ESTEEMED AUTHOR/HISTORIAN PAUL ROBESON, JR. DIES April 27, 2014 / New York, NY Paul Robeson, Jr., highly regarded author/lecturer, and son of late singer/activist Paul Leroy Robeson died yesterday in Jersey City, NJ. He was 86. The cause of death was lymphoma, his wife, Marilyn, said. Paul Robeson, Jr., the only child of Paul and Eslanda Robeson was born in Brooklyn, NY on November 2, 1927. As a child in the 1930s, Mr. Robeson lived and travelled in Europe with his parents, attending school in London and Moscow, and became fluent in German and Russian. After living in New York City, for over 60 years, he moved to Jersey City, NJ in 2009 where he resided with his wife of almost 65 years, Marilyn Paula Greenberg Robeson, until his death. Their son, David Paul Robeson is deceased. He is survived by his wife, Marilyn Robeson; daughter Susan Robeson, a producer, author and consultant; and grandson Emanuel Quintero. He served as personal aide to his father for over 20 years and has been a civil rights activist since the 1940s. Since his father’s death in 1976, Paul Robeson, Jr. was the owner and archivist of the extensive Paul Robeson and Eslanda Robeson Collections. Mr. Robeson attended Cornell University where he excelled in football and track and field and was a member of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity. He graduated in 1949 with a degree in electrical engineering. After working as translator and publisher of Russian scientific journals for 25 years, he has, since 1980, been an author, journalist and consultant. In addition to lecturing on his father’s legacy, he spoke extensively on American and Russian society, Black culture and politics, cultural diversity, and world geopolitics in the corporate, not-for-profit, and academic arenas. He has written articles for a variety of periodicals and newspapers on topics ranging from Black-Jewish relations to the resurgence of a new Confederacy under the banner of the Republican Party, in addition to appearing on numerous radio and TV programs. During the McCarthy period, he was instrumental in establishing Othello Records since none of the major record companies would consider producing Paul Robeson albums. He recorded and edited many of the songs on these independent releases. He has been the primary consultant for several documentary films on his father, including the two- hour documentary for the PBS series American Masters, Paul Robeson: Here I Stand which continues to be shown nationally on public television. Utilizing the materials in the Robeson Collections, he organized, under the sponsorship of The Paul Robeson Foundation, several major traveling exhibitions for his father’s 1998 Centennial Year celebrations. In addition to the New York Historical Society and other national venues, the exhibitions traveled to Wales and London, England. He has co-produced several major tributes to his father over the past 30 years at major cultural venues including Carnegie Hall, Avery Fisher Hall, and the New Jersey Performing Arts Center. The first, at Carnegie Hall in 1972, was co-produced with Harry Belafonte who was instrumental in helping to launch the Paul Robeson Archives. Mr. Robeson has authored a two-volume biography on his father, The Undiscovered Paul Robeson: An Artist’s Journey, 1898-1939 and The Undiscovered Paul Robeson: Quest For Freedom, 1939-1976, published by John Wiley & Sons in 2001 and 2009. The first volume was selected as a finalist for the Hurston/Wright Legacy Award. He also wrote Paul Robeson, Jr. Speaks to America: The Politics of Multiculturalism, published in 1993 by Rutgers University Press and A Black Way of Seeing: From “Liberty” to Freedom, published by Seven Stories Press in 2006. Mr. Robeson was the Executive Director of the Paul Robeson Foundation whose mission is to collect, preserve and promote the legacy of Paul Robeson, drawing on the approximately 50,000 items contained in the Robeson Collections. Utilizing today’s cutting-edge digital technology Mr. Robeson guided and oversaw the creation of The Paul Robeson Legacy Digital Archive, which will include 800 hours of film, concerts and public appearances in addition to vast amounts of photographs, correspondence, writings and memorabilia. This interactive database will secure the Robeson legacy in the 21st century and beyond. In the last years of his life, Mr. Robeson entrusted his daughter, Susan Robeson, with overseeing and managing the Paul and Eslanda Robeson Collections and preserving the Robeson legacy. ### Contact: Ken Sunshine – Sunshine Sachs, (212) 691-2800 Jason Lee – Sunshine Sachs, (212) 691-2800, lee@sunshinesachs
Posted on: Wed, 30 Apr 2014 14:59:54 +0000
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