockmores; ER to PR, Jr., and Marilyn—all May 27, 1962, RA. The Rockmores were on their way to the U.S.S.R. and were able to visit with Paul—separately, to avoid undue strain—three times at the Priory and four times at the flat. Essie reported to the Rosens (May 27, 1962, RA) that before they came “He had been going down toward depression.… I think the stimulation of their visit postponed the depression, arrested it.… After they left on the Monday, he slowly went down.” Dr. Ackner agreed that he was “way down.” He had begun ECT again on May 19 (the last previous treatment had been April 19), and in the following week he got ECT three times, the series of eleven (for a total to date of thirty-five) extending through October 15, 1962 (Ackner to Baumann, Aug. 24, 1963). It was not unusual in those days to have repeated courses of ECT. On this round, he came out of the first three treatments at “a much higher level” (according to Essie), but he almost always did improve immediately afterward, only to relapse once again. Essie asked the Rockmores to report fully to the Rosens, “and to Pauli fully, but cautiously.” PR, Jr.'s own health was much improved, but still not entirely secure. “Have had my own little ups and downs but the
average
has been steadily
up
,” he wrote his father on April 4, 1962 (RA); seven months later he was still reporting “feeling pretty good these days.… I'm getting stronger and more confident quite rapidly. I was not upset too much even by the events of the last couple of weeks [the Cuban missile crisis].… I seem to be well on my way now and getting steadily stronger and more confident” (PR, Jr., to ER and PR, Nov. 4, 1962, RA).

29
. ER to John Abt and Ben Davis, Jr., July 13, 1962; Bailey to ER, July 10, 1962; American Embassy to State Department, July 12, 1962, along with ER's affidavit—all in RA. FBI Main 100-12304-657.

30
. ER to John Abt and Ben Davis, Jr., July 13, 1962, RA. According to an FBI report, Robeson was additionally upset at this time by PR, Jr.'s alleged “expulsion” from the CPUSA (Director to SAC Chicago, Jan. 3, 1963, FBI Main 100-12304-[illegible]).

31
.
Abt to Robesons, July 17, 1962, RA. Robeson once again managed a trip to the U.S. Embassy to sign, this time supported by Essie, Harry Francis, and the British lawyer D. N. Pritt.

32
. ER to Rosens, May 27, 1962 (“hopeless”); ER to Mikhail Kotov, June 22, 1962 (“wither away”); Helen Rosen to PR, April 9, 1962 (planned trip); ER to Sam Rosen, Sept. 1, 1962; ER to Judy Ruben, Sept. 1, 1962; ER to Freda Diamond, Aug. 25, 1962 (“end of nightmare”)—all in RA. Helen Rosen told me that in her actual presence she never heard Paul threaten suicide. Dr. Ackner thought Robeson was “morbidly preoccupied about his inability to sleep and about his loss of weight” (Ackner to Baumann, Aug. 24, 1963, RA). The
Daily Herald
, Oct. 26, 1962, reported Harold Davison “hotly” denying the rumor that Robeson had decided to retire; all he had to do, Davison is quoted as saying, is “to slow down his pace a little,” and he had “a great deal of artistry” left “to offer the world.” At just this time, Peggy Middleton was writing Cedric Belfrage, “Paul is still in and out of his nursing home. I have had tea with him. That's all I can say without being depressing” (Oct. 13, 1962, courtesy of Belfrage).

33
. ER to family, et al., Jan. 28, 1963, RA; Middleton to Belfrage, Jan. 27, 1963, courtesy of Belfrage.

34
. ER to Rosens, Feb. 5, March 27, 1963, courtesy of Rosen; ER to Clara Rockmore, Feb. 17, March 19, 1963, RA; PR to Clara Rockmore, March 18, May 30, 1963, courtesy of Clara Rockmore. In his May 30 letter to Clara, PR wrote to her as if for the first time about Rockmore (“Just heard today about our beloved Bobby”), sadly suggesting his confused state of mind.