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1931 
Appears in British Who's Who (Has never been listed in Who's
Who in America).
January 18, 1931 
Begins 2-month US concert tour, with opening at Town Hall, New York City, expanding his repertoire to include Russian, Irish, English and other folk songs.
January
31, 1931
Gives concert for 2,205 at Orchestra Hall, Chicago.
February 13, 1931
Returns to London, briefly, to give concert at Royal Albert Hall.
February 26, 1931
Gives concert of Negro spirituals, accompanied by Lawrence Brown, at Dreamland Auditorium, San Francisco.
February 27, 1931
Gives concert of Negro spirituals and classical songs at Auditorium Theatre, Oakland, CA.
March,
1931
Makes first concert appearance in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada.
March 22, 1931
Gives concert of mostly Negro spirituals at Carnegie Hall.
April 16, 1931
Is guest soloist, with the 700-member Westchester (NY) Negro Choral Union, in a concert of spirituals in White Plains. In an interview with
The New York Times, explains that the importance of this chorus is that “in the effective organization of so large a body of Negro spiritual singers lies in the hope of preserving the unique contribution of [the] race to the music of America.”
(Foner)
August 8, 1931
His article, “Thoughts on the Colour Bar” appears in the British weekly
The Spectator, as part of a series on the subject. In its introduction, the journal notes: “Our object in publishing this series is to attempt some explanation of why the Colour Bar exists, and to emphasize the importance of the problem for the British Commonwealth.”
(Foner)
January 18, 1932
Gives concert of folk songs at Town Hall, New York City.
February
1, 1932
Performs benefit concert as fundraiser for the Helping Hand Community
Day Nursery, Chicago.
May 20, 1932
Opens in revival of Shoe Boat, at the Casino Theatre, on
Broadway. Plays for three months. Stars in revival of Show Boat on Broadway.
June, 1932
· Performs benefit concert for Harlem branch of Children’s Aid Society.
· Receives Honorary Master of Arts degree from Rutgers University.
July 31, 1932
Gives concert at Lewisohn Stadium, New York.
March
12, 1933
Opens in a three-week run of All God's Chillun Got Wings at
Embassy Theatre, London, followed by another four weeks at the
Piccadilly Theatre, where he gives a special benefit performance for Jewish refugees from nazi Germany. Years later, states that this benefit marked the beginning of his political awareness because, in reference to the Hitler regime, “Really, it was like seeing the Ku Klux Klan in power….Brown shirts instead of white sheets, but the same idea.”
May,
1933
Stars in his first “talkie,” The Emperor Jones. The film is criticized for perpetuating stereotypes.
1934
· In January, embarks on extensive tour, with accompanist Lawrence
Brown, throughout the British Isles.
·William L. Patterson, tells Robeson of struggle around the Scottsboro Defendants and urges him to help in fight for Negro causes.
·In June, publishes article, "The Culture of the Negro", in The
Spectator, London.
· Summer. Makes film Sanders of the River, in Africa, but is later enraged by the addition, without his knowledge, of scenes glorifying British imperialism in South Africa, and denounces film as “pure Nordic bunk.”
Seeks to purchase all copies of the film in order to prevent its
distribution. Numerous working class and liberal organizations call for boycott of the picture.
In an October 5, 1935 interview in the Amsterdam News, states,
"To expect the Negro artist to reject every role with which he is
not ideologically in agreement is to expect the Negro artist under our
present scheme of things to give up his work entirely."
December 20, 1934 to January 6, 1935
Makes first visit to Soviet Union, at invitation of Soviet filmmaker Sergei Eisenstein, to discuss making film on life of Toussaint L’Ouverture, leader of Haitian slave rebellion, and to
observe the situation of minorities in Soviet Union, where he is
warmly welcomed by Russians from every walk of Life. Comments: "Here, I am not a Negro, but a human being….Here, for the first time in my life, I walk in full human dignity.”
January
15, 1935
"I Am at Home, Says Robeson at Reception in Soviet Union,"
interviewed by the Daily Worker, London.
February-March, 1935
Makes another concert tour of Europe and the British Isles.
May 6, 1935
In London, opens in Stevedore, play about Black-white labor unity, which had appeared in New York in 1934. With this London performance, with the British Labor Unity Theatre, Robeson’s move toward an identification with the working class takes a giant step forward.
July, 1935
In an interview with New Theatre, states: “The Negro folk songs and African music strongly resemble Eastern and Russian music.”
September, 1935
Returns to US to make Hollywood film production of Show Boat.
October 27, 1935
In an interview with the New York Herald-Tribune, states: “I believe it would be a good thing for the American Negro to be more conscious of his African tradition, to be proud of it. Africa has contributed great culture to the world, and will continue to do so.”
(Foner)
1936
· January. Returns to London. Records prologue and theme song for Joseph Best’s documentary film on South Africa,
Africa Looks Up (released in US as My Song Goes
Forth).
· Stars in two British movies, filmed in West Africa, Song of Freedom and
King Solomon’s Mines, in which Blacks are treated with dignity.
· Film Show Boat opens internationally; receiving praise in mainstream media but criticism from Black press and leftists.
January 12, 1936
In an interview with the New York Herald-Tribune, condemns Fascist Italy’s invasion and occupation of Ethiopia and expresses his “faith in Africa….I feel that the people of the African continent will seek out their own destiny.”
(Foner)
March,
1936
Sponsored by the Stage Society, in London, plays Toussaint L'Ouverture
in "Black Majesty," a play about the Haitian
revolutionary.
August, 1936
*Is interviewed by Rev. Father J.C. O'Flaherty, in West African
Review.
*Goes on concert tour in the Soviet Union, singing in Moscow,
Leningrad, Kiev and Odessa
August 8,
1936
Writes article, "Primitives," in The New Statesman and
Nation, London.
December
1936 to January 1937
Takes vacation in Soviet Union, to improve his Russian and to perform a
concert tour. Visits Soviet Asia and the Caucasus; is very impressed by social, economic and cultural progress of racial minorities in these
formerly "backward" areas. Years later, in reference
to the Soviet Union, he would state: "There I found the
real solution of the minority and racial problems, a very simple
solution: complete equality for all men of all races. I
was struck by the quick success of all groups in taking part in modern
civilization, once they were given a chance. Eskimos and people
from Turkestan, who had always been called primitive and backward,
took their place as citizen workers. In a few years, they became
efficient in every phase of modern life, even in building and handling
machinery. I saw with my own eyes that people are not 'backward'
because of colour, but because they are kept back."
1937-40
Maintains hectic pace of political appearances, lending his name and talent to myriad organizations and events, among them the Spanish Aid Committee, Food for Republican Spain Campaign, the National Memorial Fund (for British members of the International Brigades), the Labor and Trade Union Movement, the National Unemployed Workers’ Movement, the League for the Boycott of Aggressor Nations, the Coloured Film Artists’ Association, the Society for Cultural Relations.
1937
· January. Co-founder, with Max Yergan & Dr. Alphaeus Hunton, and Chairman of Council on African Affairs, one of the first, and for many years the only, anti-Apartheid and anti-imperialist organization in the US, formed to aid national liberation struggles in Africa. Over the next eighteen years, Robeson devotes much of his time and talent in advancing the Council’s work of mobilizing Americans, Black and white, in support of Africa’s liberation from Western imperialist bondage. The Council’s monthly bulletin,
New Africa (later called Spotlight on Africa) becomes a primary source of accurate information on Africa, both within the US and internationally.
· Performs in two British films, Big Fella and Jericho (released in the US as
Dark Sands). For the production of Jericho, goes
to Egypt, finally satisfying a long time dream of setting foot on
African soil.
· Is voted
the most popular singer by British radio listensers.
February 7, 1937
In radio interview with the Sunday Worker, broadcast from Moscow during concert tour of USSR under auspices of Moscow State Philharmonic, states: “When I sing the ‘spirituals’ and work songs of the Negro people to Soviet audiences, I feel that a tremendous bond of sympathy and mutual understanding unites us. The Russian folksongs and those of the Soviet National Republics, which were formerly Czarist colonies, bear a close relationship to folksongs of the Negro people. In each instance, these songs were born of the misery and suffering, exploitation and oppression of the people. This oppression made the name of old Russia synonymous with the term ‘prison house of nations.’”
(Foner)
April, 1937
Gives concert at Victoria Palace, London, to aid homeless women and children in Spain.
June, 1937
Initiates a fund for the relief of the dependents of African Americans fighting in defense of democracy in Spain.
June 24, 1937
Sings and speaks at benefit concert for the National Joint Committee for
Spanish Refugees in Aid of the Basque Refugee Children’s Fund, at Royal Albert Hall,
London with 6,000 in attendance. The event is broadcast by radio throughout Europe. Declaring his stand on the side of Republican Spain, states “The artist must elect to fight for freedom or slavery. I have made my choice. I had no alternative….The liberation of Spain from the oppression of fascist reactionaries is not a private matter of the Spaniards, but the common cause of all advanced and progressive humanity.” (Foner) He will reiterate this basic principle on many occasions.
July, 1937
While vacationing in USSR, attends many cultural performances of various Soviet nationalities and performs at several events for the cause of the Spanish Republic.
September-December, 1937
Continues to appear in concerts in several European cities for the cause of the Spanish
Republic.
November
25, 1937
Sings at opening of the new Unity Theatre, London.
December 19, 1937
At rally of 9,000 at Royal Albert Hall, London, in support of “arms, food and justice for democratic Spain,” brings down the house when he changes words of “Ol’ Man River” from “You gets a little drunk and you lands in jail;
but I get weary and sick of tryin'; I’m tired of livin’ and feared of dyin’” to “You show a little grit and you lands in jail;
but I keep laughin' instead of cryin'; I must keep fightin’ until I’m dyin',’” thus converting the song from a lament into one of
proud protest. Makes three other appearances within the same month on behalf of the anti-fascist struggle in Spain.
January 23, 1938
Despite the dangers, goes to Spain to sing for troops of International
Brigades volunteers and Spanish Loyalists and in hospitals, lifting
the spirits of the men and women who are risking their lives for an
ideal---the defeat of fascism. (It has been told that on the
battlefield at Teruel, the shooting stopped for one hour while
fighters on both sides sat and listened to him sing and speak on radio
from Madrid, his voice booming via loudspeakers across the battle
lines. While the story is apocryphal, one can easily imagine how it
got started.) Linking the struggle against fascism in Spain to the
cause of oppressed people everywhere, he says, “My songs come from the
lips of the people of other continents who suffer and struggle to make
equality a reality. To me, Spain is another homeland, because the
people of this country are opposed to racial and class distinctions.”
Is interviewed by distinguished Afro-Cuban poet Nicolás Guillén, for
Cuban radio and newspapers.
· When asked by Guillén why he came to Spain, Robeson replies: “My devotion to democracy. As an artist, I know that it is dishonorable to put yourself on a plane above the masses, without marching at their side, participating in their anxieties and sorrows, since we artists owe everything to the masses, from our formation to our well-being. And it is not only as an artist that I love the cause of democracy in Spain, but also as a Black. I belong to an oppressed race, discriminated against, one that could not live if fascism triumphed in the world. My father was a slave, and I do not want my children to become slaves….During these last months I have worked a great deal in London, singing to raise funds to send to the Spanish people and I will continue doing it, not only there, but everywhere that I and able to do it.”
(Foner) It is at this time that the US State Department begins
spying on Robeson's activities and recording his statements regarding
Spain.
February,
1938
Returning to England to begin a year-long tireless campaign on behalf
of the Spanish Republic, stops in Paris to give speeches and a radio
interview. Back in England, appears at numerous events for the
Spanish cause, throughout the British Isles, often performing at two
fund-raisers in a single day or at one of these benefits following a
professional performance with the Celebrity Series
Concerts.
February 13, 1938
Gives benefit concert for the International Peace Campaign, at Covent Garden, London.
April 8, 1938
Sings at 20th Century German Art Exhibition, in London, as benefit for German artists banned by Hitler.
June 12, 1938
Gives benefit concert for Emergency Youth Peace Campaign, at Empress Hall,
London organized by the League of Nations Youth Groups.
June 14, 1938
Opens in Plant in the Sun, play dealing with sit-down strikes and union organizing in US, produced by Unity Theatre, under auspices of British Labour Party. This path-breaking effort towards the creation of a workers' theatre is highly praised by the London press.
He performs for no fee, stating, "I could get a very high salary
in London....But the West End is decadent because it does not reflect
the life and struggles of the people." He contrasts that to
working with the Unity Theatre, "which means identifying myself
with the working class. And it gives me a chance to say
something I want to say."
June 27, 1938
Speaks in support of India’s independence from British rule, at welcome rally for Jawaharlal Nehru, at Kingsway Hall, London.
August-December,
1938
Abandons the Celebrity Series Concerts because they reach only
middle-class audiences. Begins to sing instead in large music
hall and cinema palaces with low admission prices, where he can
perform for working people. No other singer of Albert Hall
stature has ever appeared before on such humble stages, considering it
beneath their dignity. But Robeson is gratified to give three
performances daily for working class audiences.
December
1, 1938
Sings and speaks at a rally sponsored by the Spanish Relief Center of
the Cambridge University Peace Council.
December 7, 1938
Sings at memorial meeting of 7,000, to honor 33 fallen Welsh members of the International Brigades in
Spain and to welcome home the surviving contingent at Mountain Ash
Pavilion, Cynon Valley, South Wales. Prior to singing, Robeson
tells the audience, "I am here tonight because, as I have
said many times before, I feel that the struggle we are waging for a
better life, the artist must do his part. I am one of an
oppressed race and am here because these fellows fought not only for
Spain but for me and the whole world. I feel it is my duty to be
here."
1939
· Helps to register Black voters in Birmingham, AL.
· Writes the Foreword to Uncle Tom’s Children: Four Novellas, by Richard Wright.
(Foner)
· Addresses founding convention of United Public Workers of America (UPWA) and over next twelve years attends many of their national and local meetings throughout the U.S.
January, 1939
Begins concert tour of the British Isles; is greeted everywhere
by huge crowds and honored with civic awards, receptions and
ceremonies.
January
10, 1939
At Empress Hall, London, sings to 10,000 paying tribute to the 543
British men and women who died in Spain and to the survivors of the
two British battalions. Funds raised benefit the widows and
orphans of the volunteers who lost their lives fighting for Republican
Spain.
January
26, 1939
Joins 150 top American musicians in signing a letter to President
Roosevelt asking him to end the arms embargo against the Spanish
Republic because it serves "to aid the forces of aggression and
international lawlessness."
February, 1939
Sings at London's Comedy Club for the annual dinner of the Society for
Cultural Relations between the Peoples of the British Commonwealth and
the USSR.
February 15, 1939
Gives concert for the League for the Boycott of Aggressor Nations, at Suffock Galleries, London.
April,
1939
Participates in week-long peace festival, "Music for The
People," at Royal Albert Hall, London.
April 14-20, 1939
Performs to enthusiastic crowds in Oslo, Copenhagen and Stockholm, where he turns concerts into anti-nazi demonstrations.
April 30, 1939
Performs at May Festival Concert, sponsored by the Society for Cultural Relations Between the Peoples of Great Britain and the USSR, at Queens Hall, London.
May 15, 1939
Makes 3-month visit to US to continue fighting against Fascism and racism on his home ground.
His experiences abroad, with workers in many countries, have
transformed him from a performer into a true people's artist,
dedicating his talents to the cause for social justice. Almost immediately enters the national struggle on the side of labor, which brings him cheers from the workers but nets him the everlasting enmity of Big Business.
June,
1939
Stars in a week-long revival of The Emperor Jones, at the
Ridgeway Theatre in White Plains, NY, demanding that the "n"
word be deleted from the script: "Either that, or I won't
play in it."
June 4, 1939
In an interview with the Sunday Worker, explains why he is planning to return home soon: “Certainly in my travels in many countries of Europe, particularly in Spain, and having been close to the struggles of China, Ethiopia and the West Indies, I have seen and recognized the essential unity of this international fight for democracy and against fascism….Having helped on many fronts, I feel that it is now time for me to return to the place of my origin—to those roots which, though embedded in Negro life, are essentially American and are so regarded by the people of most other countries….It is my business not only to tell the guy with the whip hand to go easy on people, but also to teach my people—all the oppressed people—how to prevent that whip hand being used against them.”
July, 1939
· In an interview published in all the black weeklies and the
July-August issue of TAC, magazine of the Theatre Arts
Committee, when asked what prompted his decision to return to the US
to live, he replies, in part: "I've learned that my people
are not the only ones oppressed. That it is the same for Jews or
Chinese as for Negroes, and that such prejudice has no place in a
democracy. I have sung my songs all over the world, and
everywhere found that some common bond makes the people of all lands
take to Negro songs, as to their own....{A]ll oppressed people cry out
against their oppressors....[These experiences] have made me come home
to sing my songs so that we will see that our democracy does not
vanish. If I can contribute to this as an artist, I shall be
happy." (Foner)
· Gives benefit concert in Greenwich Village, for the Spanish
Refugee Relief Campaign. The event is sponsored by Mayor
Fiorello LaGuardia. Robeson is joined on stage by Bill "Bojangles"
Robinson, Helen Hayes, Gypsy Rose Lee, Orson Wells, Sam Jaffe, Al
Jolson and other celebrities.
· Participates in a symposium on "Spanish Culture in
Exile," at the Roosevelt Hotel, NYC, sponsored by the Spanish
Refugee Relief Committee. Following the symposium, performs a
concert of folk songs of America, Spain and the Soviet Union, all sung
in their original languages.
July 1, 1939
Gives recital to 1,500 jammed into Mother AME Church in Harlem where brother, Rev. Ben Robeson, is pastor.
August, 1939
Refuses to open in John Henry in Washington DC because theater is segregated. Opens in New York instead. Also plays in Boston, Philadelphia and Pittsburgh.
September, 1939
Returns to London to star in the film Proud Valley, story about an unemployed African American who lands a job in the Welsh coal mines and shares the struggles of the miners for a better life. Much of the film is shot in the mining villages of Wales, with real houses and streets and people. During production, Robeson and the other members of the crew live with the miners who worked with them on the film. Several years later, Robeson states that of all his films this is the one which gives him the most satisfaction because it depicts the lives of workers in a realistic and sympathetic light.
September 30, 1939
Ends ten-year residence in London; sails for US. Aboard ship, refuses request to sing for
first-class passengers, but accepts request to sing for the crew at a union meeting. Returns home to join the struggle for full equality for all African Americans. States
that he will not sing before segregated audiences.
November 5, 1939
Performs world premiere on CBS Radio of Ballad for Americans, with the American People's Chorus, music by Earl Robinson, libretto by John La Touche, generating one of the largest audience responses of any performance in the history of radio and yielding Robeson nationwide acclaim. The 600 people in the CBS studio respond with a 15-minute standing ovation of thunderous applause and cheers. The 11-minute cantata, with its fervent cry against racial discrimination and persecution of all kinds, and celebrating the multi-ethnic, multi-racial face of America, injects a new concept into American music which electrifies the country: CBS is inundated with phone calls, thousands of letters and telegrams demanding the words, musical recording and a repeat broadcast.
The cantata's popularity reaches such a wide range that, in an
ironic twist, it is used as the theme song at the Republican National
Convention in the fall of 1940.
December 31, 1939
Responding to popular demand, gives repeat performance of Ballad for Americans on radio. Then records it for Victor Records, with Earl Robinson's 100-voice American People's Chorus; it instantly soars to top of charts, selling over 40,000 copies in the first year, and remains a big seller throughout the 1940s. The piece develops a life of its own, with performances by high school and university glee clubs, community choruses, children's choruses, church choirs, Black, white and Jewish, around the country. Teachers play the recording to encourage tolerance in their students; MGM puts it into their film
Born to Sing; Lawrence Tibbett performs it on NBC Radio; Bing Crosby records it on Decca, his version selling another 20,000 copies. The piece gains such popularity that, in an ironic twist, and in spite of its anti-racist message, it is used as the theme song at the June 1940 Republican National Convention. In the 1960s, Odetta records it.
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