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1958 
· Publishes Here I Stand, written with Lloyd Brown, to set the record straight about confusion between his actual statements and reports about them. Book meets with instant success in sales, receives favorable reviews in Black and leftist publications, but is totally ignored by mainstream press and is blacklisted by most bookstores.
Not only does the white commercial press decline to review the book, they refuse even to include it in their lists of new books.
· Baltimore Afro-American newspaper serializes Here I Stand in five weekly installments.
· Vanguard Records begins making new records with Robeson.
· Paul Robeson, a biography by British drama critic, Marie Seton, is published in London.
January 29, 1958
Is interviewed in the office of The Morning News, San Leandro, CA; article appears in January 30 issue.
February 9, 1958
In "An Afternoon of Music and Poetry," sponsored by ILWU Local 6 and the West Oakland Social and Civic Club in honor of National Negro History Week, sings and discusses the universality of music to a crowd of 2,000, at Municipal Auditorium Theatre, Oakland, CA.
March, 1958
Performs at Civic Auditorium in San Jose, sponsored by AME Zion Church.
March 15, 1958
Is interviewed on KPFA Radio, in San Francisco. (Foner)
March 17, 1958
Ambassador Ellsworth Bunker of American Embassy in New Delhi, India, informs US State Department that Prime Minister Nehru’s daughter, Indira
Ghandi, is organizing national committee to sponsor a “Paul Robeson Day.” State Department fails in frantic effort to prevent celebrations of Robeson’s birthday in India.
March 23, 1958
Gives concert at First AME Church, San Jose, CA.
March 28, 1958
American Actors’ Equity Association, a year after their British counterparts, passes resolution to assist Robeson in passport fight and urges State Department to restore the passport.
April, 1958
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The Bulletin, publication of the Workers’ Music Association, London, is dedicated to Robeson in honor of his 60th birthday.
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After the management of the Soldiers and Sailors Memorial Hall, in Pittsburgh, PA, cancels his scheduled concert, gives concerts at two leading Black churches in that city.
April 9, 1958
60th birthday is celebrated in Europe, the Soviet Union, Latin America, Asia and Africa, for a total of twenty-seven countries, as well as in several US cities. Robeson is present at the public party sponsored by the Chicago Council for American-Soviet Friendship, held at Masonic Temple, in Chicago, attended by 750. In an unprecedented move, Indian Prime Minister Nehru sends greetings to the event. The message is considered by the US State Department as a breach of protocol and results in sharp exchanges between the two governments. The Chinese government also sends a birthday message.
April 11 and 12, 1958
Gives two concerts at Mandel Hall, University of Chicago, sponsored by the Students Representative Party. Following the second concert, sings and speaks at a “smoker” given in his honor by the Chicago branch of his fraternity, Alpha Phi Alpha.
April 13, 1958
· Sings and speaks at Sunday morning service at Chicago’s Greater Walters AME Zion Church.
· Honored for his 60th birthday, at a party sponsored by the Chicago Citizens Committee and the African American Heritage Association, held at Parkway Ballroom, Chicago.
April 20, 1958
Scheduled interview at Chicago TV station WBKB-ABC is cancelled by president of ABC.
April 22, 1958
The Council of Methodist Episcopal Bishops report that the government's denial of Robeson's passport is causing anti-American feelings in Africa.
May 9, 1958
After 10-year absence, makes triumphant return to a sold-out Carnegie Hall. At end of concert, announces, to thunderous applause, that his passport battle has been won.
May 23, 1958
In response to overwhelming popular demand, gives second sold-out concert at Carnegie Hall within one month.
June 1, 1958
Gives concert at AME Zion Church, New York City, his last concert in the US.
June 16, 1958
Supreme Court rules that “The State Department was not authorized by Congress to withhold people’s passports because of alleged beliefs or associations.” Government delivers Robeson’s passport to him the following day.
This ruling aided not only Robeson, but many others whose passports had been illegally revoked, including veterans of the Abraham Lincoln Brigade upon their return from Spain in the late 1930s.
July, 1958
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Passport having been restored following 8-year world-wide campaign of pressure and protest, and having received hundreds of invitations from all parts of the world, leaves almost immediately to again sing for the workers in the British Isles, and in Prague, Berlin and Soviet Union. Receives a hero’s welcome everywhere he goes.
· Visits British Parliament, where a luncheon is given in his honor.
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Does series of concerts on British television.
August, 1958
· Hailed in Moscow and begins month-long Soviet tour.
· Appears in concerts and interviews on Moscow TV.
· Sings and speaks to 18,000 fans at Moscow University's sports palace.
· Is made Honorary Professor, Moscow State Conservatory of Music for his “researches in folk music of all nations and his use of music to strengthen and enlarge understanding and promote friendship between all peoples."
· Visits Artek Children's Summer Camp, in the Crimea, USSR.
· Performs at opening ceremony of Afro-Asian Film Festival, held in Tashkent, Uzbekistan. The 15-day event is to help film workers in Asian and African countries to learn about each other’s films and establish friendly contacts.
August
4, 1958
Sings at National Eisteddfod, music festival of Welsh miners, in Ebbw Vale, Wales. In appreciation for the support he gave them during the 1920s and 1930s, thousands of miners and their families give a rousing, tearful welcome to their Great Honorary Welsh Hero
and present him with a miniature Miners’ Lamp.
August 10, 1958
Sings at Royal Albert Hall, London, with 8,000 in attendance.
September 17, 1958
Starts tour in German Democratic Republic
October, 1958
Sings at National Eisteddfod, music festival of Welsh miners, in Ebbw Vale, Wales. In appreciation for the support he gave them during the 1920s and 1930s, thousands of miners and their families give a rousing, tearful welcome to their Great Honorary Welsh Hero and present him with a miniature Miners’ Lamp.
.October 7, 1958
Street is named in his honor in Lvov, Poland.
October 12, 1958
Climaxes British concert tour with benefit recital at St. Paul’s Cathedral, London, to raise funds for the defense of jailed South African leaders. Is first secular artist and first person of African descent to stand at lectern of Cathedral; sings to 4,000 persons seated inside, while 5,000 more stand outside, listening. London newspapers widely report the event as an historic one.
November 25, 1958
Gives concert at Town Hall, Birmingham, UK.
November 26, 1958
Birmingham Peace Committee holds Luncheon in honor of Robeson, at the Imperial Hotel, Birmingham, England.
1959
Sings and speaks to tens of thousands gathered in a Paris park.
February 21-March 3, 1959
Attends World Peace Council meeting in Moscow. Performs in Moscow; then makes concert tour to several Soviet cities.
April, 1959
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Begins seven-month run of Othello at the Shakespeare Memorial Theatre, Stratford-on-Avon, England; between performances, maintains hectic schedule of political appearances.
· Performs and speaks at African Freedom Day Concert, sponsored by the Movement for Colonial Freedom.
· Speaks at Disarmament Rally, Trafalgar Square, London.
· Is awarded Honorary Membership in the Musicians’ Union, London.
May, 1959
Appears on two BBC-TV programs and is featured on ten Sunday-night radio broadcasts.
June, 1959
Attends Congress of Socialist Culture in Prague.
June 29, 1959
Sings and speaks at huge “Ban The Bomb” gathering at Trafalgar Square in London.
August 4, 1959
Sings and speaks at World Youth Festival in Vienna, attended by 17,000 from 82 countries. Criticizes US foreign and domestic policies.
January, 1960
· Makes month-long concert tour of Soviet Union.
· Attends meetings of World Peace Council.
· Sings and speaks to workers at Ball Bearing Plant No. 1, in Moscow.
February 21-May 15, 1960
· Performs in 32-city tour of British Isles, including large disarmament rallies.
· Appears in second series of BBC radio broadcasts.
May 1, 1960
Returns to Scotland as guest of honor at annual May Day celebrations of mine workers. Sings and speaks to the 20,000 gathered there and receives the Scottish Miners’ Lamp.
May 15, 1960
Speaks and sings at Ban The Bomb Rally, Trafalgar Square, London.
June 4, 1960
Performs concert, with the Birmingham Clarion Singers, at Town Hall, Birmingham, England.
October, 1960
Awarded honorary Doctor of Philosophy degree, for his “services in the great struggle for peace,” from Humboldt University, Berlin, honorary membership in the German Academy of Arts, German Democratic Republic, and the Order of the Star of International Friendship from the GDR government. (Foner)
October-November, 1960
Last concert tour takes him and his lifelong accompanist Lawrence Brown to Australia and New Zealand for ten weeks. Peace reception is given in his honor in Sydney. In speech entitled “The People Must, If Necessary, Impose the Peace,” at Melbourne Peace Conference, calls for complete disarmament and friendship among all peoples.
By invitation of the Building Workers’ Industrial Union, appears at the construction site of the Sydney Opera House, where he sings to the workers. In Wellington, since to striking dock workers and accepts honorary membership in their union. Throughout the tour, when speaking at events or to the press, always expresses his concern over the mistreatment of the Maoris in New Zealand and the aboriginal peoples in Australia.
1961
Is invited by President Kwame Nkrumah of Ghana to chair the music and drama departments at the University of Accra. While the State Department fails in its attempt to block the appointment, Robeson, although “delighted and honored” by the offer, must decline, due to ill health.
January-March, 1961
Appears on a series of BBC Radio broadcasts.
March 5, 1961
Sings at Royal Albert Hall, London, at a meeting to support the release of Jomo Kenyatta from prison in Kenya.
January, 1963
Paul Robeson Choir is established in German Democratic Republic.
August 27, 1963
Interviewed in London, in connection with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and the March on Washington; expressing his optimism for the coming changes, declares, “The turning point has come for the American Negro people.”
December 22, 1963
Arrives in New York after five and a half years’ absence from US. Asked by reporters at the airport if he would “take part in the civil rights program,” replies, “Yes, I’ve been part of it all my life.” The New York Times, without the slightest evidence, headlines story, “Disillusioned Native Son: Paul Robeson.” Other establishment newspapers print similar distortions.
May, 1964
Speaks to 30th Anniversary Celebration of ILWU, commemorating the 1934 General Strike in San Francisco.
August 27, 1964
Delivers eulogy at the funeral of his closest friend for forty years, Benjamin J. Davis, City Councilman from Harlem, 1944-46, and the first Black Communist to be elected to public office in the United States.
August 28, 1964
Having refused, over past 8 months, since return from abroad, to give any interviews, issues first public statement, exclusively to African American press, saying, in part, “While I must continue my temporary retirement from public life, I am, of course, deeply involved with the great upsurge of our people. Like all of you, my heart has been filled with admiration for the many thousands of Negro freedom fighters and their white associates who are waging the battle for civil rights throughout the country and especially in the South.” (Entire statement is reprinted in 1971 edition and later editions of Here I Stand.)
January 17, 1965
Delivers eulogy at funeral of friend and playwright Lorraine Hansberry.
April 10, 1965
Paul Robeson Archive is established at the Academy of Arts in Berlin, GDR. Dedication ceremony is one
of many events in an elaborate celebration lasting several days.
April 22, 1965
Freedomways magazine holds a celebration of Robeson’s 67th birthday at Hotel Americana in New York, attended by 2,500. Among the 60 illustrious sponsors and those paying tribute to him are James Baldwin, Ossie Davis, Ruby Dee, Earl Dickerson, Dizzy Gillespie, John Coltrane, Linus Pauling, Earl Robinson, Pete Seeger, Billy Taylor, I.F. Stone. John O. Killens speaks of Robeson as "the big daddy of all Negro artists. He taught us the meaning of freedom, that there is no price too high to pay for it." Keynote speaker John Lewis, Chair of Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee, says, in part, "We of SNCC are Paul Robeson's spiritual children. We, too, have rejected gradualism and moderation. We are also being
accused of radicalism, of communist infiltration." For reasons of ill health, this will be Robeson's last
public appearance.
May 15, 1965
Freedomways holds a second Robeson 67th birthday celebration, at the First Unitarian Church in Los Angeles.
June 4, 1965
“Salute to Paul Robeson” is held at Jack Tar Hotel, San Francisco, sponsored by The Sun
Reporter.
Winter, 1967
Who's Who in American History includes Robeson.
April, 1968
Celebrations of Robeson’s 70th birthday take place in many countries.
April 8, 1968
British Trade Unions hold 70th birthday tribute at Royal Festival Hall. Many old friends and luminaries paying tribute to Robeson include his two British Desdemonas, Peggy Ashcroft and Mary Ure, actors Peter O'Toole and Michael Redgrave; many others who can not attend but send messages include John Dankworth, John Gielgud, Yehudi Menuhin and Oliver Tambo, who will later become one of the top leaders of the African National Congress of South Africa.
April 9, 1968
·April 9, 1968 The Paul Robeson Archive, at the GDR Academy of Arts, holds gala celebration and exhibition in honor of Robeson's 70th birthday at the State Opera House, in Berlin. The commemoratory ceremony features Bernice Reagon, of "Sweet Honey in the Rock;" at a point in the program, the participants stand in silence for one minute out of respect for the memory of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
·FM radio station in New York broadcasts 2-hour tribute to Robeson, for his 70th birthday.
April 13, 1969
Meeting in tribute to Robeson for his 71st birthday is held in Chicago. He is unable to attend, due to illness.
February 14, 1970
Receives coveted Ira Aldridge Award from New York Chapter of the Association for the Study of Negro Life and History.
April 2, 1970
Rutgers University dedicates the Paul Robeson Music and Arts Lounge, in Student Center, on New Brunswick campus. Event is sponsored by the Eastern Region of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity.
September 20, 1970
Is cited by Black Academy of Arts and Letters for his “immeasurable contribution to our society.”
November, 1970
Black World magazine publishes “Paul Robeson: Black Star,” a tribute by C.L.R. James.
November 15, 1970
Is presented with Zhitlovsky Award by Zhitlovsky Foundation for Jewish Education. Award is accepted by Paul, Jr., at New York Hilton ceremonies.
November 29, 1970
Local 1199’s Martin Luther King Jr. Labor Center celebrates opening of new 15-story headquarters with cultural program entitled “A Tribute to Paul Robeson.” Participants include Ossie Davis, Ruby Dee, Pete Seeger, Mary Travers, Dizzy Gillespie. Two auditoriums are needed to accommodate huge audience.
December, 1970
Head football coach and president of Rutgers University criticize failure of National Football Foundation to select Robeson, twice All-American, for its Hall of Fame.
1971
· Detroit International Afro-American Museum holds Paul Robeson Exhibit.
· Canadian Broadcasting Company and a PBS station in New York air programs on his life.
April, 1971
· Entire first quarter issue of Freedomways is devoted to “Paul Robeson: The Great Forerunner.” Contains tributes, poems and articles by Gwendolyn Brooks, Lloyd L. Brown, Margaret Burroughs, Alice Childress, Ossie Davis, Shirley Graham Du Bois, Harry Edwards, Nikki Giovanni, Dick Gregory, Lena Horne, William L. Patterson, Sterling Stuckey, among others. Also includes selections from Robeson's speeches and writings.
· Local 1199, New York, holds 73rd birthday celebration, with many celebrities participating.
April 4-14, 1971
Huge multi-event 73rd birthday salute is held at the German Academy of Art, Berlin, GDR, including two-day symposium on his life, entitled “Paul Robeson and the Afro-American Struggle.” In tribute to Robeson’s work on the Council on African Affairs in the 1940s, Alex La Guma, South African scholar and writer, declares, “Until then, I believe, most Americans thought in terms of Edgar Rice Burroughs’ stories of Tarzan and the Apes whenever they heard the continent of Africa mentioned.” Other participants include William L. Patterson, Coretta Scott King, Angela Davis, John Henrik Clarke.
Spring, 1971
Columbia Records issues new recording, Paul Robeson Live in Performance.
September, 1971
Beacon Press, Boston, reprints Here I Stand, with preface by Lloyd Brown and new introduction by Sterling Stuckey.
November 6, 1971
Receives award as "Pioneer in Black Achievement" from the International Black Cultural and Business Exposition.
December 7, 1971
Dizzy Gillespie presents a “Tribute to Paul Robeson and Black Culture” in the Princeton University Chapel.
1972
Is selected for special honors, along with 32 other individuals, and the only African American, as a charter member of the National Theater Hall of Fame.
April, 1972
Du Sable Museum of African American History, Chicago, celebrates Robeson’s 74th birthday and designates April 9, his birthday, as the date for an annual cultural and benefit event for the museum.
April 9, 1972
New student center on Newark campus of Rutgers University is named in honor of Robeson, its most illustrious alumnus. In dedication speech, president of the University says, in part, “Today, after a period of neglect by this University of which I am ashamed, we return to Paul Robeson some small portion of that great honor he brought to us.”
May 3, 1972
Receives Black Psychiatrist Association’s Annual Award, citing him as “a model and inspiration” to Black youth.
August, 1972
Proclaimed by Ebony magazine one of “The Ten Greats of Black History,” along with Frederick Douglass, W.E.B. Du Bois, Martin Luther King, Jr., Malcolm X, Thurgood Marshall, Nat Turner, Booker T. Washington, Marcus Garvey, Richard Allen. Article states, in part, that Robeson “dedicated himself totally to the cause of the liberation of all oppressed people irrespective of color,” and that “no Black man has ever had more to give—or has given more—to his people than Robeson.”
August 6, 1972
Sunday Arts and Leisure section of New York Times features article entitled “Time to Break the Silence Surrounding Paul Robeson.”
September, 1972
Receives National Urban League’s 2nd annual Whitney M. Young Memorial Award.
October, 1972
Awarded the Duke Ellington Medal by Yale University.
November, 1972
Hollywood NAACP confers its Image Award on Robeson for his “eminence as an artist and a fighter for human justice.”
November 19, 1972
Is inducted into the Theatre Hall of Fame.
1973
Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity at Lincoln University, PA, establishes Paul Robeson Scholarship Fund.
February, 1973
Veterans of Abraham Lincoln Brigade, who fought against fascism in Spain, at celebration of their 36th anniversary, honor Robeson for his contributions to the cause of Spanish freedom.
February 4, 1973
Berkeley High School (Berkeley, CA) holds "A Tribute to Paul Robeson, A Black Man Ahead of His Time," a concert performed by bass Eugene Jones.
February 16, 1973
Freedomways magazine holds its Annual W.E.B. DuBois Cultural Evening in honor of Robeson.
April 5, 1973
“Birthday tribute to Paul Robeson: Singing out freedom all over the world,” article in The Morning Star, London, reports on 75th Birthday Rally, in London on March 11, attended by 3,000 and other tributes around the world.
April 8-14, 1973
Rutgers University holds week-long series of events in honor of 75th birthday and awards him Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters. Rutgers President Edward Bloustein, in presenting the award, states, "After a period of neglect, too long contributed to…by the University, we return to you, with this degree, some small portion of the great honor you have brought to us." Program is funded by the University and a $10,000 matching grant from the National Endowment for the Arts.
April 15, 1973
Over 3,000 pack Carnegie Hall for 75th birthday salute to Robeson and benefit to establish a Paul Robeson Archive in the US. (One had already been established in the GDR in
1968.) Program participants include former Attorney General Ramsey Clark, Pete Seeger, Angela Davis, Dolores Huerta, Dizzy Gillespie, Odetta, Leon Bibb, Sidney Poitier, Harry Belafonte (who also produced the show), James Earl Jones, Zero Mostel, Roscoe Lee Browne, Ossie Davis, Ruby Dee, Coretta Scott King; hundreds of others, unable to attend, send warm greetings. One such tribute, from then-Representative Andrew Young, states that had Robeson not "kept alive a legacy of hope through some of the darkest days of our history, our accomplishments in the 60s would not have been possible." Other messages of acknowledgement are received from President Julius K. Nyerere of Tanzania, President Michael Manley of Jamaica, President Cheddi Jagan of Guyana, President Kenneth Kaunda of Zambia,
Indira Gandhi, Arthur Ashe, Linus Pauling, Judge George W. Crockett,
Leonard Bernstein and the African National Congress. Too ill to attend, Robeson sends taped message which is played at event. In part, says, “Though I have not been able to be active for several years, I want you to know that I am the same Paul, dedicated as ever to the worldwide cause of humanity for freedom, peace and brotherhood.” (Foner)
April 16, 1973
“Salute to Paul Robeson” portrait and sculpture exhibition opens at Gallery 1199, of Drug and Hospital Workers’ Union, New York City.
May 2, 1973
The Guardian newspaper reports on the April 15 Carnegie Hall tribute to Robeson’s 75th birthday.
July, 1973
Black Sports Hall of Fame honors Robeson for his athletic achievements.
September, 1973
Emmy award given to Robeson series on National Educational TV.
October 21, 1973
New York Times Book Review publishes review of Here I Stand (Beacon Press, 1971), by noted Robeson scholar Sterling Stuckey, the first in any major commercial paper since the book’s first publication in 1958.
November 4-19, 1973
Rutgers University holds Robeson film exhibition.
1974
· University of Massachusetts holds lecture series in Robeson’s honor.
· Inducted into Black Filmmakers Hall of Fame at its founding ceremonies.
April, 1974
Public high school in East Berlin is named in Robeson’s honor.
June 1, 1974
Honored by Actors’ Equity Association as first recipient of annual award named for him, in “grateful recognition of his distinguished contributions to the performing arts and for his commitment to the struggle for a decent world.” Message accepting award is his last public statement. (Foner)
June 3, 1974
Awarded Honorary Doctor of Law by Lincoln University, Pennsylvania, the first Black college in the US and his father's alma mater.
December, 1974
Harper & Row publishes Paul Robeson: The Life and Times of A Free Black Man, by Virginia Hamilton, written for ages 12 and up. On December 22, a New York Times review calls the book “a vivid chronicle of dignity and determination with which all young people can identify.”
1975
· The Afrikan History Clubs of McFarland Elementary School, Detroit, publishes large pamphlet, Salute to Paul Robeson: A Tribute to a Forgotten Freedom Fighter, to be used as curriculum.
· Dr. Charles Wright, founder of the African American Museum of Detroit, publishes book, Paul Robeson: Labor’s Forgotten Champion.
January 17-19, 1975
Paul Robeson Film Festival is held in San Francisco, sponsored by The African-American Historical and Cultural Society.
June 19, 1975
Congressional Black Caucus gives Robeson its Special Award of Merit.
December, 1975
Alpha Phi Alpha National Fraternity establishes Paul Robeson Humanitarian Award.
December 28, 1975
Admitted to Presbyterian Medical Center in Philadelphia after mild stroke. Condition grows more serious daily.
January 23, 1976
After more than a decade of deteriorating health and periods of inactivity, passes away, at age of 77.
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