Paul Robeson Trivia Quiz

Answer: An escaped slave

William Drew Robeson eloped from a North Carolina plantation. He found his way to Lincoln College where he met Marie Louise Bustill. Bustill was part Igbo tribe of Africa and part Native American from the Delaware tribe. Together they produced five children, including Paul.

Answer: Robeson was the the first Black to attend Rutgers

Although he was not the first Black to be admitted to Rutgers, he was the only Black on campus at the time. His academic skills were on a par to his achievements in the athletic arena.

Answer: Football

Robeson amassed twelve varsity letters at Rutgers. In addition to football, Robeson played baseball, basketball, and track. Later he was to appear on professional football and basketball teams. He became an assistant football coach at Lincoln College. Particular in football, Robeson suffered frequently as a target, just as Jackie Robinson was to do in baseball thirty years later.

Answer: Columbia

After graduating from Rutgers, Robeson moved to Harlem and enrolled in Columbia Law School. He worked his way through by playing professional sports and appearing on stage as an actor and singer. William O. Douglas was a classmate. His law career was short lived as on his first job, a white secretary refused to take dictation from him and created racial strife within the firm.

Answer: The Emperor Jones

"The Emperor Jones" was produced on Broadway in 1924. The 1933 film version was an adaptation tailored to showcase Robeson's talents. In another O'Neill drama, "All Gods Chillun Got Wings" he portrayed a Black man in a mixed marriage, a play ahead of its time.

Answer: Othello

Three hundred performances is an extremely long run for a Shakespearean revival. That does not include uncounted performances overseas. Robeson is the classic Othello. Historically, Othello was played by white actors but Robeson's interpretation opened the door to black actors to play roles typically given to white performers.

Answer: Robeson's Communist leanings

At the invitation of film-maker Sergei Eisenstein (famous for "Battleship Potemkin"), Robeson visited Russia. He found that the potential of balance of social systems and class relationships could be found in the Soviet system. Serious consideration was given to moving his family there.

He brought these ideas back and and sparked controversy. Socialism/Communism was a cause celeb among performers and intellectual elite of the time. When this became "unfashionable", he continued to be a believer. Robeson denied being a Communist but Gus Hall, leader of the Communist Party in the United States, later claimed that he had personally collected Robeson's membership dues.

Answer: Cancelled his passport

The US government tried to stem his influence by not letting him travel abroad. His opponents also managed to have his name struck from the football All-American teams of 1917 and 1918. His biography was banned from the library in Wheeling, West Virginia.

There were often demonstrations wherever he performed to protest his concerts and views. 'Sugar' Ray Robinson, a popular boxer, said he would punch him out if he met him. Being unable to travel, he lost his European tours, which had been a major part of his career. Robeson once gave a concert to 40,000 Canadian fans while standing on an improvised platform on the US side of the border.

He did not need a passport to enter Canada so the concert was really a protest.

Answer: For all of these reasons

Langston Hughes, a prominent black poet, upset that a government sponsored train was to be touring the country with no effort to display the goals of the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution in regard to equality, wrote the poem "Freedom Train" in protest. Robeson incorporated the poem into his concerts and brought to the fore the failings of the United States to achieve freedom and equality for all.

Answer: Academy Award

Although he never won an Academy Award, his film performances were of Oscar material.

The NAACP awards the Springarn Medal each year to a distinguished black American. Robeson was a 1945 recipient.

The Grammy is awarded for excellence in recorded music. Robeson was recognized in 1998.

The Stalin Peace Prize was awarded by the Soviet government to an individual
who has fostered harmony and peace among peoples. It was later renamed the Lenin Peace Prize. Robeson was honored on 1953.

Robeson sang the ultimate "Ole Man River" from "Showboat" both on Broadway and the 1936 film. He was an supporter of the Republic in the Spanish Civil War and entertained American troops during WWII. He never lost his drive for equality for peoples worldwide.