Paul Robeson, 1952 Since he first performed here in the 1940s, African American singer Paul Robeson was popular with Vancouver audiences. His pro-Soviet views & civil rights activism, however, made him a target of the McCarthy-era red scare. The US government revoked Robeson’s passport and refused to allow him to come to Vancouver for a scheduled appearance at the February 1952 convention of the Mine, Mill, & Smelter Workers Union. Robeson gave a twenty-minute performance anyway, albeit over the telephone from Seattle. Organizers announced that a real concert would be held later that spring at the Peace Arch border crossing. The concert went ahead on 18 May 1952. Paul Robeson sang on the back of a flatbed truck to as many as 40,000 people (including numerous undercover FBI and RCMP operatives) on both sides of the border. The union made an audio recording that was released on vinyl as I Came To Sing. According to declassified FBI documents, the G-Men filmed the concert, but with their camera pointed at audience members rather than the main attraction. The blacklisting of Paul Robeson put a serious damper on the career of a major talent and ultimately ruined his health. Besides being an incredible singer, Robeson held a law degree, spoke numerous languages, and was an accomplished athlete and famous actor. But his most durable legacy no doubt stems from his refusal to compromise his political beliefs during one of the most repressive periods in American history, and in so doing inspired the generation that fought and won the major civil rights battles of the later 1950s and 60s.   Sources: Top: Cover of I Came to Sing, a recording of the Peace Arch concert, from “A History of Folk Music in English Canada”; bottom: Confidential FBI intelligence summary from “Paul Robeson, Sr., 9 of 31,” FBI Vault
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Paul Robeson, 1952

Since he first performed here in the 1940s, African American singer Paul Robeson was popular with Vancouver audiences. His pro-Soviet views & civil rights activism, however, made him a target of the McCarthy-era red scare.

The US government revoked Robeson’s passport and refused to allow him to come to Vancouver for a scheduled appearance at the February 1952 convention of the Mine, Mill, & Smelter Workers Union. Robeson gave a twenty-minute performance anyway, albeit over the telephone from Seattle. Organizers announced that a real concert would be held later that spring at the Peace Arch border crossing.

The concert went ahead on 18 May 1952. Paul Robeson sang on the back of a flatbed truck to as many as 40,000 people (including numerous undercover FBI and RCMP operatives) on both sides of the border. The union made an audio recording that was released on vinyl as I Came To Sing. According to declassified FBI documents, the G-Men filmed the concert, but with their camera pointed at audience members rather than the main attraction.

The blacklisting of Paul Robeson put a serious damper on the career of a major talent and ultimately ruined his health. Besides being an incredible singer, Robeson held a law degree, spoke numerous languages, and was an accomplished athlete and famous actor. But his most durable legacy no doubt stems from his refusal to compromise his political beliefs during one of the most repressive periods in American history, and in so doing inspired the generation that fought and won the major civil rights battles of the later 1950s and 60s.  

Sources: Top: Cover of I Came to Sing, a recording of the Peace Arch concert, from “A History of Folk Music in English Canada”; bottom: Confidential FBI intelligence summary from “Paul Robeson, Sr., 9 of 31,” FBI Vault

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