Paul Robeson was a famous African-American athlete, singer, actor, and advocate for the civil rights of people around the world. He rose to prominence in a time when segregation was legal in the United States, and Black people were being lynched by racist mobs, especially in the South.

The son of a runaway slave, Robeson attended Rutgers College in New Brunswick on an academic scholarship, becoming the university's third black student and its first black football player. At Rutgers, "Robey" - as he was known at school - showed his prowess on the athletic field as well as in the classroom.

He became increasingly well-known for his rendition of the song “Ol' Man River.” His most notable film roles were in Body and Soul (1925) and Show Boat (1936). Robeson was also involved in politics, receiving the 1953 Stalin Peace Prize for openly supporting the Soviet Union.

Paul Leroy Robeson, Class of 1919 Valedictorian.

Robeson's travels opened his awareness to the universality of human suffering and oppression. He began to use his rich bass voice to speak out for independence, freedom, and equality for all people. He believed that artists should use their talents and exposure to aid causes around the world.

Robeson believed that the struggle against fascism during the Spanish Civil War was a turning point in his life and transformed him into a political activist. In 1937, he used his concert performances to advocate the Republican cause and the war's refugees.

Robeson's travels opened his awareness to the universality of human suffering and oppression. He began to use his rich bass voice to speak out for independence, freedom, and equality for all people. He believed that artists should use their talents and exposure to aid causes around the world.

Robeson was labeled a psychopath - the word came into common use in the post-war era - because his views on the Spanish Civil War, labor, segregation, colonialism, and other issues were considered “un-American.” The immediate cause of Robeson's downfall was what he purportedly said at the 1949 Paris Peace Conference: that ...

Alexander Lucius Twilight 1823: Alexander Lucius Twilight becomes the first known African American to graduate from a college in the United States. He received a bachelor's degree from Middlebury College in Vermont. 1826: Edward Jones graduates from Amherst College. Jones is believed to be the second African American to earn a college degree.

Alexander Lucius Twilight In 1799, Washington and Lee University admitted John Chavis who is noted as the first African American on record to attend college. However, the first African American to have earned a bachelor's degree from an American university, Alexander Lucius Twilight, graduated from Middlebury College in 1823.

Truman pledged that the United States would help any nation resist communism in order to prevent its spread. His policy of containment is known as the Truman Doctrine.

I sent a message to the Bandung Conference and so forth. That is why I am here. This is the basis, and I am not being tried for whether I am a Communist, I am being tried for fighting for the rights of my people, who are still second-class citizens in this United States of America.