Paul Robeson (159 page)

32
.
Ebony
, Oct. 1957; transcript of the Oct. 2, 1957, NBC program is in RA. In response to a question about whether Robeson was ill, Rowan said, “I noticed no signs of physical illness when I interviewed him.” George Murphy. Jr., to ER, n.d. (1957); in a letter to his brother Carl, Murphy characterized the Rowan piece more moderately (GM, Jr., to CM, Sept. 30, 1957, MSRC: Murphy). In a long letter to
Ebony
, Essie expressed gratification that “the Negro press has taken the inititaive in raising the Curtain of Silence with which official America has tried for seven years to cut Paul Robeson off from the American public” (ER to
Ebony
, Sept. 16, 1957, RA).

33
. ER to Peggy Middleton and Cedric Belfrage, Feb. 5, 1958, RA; ER to George Murphy, Jr., Feb. 28, 1958, MSRC: Murphy.
Equity
, June 1958, has selections from the debate over the Robeson resolution; the resolution was not, however, passed by the Equity Council, to which it was automatically sent (
The New York Times
, New York
Herald Tribune
, April 1, 10, 1958). Nat Hentoff sat in on one of the Vanguard recording sessions and wrote a piece about it (
The Reporter
, April 17, 1958) in which he quoted the “grinning” president of Vanguard, Maynard Solomon, as saying, “It's a real schmaltzy album.”

34
. The correspondence between Peggy Middleton and Essie, in RA, is full of details of the birthday celebrations; additionally, Middleton's correspondence with “Schlicting” (G. F. Alexan) in the GDR, copies of which are in RA, and Alexan's with PR, are particularly rich in information about the East European celebrations. Also useful has been Akira Iwasaki to PR, March 16, 1958; ER to Iwasaki, March 30, 1958; L. Kislova to PR, April 19, 1958—all in RA; FBI Main 100-12304-490 (Port-au-Prince). RA also has a bulky collection of messages of greeting to PR from around the world, including one from Soong Ching-ling (Madame Sun Yat-sen), March 31, 1958. Earl Robinson (interview, Aug. 1986) said the GDR paid him ten thousand dollars to make the film on Robeson. PR himself was in Chicago on the actual day of his birthday and celebrated at a public party for him in the Masonic Temple.

35
. A copy of Nehru's widely publicized statement is in RA, dated March 6, 1958.
The New York Times
announced it on March 21, then in its edition of April 9 headlined “Nehru Soft Pedals Words on Robeson.” The New York
Post
, among other publications, characterized the Indian celebration as run by “Indian Communists” (March 25, 1958), and
Blitz
(London) reported the diplomatic flurry (April 12, 1958).

36
. The full packet of Indian press clippings and pertinent State Department documents are in RA and too numerous to cite. The critical documents are: Bunker telegram to Dulles, March 26, 1958; Chargé Turner to State, telegram, March 20, 1958; Department of State memoir of talk with Mehta, March 21, 1958; Bunker to Dulles, telegram, March 22, 1958; Dulles to Bunker, telegram, March 24, 1958. A stirring defense of PR by Chagla is in
Blitz
, April 19, 1958.

37
. ER to Nehru, March 31, 1958; ER to Indira Gandhi, March 31, 1958 (RA). Details on the celebrations in India are in the Delhi
Times of India
, May 10, 1958; The Hindustan
Times
, April 7, 1958;
National Herald
, April 10, 1958; The Hindu
Weekly Review
, April 14, 1958. Turner reported to Dulles that Alub D. Gorwala had suggested to him that “Nehru's backing this movement stems from Lady Mountbatten who is admirer of Robeson” (telegram, March 21, 1958, 791.-001/3-2058); for the earlier contact between Mountbatten and PR, see pp. 160–61. In an untaped interview granted me, PR, Jr., and Marilyn Robeson in Aug. 1982, Indira Gandhi expressed anger at the attempted interference of the American authorities in the celebration and confirmed that her father, for diplomatic reasons, had stayed aloof from the detailed planning after issuing his initial statement. Late in her life Indira Gandhi
described PR as “a remarkable man. It is tragic that his country tried to denigrate and belittle him” (Gandhi to Marie Seton, Aug. 22, 1982, courtesy of Seton).

38
.
The Afro-American
, May 17, 1958;
National Guardian
, May 19, 1958; New York
World-Telegram
, May 10, 1958 (“lost glow”); New York
Herald Tribune, The New York Times
, May 10, 1958; New York
Post
, May 11, 1958; New York
Amsterdam News
, May 17, 1958;
Newsweek
(the sourest review), May 19, 1958;
DownBeat
, May 29, 1958 (“vigor”);
The Saturday Review
, May 24, 1958. The latter review, by the respected Irving Kolodin, chided PR for announcing the “basic musicological truth” about the affinity between the different folk musics of the world as if it was “a revelation”—aided by his “histrionic talent for vivifying a commonplace by an inflection of speech, a thrust of head.…” The FBI tapped a phone conversation with Ben Davis in which PR spoke of “new vistas” (FBI Main 100-12304-? [illegible], May 26, 1958). The second concert is described in an interview with Marvel Cook (who helped distribute the tickets) by Mike Wallington and Howard Johnson for their 1986 BBC program on Robeson (tapes courtesy of Wallington and Johnson); interview with Edith Tiger, June 17, 1985. The tape of the concert at Mother A.M.E. Zion is in RA. George Murphy, Jr., played a key role in arranging the A.M.E. Zion concert (GM, Jr., to Ben Robeson, March 3, 1958, MSRC: Murphy).

39
. FBI Main 100-12304-516, 524; ER to Paul Endicott, June 19, 1958, RA;
Daily Worker
, June 28, 1958; interview with Leonard Boudin.July 14, 1982;
New York Times
, June 17, 27, 1958;
National Guardian
, June 23, 1958;
The Afro-American
, May 31, 1958; ER to Glen Byam Shaw, June 30, 1958, RA. Corliss Lamont, who, unlike PR, had been at liberty to travel in the Western Hemisphere, got his passport back at the same time. Originally passports had been denied both men on the ground that their travel was contrary to the “best interests” of the nation. Later the ground was shifted to stress their refusal to sign “non-Communist” affidavits, a rationale entirely removed as a result of the court's denial that the State Department had a right to inquire into the political beliefs or associations of those applying for passports. The court did not, however, give a definitive ruling on the constitutional question of whether
Congress
had the right to withhold passports on the basis of an applicant's politics. As a result, there was an immediate move, spearheaded by President Eisenhower himself, to pass explicit enabling legislation. On July 7, 1958, Eisenhower asked Congress to give the government “clear statutory authority” to refuse passports to known Communists and to those subject to CP domination, claiming it was “essential” that the Secretary of State have such authority to maintain “national security.” Eisenhower stressed the “urgency” of the matter: “each day and week that passes without it exposes us to great danger.” A bill embodying the President's wishes was immediately introduced in both the House and the Senate. (
The New York Times
came out editorially against such a bill [July 8, 9, 1958]; the New York
Herald-Tribune
came out for it [June 18, July 9, 1958].) Eisenhower's call for speed prompted a sardonic editorial in the Washington edition of
The Afro-American
(July 12, 1958): he “proved again this week that his advocacy of patience is a commodity which he reserves especially for a minority clamoring for civil rights.… Eisenhower does not think that it is important to rush matters where the interests of colored citizens are concerned.…”

40
. Shaw telegram to PR, June 28, 1958; Patrick O'Donovan to PR, June 28, 1958 (
The Observer
); Neruda to PR, July 1958; Alexan to Middleton, July 6, 1958; Iwasaki to PR, July 2, 1958; ER to Shaw, June 30, 1958; ER to Indira Gandhi, June 30, 1958—all in RA. Multiple interviews with Freda Diamond (“applause”). Not wanting to cause Nehru any political embarrassment, ER wrote Indira Gandhi, in regard to a visit to India, “You are to be absolutely frank with me, because we want to become, wherever it is possible, a
UNIFYING
force, not in any way a divisive or controversial force. We women have to by pass diplomatic nonsense and be practical.” After the Robesons were settled
in London in July, Indira Gandhi arrived in England for a visit and asked Essie to meet her at the airport and “had a good talk”; it was apparently at that time that Mrs. Gandhi okayed a visit to India (ER to Freda Diamond, July 22–27, 1958, RA). To a Soviet friend (Mrs. Kislova), ER wrote (June 30, 1958, RA) that Paul thought probably the first thing he would want to do on a visit to the Soviet Union would be “something with the Soviet children, who have sent him so many letters of love and encouragement.…” According to an FBI report—based apparently on a phone tap—PR called the passport decision “an important political victory” and called the offers coming in from overseas “fantastic” (FBI New York 100-25857-3842).

41
. Interview with James Aronson, May 31, 1983.

42
. Essie's two pages of notes are in RA.

43
.
Daily Mail
, June 28, 1958; Pitts burgh
Courier
, July 5, 1958;
World-Telegram and Sun
, July 9, 1958 (Ruark).

CHAPTER
23
RETURN TO EUROPE
(1958–1960)

1
. Interviews with Cedric Belfrage (May 19, 1984) and Harry Francis (Aug. 1982);
National Guardian
, July 21, 1958; West Indian
Gazette
, Aug. 1958;
Sunday Times
, July 13, 1958;
News Chronicle
, July 12, 1958;
Reynolds News
, July 13, 1958;
Daily Mail
, July 12, 1958;
Daily Sketch
, July 12, 1958. In its welcoming issue of July 11, 1958, the
Daily Worker
printed greetings to PR from, among others, the bandleader Johnny Dankworth, the actor Bernard Miles, and Dame Sybil Thorndike (“We welcome him to England with all our hearts and wish him a triumphal success once more”).

2
.
Daily Express
, July 6, 1958;
News Chronicle
, July 12, 1958 (“most remarkable”);
Daily Sketch
, July 12, 1958 (“royal personage”);
Reynolds News
, July 13, 1958 (Driberg); New York
Herald Tribune
, July 14, 1958; interviews with Cedric Belfrage (May 29, 1984) and Harry Francis (Aug. 1982). Both dailies quoted Robeson as making the same later statement, thereby increasing the likelihood that it was reported accurately (Edinburgh
Evening News, The Bulletin
, both Nov. 10, 1958). Bernard Levin, the highly regarded critic, chided PR for constantly saying people of color were “walking in freedom” in the Soviet Union: “In the Soviet Union no man, whatever his colour, can walk or carry out his task freely” (
The Spectator
, Aug. 29, 1958).

3
. James Aronson, “Notes on a Reunion,”
National Guardian
, Aug. 25, 1958; interview with Aronson, May 31, 1983.

4
. A typed schedule of PR's appearances is in RA; the many letters of invitation from organizations, ambassadors, and friends are also in RA. The
Daily Telegraph
(July 14, 1958) reported that PR's ITV fee was “believed to be the largest ever paid to an American performer for three appearances.” The Nigerian dinner is described in a report from AmConGen, Lagos, to State Department, July 30, 1958. Nigerian Premier Azikiwe himself wrote PR (Aug. 23, 1958, RA) to welcome him to London.

5
. PR, Jr., interview with Bruno Raikin, Sept. 8, 1982; interview with Alan Bush (PR, Jr., participating), Sept. 3, 1982; ER to Brown, Aug. 6, 1958; ER (with appended PR note) to Freda Diamond, July 22–27, 1958, RA; London
Times
, July 28, 1958; also
Variety
, Aug. 6, 1958;
Sunday Dispatch
, July 27, 1958;
The Stage
, July 31, 1958. Soon after his television debut, PR sang at the National Eisteddfod of Wales. Introduced by Aneurin Bevan and his wife, Jennie Lee, Robeson was given a rousing, heartwarming reception by the miners and their families. Though the reunion was emotional, Rachel Thomas, who had appeared with him in
The Proud Valley
, did not think he was in particularly good voice (Sterner interview with Thomas).

6
. Larry Brown had apparently answered the call to London reluctantly (Rockmore to LB, Aug. 4, 8, Sept. 17, 1958; Marie Dokens to LB, Aug. 6, 1958, NYPL/Schm: Brown), and once he arrived was apparently as nervous about the concert as PR (ER to Lloyd Brown,
Aug. 6, 1958, RA). While in London, Brown negotiated with Dennis Dobson for a “Paul Robeson Song Book,” which never saw print, though the projected table of contents can be found in Dobson to Brown, Aug. 14, 1958, NYPL/Schm: Brown. LB stayed with the Robesons for a while when he first arrived in London. PR, Jr., interview with Raikin, Sept. 8, 1982;
Telegraph and Morning Post, News Chronicle
, London
Times, Evening News, Daily Mail
—all Aug. 11, 1958;
News Chronicle
, Aug. 14, 1958 (backstage with Belafonte). Beaverbrook's
Daily Express
printed a savagely negative review (Aug. 11, 1958): “… a sad shock … dull and monotonous”;
Reynolds News
, Aug. 19, 1958; also
Daily Mirror
, July 12, 1958;
National Guardian
, Aug. 25, 1958 (Belafonte). Yet, the following year, in the
Herald
(Dec. 19, 1959), Belafonte is quoted as saying, “I disagree violently with Paul Robeson. He's always giving out with that stuff about ‘the Africans are on the march.' He makes me think sometimes that his influence might start a Negro movement that could get out of hand. And he would regret that.”

7
. Along with an official “Moscow tour” schedule, there is a ten-page typed itinerary, with comments by Essie, in RA. The opening-day reception is described in the Moscow
News
, Aug. 16, 20, 1958; the
Daily Worker
, Aug. 16, 18, 1958; the
Daily Telegraph and Morning Post
(London), Aug. 16, 1958. ER to family, completed Aug. 31, 1959; this letter and several others were found in duplicate in CIA files, proof that the Robesons' mail was intercepted.