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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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