Peekskill riots
The Peekskill riots took place at
Paul Robeson's remarks in Paris, 1949
Robeson had given three earlier concerts in Peekskill without incident, but in the years leading up to the riots, Robeson had been increasingly vocal against the
We in America do not forget that it was the backs of white workers from Europe and on the backs of millions of blacks that the wealth of America was built. And we are resolved to share it equally. We reject any hysterical raving that urges us to make war on anyone. Our will to fight for peace is strong.... We shall support peace and friendship among all nations, with Soviet Russia and the People's Republics.[4][5]
What came over the wires to news agencies via the AP in the United States was as follows,
We colonial peoples have contributed to the building of the United States and are determined to share its wealth. We denounce the policy of the United States government which is similar to Hitler and Goebbels.... It is unthinkable that American Negros would go to war on behalf of those who have oppressed us for generations against the Soviet Union which in one generation has lifted our people to full human dignity.[6]
Later examination of time records showed that the AP dispatched this fabricated version on its wires as Robeson began speaking.
First concert
The concert, organized as a benefit for the Civil Rights Congress, was scheduled to take place on August 27 in Lakeland Acres, just north of Peekskill. Before Robeson arrived, a mob of locals attacked concert-goers with baseball bats and rocks. The local police arrived hours later and did little to intervene. Thirteen people were seriously injured, Robeson was lynched in effigy, and a cross was seen burning on an adjacent hillside. The concert was then postponed until September 4.[10] Following the concert, request for Klan memberships from the Peekskill area numbered 748 persons.[11]
Robeson's longtime friend and Peekskill resident, Helen Rosen, who had agreed to collect Robeson at the train station, had heard on the radio that protesters were massing at the concert grounds. Robeson drove with Rosen and two others to the concert site and saw marauding groups of youngsters, a burning cross on a nearby hill and a jeering crowd throwing rocks and chanting "Dirty Commie" and "Dirty Kikes."[12] Robeson made more than one attempt to get out of the car and confront the mob but was restrained by his friends.[13]
The media were flooded with reactions and charges. The Joint Veterans Council of Peekskill refused to admit any involvement, describing its activities as a "protest parade...held without disorder and...perfectly disbanded." Peekskill police officials said the picnic grounds had been outside their jurisdiction;[13] a state police spokesman said there had never been a request for state troopers. The commander of Peekskill Post 274 of the American Legion stated: "Our objective was to prevent the Paul Robeson concert and I think our objective was reached."[14]
Meetings to protest the first riot
Following a meeting of local citizens, union members, and Robeson supporters who formed The Westchester Committee for Law and Order, it unanimously was determined that Robeson should be invited back to perform at Peekskill. Representatives from various left wing unions - the
I will be loyal to America of true traditions; to the America of the
abolitionists, of Harriet Tubman, of Thaddeus Stevens, of those who fought for my people's freedom, not of those who tried to enslave them. And I will have no loyalty to the Forrestals, to the Harrimans, to the WallStreeters... the surest way to get police protection is to have it very clear that we'll protect ourselves, and good!... I'll be back with my friends in Peekskill...[15]
Second concert
The rescheduled September 4, 1949 concert was free from violence, but marred by the presence of a police helicopter overhead and the flushing out of at least one sniper's nest. The concert was located on the grounds of the old Hollow Brook Golf Course in
Setlist
- Sylvia Kahn: "The Star-Spangled Banner"[16][17]
- Piano performances by Ravel[20]
- Singing by soprano Hope Foye[21]
- Paul Robeson: "Go Down Moses", the English ballad "No John No", and "Farewell, My Son, I'm Dying" («Прощай, мой сын, умираю...», Proshchay, moy syn, umirayu...), the final aria from Boris Godunov[20]
- Appeal for funds[20]
- Paul Robeson: Seven other songs,Negro spirituals ending with "Ol' Man River"[20]
Robeson's accompaniment was provided by Larry Brown.[24]
Aftermath
The aftermath of the concert, however, was far from peaceful. After some violence to south-going buses near the intersection of Locust Avenue and Hillside Avenue,[25] Hillside Avenue having since been renamed Oregon Road,[26] concertgoers were diverted to head northward to Oregon Corners and forced to run a gauntlet miles long of veterans and their families, who threw rocks through windshields of the cars and buses. Much of the violence was also caused by anti-Communist members of local Veterans of Foreign Wars and American Legion chapters.[27] Standing off the angry mob of rioters chanting "go on back to Russia, you niggers" and "white niggers", some of the concertgoers and union members, along with writer Howard Fast and others assembled a non-violent line of resistance, locked arms, and sang the song "We Shall Not Be Moved." Some people were reportedly dragged from their vehicles and beaten. Over 140 people were injured and numerous vehicles were severely damaged as police stood by.[28] 41°19′36.75″N 73°52′54.52″W / 41.3268750°N 73.8818111°W
- Pete Seeger and Woody Guthrie
One car carried Woody Guthrie, Lee Hays, Pete Seeger, Seeger's wife Toshi, and his infant children. Guthrie pinned a shirt to the inside of the window to stop it shattering. "Wouldn't you know it, Woody pinned up a red shirt," Hays was to remember.[29] Seeger used some of the thrown rocks to build the chimney of his cabin in the Town of Fishkill, New York, to stand as a reminder of the incident.[30]
- Eugene Bullard
Protests afterwards
Following the riots, more than 300 people went to Albany, New York to express their indignation to Governor
Reactions in the U.S. House of Representatives
Following the Peekskill riots, Democratic House Representative
Aftermath
Within a few days, hundreds of editorials and letters appeared in newspapers across the nation and abroad by prominent individuals, organizations, trade unions, churches and others. They condemned the attacks and the failure of Governor Dewey and the State Police to protect the lives and property of citizens as well as called for a full investigation of the violence and prosecution of the perpetrators. Despite condemnation from progressives and civil rights activists, the mainstream press and local officials overwhelmingly blamed Robeson and his fans for "provoking" the violence. Following the Peekskill riots, other cities became fearful of similar incidents, and over 80 scheduled concert dates of Robeson's were canceled.[27]
On September 12, 1949, in response to Robeson's controversial status in the press and leftist affiliations, the National Maritime Union convention considered a motion that Robeson's name be removed from the union's honorary membership list. The motion was withdrawn for lack of support among members. Later that month, the All-China Art and Literature Workers' Association and All-China Association of Musicians of Liberated China protested the Peekskill attack on Robeson. On October 2, 1949, Robeson spoke at a luncheon for the National Labor Conference for Peace, Ashland Auditorium, Chicago, and referred to the riots.
Legacy and reconciliation ceremonies
In recent years, Westchester County has gone to great lengths to make amends to the survivors of the riots by holding a commemorative ceremony, at which an apology was made for their treatment. In September 1999, county officials held a "Remembrance and Reconciliation Ceremony, 50th anniversary commemoration of the 1949 Peekskill riots." It included speakers Paul Robeson, Jr., folk singer Peter Seeger and several local elected officials.[36]
The Peekskill riots in fiction
- The Peekskill riots appear in Julius Rosenberg) leaves the bus to reason with the mob, and is beaten up by them.
- The riots figure prominently in T.C. Boyle's World's End. The protagonist's adoptive parents serve as local, assistant organizers of the concert (alias of "Peterskill" riots within the book).
- In George Mandel's Flee the Angry Strangers, published in 1952, there is brief mention of the riots.
- In Ring Lardner Jr.'s The Ecstasy of Owen Muir (1954), there is an extensive segment concerning the incidents at Peekskill.
The Peekskill riots in recording and film
This section needs additional citations for verification. (September 2018) |
- Song: "Hold the Line" by Pete Seeger and The Weavers[37][38]
- Song: "Let Robeson Sing" by Manic Street Preachers
- Song: "My Thirty Thousand" by Woody Guthrie, later recorded by Billy Bragg and Wilco
- Song: "Three Chords and The Truth" written and recorded by Ry Cooder
- Song: ”The Peekskill Story”(Casetta/Hayes/Seeger) The Weavers with Howard Fast and Pete Seeger
- Song: "Gotta Get To Peekskill" by Dropkick Murphy's
- Radio: NPR's 50th anniversary commemoration of Peekskill riots
- Radio: The Peekskill Riots, Maryknoll Sisters radio documentary[permanent dead link]
- Radio: NBC Radio Interviews
- Video: The Robeson Concerts
- Video: Paul Robeson: Here I Stand, PBS American Masters
- Video: Paul Robeson: Speak of Me As I Am BBC
- Film: Joe Glory
- Film: Paul Robeson: The Tallest Tree in Our Forest
- Film: Paul Robeson: Portrait of an Artist
See also
References
- ^ Ford, Carin T. Paul Robeson: I Want to Make Freedom Ring, p. 97 Chapter 9 2008.
- ^ Ford, Carin T. Paul Robeson: I Want to Make Freedom Ring, p. 98 Chapter 9 2008.
- ^ Robeson, Susan The Whole World in His Hands: A Pictorial Biography of Paul Robeson Chapter 5, The Politics of Persecution, p. 180
- ^ Robeson, Paul The undiscovered Paul Robeson: quest for freedom, 1939–1976, pp. 142–143 2010
- ^ "Phillip S Foner, Paul Robeson Speaks, selected speeches and writings, 1978, p. 197"
- ^ Robeson, Paul The undiscovered Paul Robeson: quest for freedom, 1939–1976, p. 143 2010]
- ^ Seton, Marie. Paul Robeson, 1958, p. 179
- ^ Pages From History: Paul Robeson and the Paris Peace Conference of 1949 http://www.zikkir.com/index/188568 retrieved November 17, 2010: "What's fascinating about that dispatch is that it turns out from my research that the AP had put the dispatch on the wires as dad was stepping up on the rostrum. So, it appeared in American evening papers before he had any idea that he had been quoted like that and it was made up out of whole cloth, not quite out of whole cloth, they used bits and pieces of speeches he'd made elsewhere on this tour, stitched them together in a way that sounded like his style of speaking, added this phrase, Negroes will not fight for the United States in a war against the Soviet Union and put it on the wires. And immediately the State Department and the machinery of government here spread this Robeson has said thus and so, he's a traitor to the country and pressured black leaders to denounce him and pledge loyalty to the United States. Many did, some didn't, but it became issue number one. Paul Robeson, Communist traitor to the US."
- ^ Robeson, Susan The Whole World in His Hands: A Pictorial Biography of Paul Robeson Chapter 5, The Politics of Persecution, p. 182
- ^ Ford, Carin T. Paul Robeson: "I Want to Make Freedom Ring"
- ^ Robeson, Paul Jr. The Undiscovered Robeson: Quest For Freedom, pp. 169–170 Chapter 9 2008.
- ^ Duberman, Martin. Paul Robeson Peekskill, p. 365
- ^ a b Ford, Carin T. Paul Robeson:I Want to Make Freedom Ring, pp. 97–98 Chapter 9, 2008.
- ^ a b Duberman, Martin. Paul Robeson Peekskill, p. 366
- ^ a b Duberman, Martin. Paul Robeson Peekskill, p. 367
- ^ Blecha, Peter. Taboo Tunes: A History of Banned Bands & Censored Songs, p. 146. Backbeat Books (San Francisco), 2004.
- ^ a b c Wilkinson, Alec. "The Protest Singer: Pete Seeger and American Folk Music" in The New Yorker Archived 2007-10-25 at the Wayback Machine. 17 April 2006. Accessed 25 January 2015.
- ^ Cohen, Ronald D. Rainbow Quest: The Folk Music Revival and American Society, 1940–1970, p. 63. University of Massachusetts Press (Amherst), 2002.
- ^ a b Robeson, Paul Jr. The Undiscovered Paul Robeson: Quest for Freedom, 1939–1976, p. 173. John Wiley & Sons (Hoboken), 2010.
- ^ a b c d Williams, Roger M. "A Rough Sunday at Peekskill" in American Heritage Magazine, Vol. XXVII, No. 3. April 1976. Hosted at the Internet Archive. Accessed 25 January 2015.
- ^ Reuss, Richard A. American Folk Music and Left-Wing Politics, 1927–1957, p. 227.
- ^ Frillmann, Karen. "Today in History: Peekskill Riots". WYNC (New York), 4 September 2009. Accessed 25 January 2015.
- ^ Lynskey, Dorian. 33 Revolutions per Minute: A History of Protest Songs. Faber & Faber (London), 2011.
- ISBN 0471192120.
- ^ 48 Hurt In Clashes at Robeson Rally
- ^ Hillside Cemetery Info
- ^ a b Robeson, Susan. Paul Robeson:The whole World in His Hands Chapter 5, The Politics of Persecution, p. 181
- ^ Seeger, Pete. Brave Nation video; Police inaction, at 10:00 minutes in.
- North County News, 2–8 September 1981.
- ^ To Pete Seeger, It's Still the Song of the River. Reisler, Jim. New York Times, 13 June 1999.
- ^ Robeson, Susan. Paul Robeson:The whole World in His Hands Chapter 5, The Politics of Persecution, pp. 182–183
- ^ Duberman, Martin. Paul Robeson, 1989, Peekskill, p. 367.
- ^ a b Duberman, Martin. Paul Robeson, 1989, Peekskill, p. 373.
- ^ United States Congressional Record, September 21, 1949, p. 13375,
- ^ a b United States Congressional Record, September 21, 1949, p. 13375
- ^ "Paul Robeson Remembrance and Reconciliation Ceremony," 50th anniversary commemoration of the 1949 “Peekskill riots” in Cortlandt, Westchester County, NY, includes speakers Paul Robeson, Jr., folk singer Peter Seeger and several local elected officials.
- AllMusic.com. Archivedfrom the original on 16 April 2019. Retrieved 29 October 2021.
- ^ Hays, Lee (1950). "Hold the Line". Sing Out. 1 (1): 3.
External links
- The Robeson Concerts: Peekskill, New York, 1949
- FBI documents on the Peekskill riots peekskil_riots.htm document removed
- The Peekskill Story dead link
- Courtney, Steve. "Peekskill's days of infamy: The Robeson riots of 1949," The Reporter Dispatch, September 5, 1982. Sec. AA: pp. 1, 4–5.
- Daniel Frontino Elash Peekskill Remembered
- Feingold, Joel Remembering Peekskill
- Black Past: Peekskill Riot (1949) Black Past: Peekskill Riot (1949)