This week on From the Vault we conclude Black History Month with a historic look at one of the most courageous superstars of the 20th Century, Paul Robeson. As we culled our archives, we found a vintage 1969 tribute by Pacifica station WBAI to Paul Robeson, produced by Kay Lindsay and Charles Hobson on the occasion of Mr. Robeson’s 70th birthday. With this 1969 tribute and the classic 1958 in studio interview with KPFA’s Elsa Knight Thompson we trace his life from his 1939 epic recording of Ballad for Americans to his last major public appearance in 1965. Along the way, we’ll hear Robeson comment on the 1956 Presidential election with Republican Dwight Eisenhower paired against Democrat Adelai Stevenson, and Paul Robeson performing for and with the Treorchy Male Choir of Wales in Berkeley California in 1958, among other historic, newly ‘discovered’ audio from Pacifica Radio Archives.
From the Vault is presented as part of the Pacifica Radio Archives Preservation and Access Project.
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