Paul and Eslanda Robeson

Background:

Paul Robeson was one of the most popular entertainers of the 1930's and 40's and one of the best known and most popular African-Americans in the public spotlight. Born in Princeton, New Jersey in 1898 and inspired by his father, an escaped slave turned pastor, Robeson received a scholarship to Rutgers College (now Rutgers University) and graduated as their valedictorian, Phi Beta Kappa, and an All-American in football. He earned a law degree from Columbia University and played professional football on weekends to pay the bills. He worked as a lawyer only briefly, and with the encouragement of his wife Eslanda, whom he met and married while at Columbia, he began his stage career. He performed in such broadway shows as Othello and Showboat and in four films, including the film version of Showboat, but his greatest fame came as a singer when he began giving solo performances in 1925. His music became a vehicle for his message to break the barriers of race. He was a civil rights activist his entire life, learning to speak more than 20 languages in order to help break racial barriers. By his death in 1976 of a stroke he had been awarded with over 15 awards for both activism and music, and honorary degrees from six universities.

The File:

Paul Robeson was not just a civil rights activist, musician, lawyer, athlete, and performer. He and his wife Eslanda were also whole hearted supporters of the Soviet Union and communism. Due to their political affiliations, the FBI were in almost constant surveillance of the pair for three decades. This extensive file contains the documentation of FBI monitoring of the pair from the 1940's until the 1960's. This file is exceptionally large, containing over 3,000 pages of documentation, and follows their activities both inside and outside the United States.