Paul Robeson Theatre
When I hear the expression Renaissance man there are many people who could come to mind. Leonardo Da Vinci, Shakespeare, maybe even his royal purpleness Prince? But the true definition of a renaissance man in my honest opinion is Paul Robeson. Robeson was fluent in 15 languages, received a scholarship to Rutgers University where he graduated as valedictorian of his class and then went to Columbia University Law School and then took a job with a law firm. Now I know what you’re thinking, that’s not so amazing, it just means he’s super smart. This is true but I must inform you that he did all this as a black man living in the 1920s. After he left the law firm because of all the racial strife he found work as an actor. He’s best known for his role in “Othello†which was the longest running Shakespeare play in Broadway history. If anyone can do nearly three hundred performances of a Shakespeare play as the lead then they get mad props from me! Robeson was one of the first black actors to play serious roles. He was also a great public speaker however this got him in trouble with the then biased American political system. He was blacklisted by Senator Joseph McCarthy in the 1940s and in 1950 his passport was revoked. This stopped him from performing abroad and also contributed to the decline of his career. When his passport was reinstated a whole eight years later he continued to perform but his health began to fail and he was admitted to various hospitals where he was misdiagnosed numerous times. He decided to retire to his hometown of Philadelphia and died in 1976. He has many posthumous honors but one honor that was given to him while he was still alive was the erecting of Robeson Theater on the campus of North Carolina A&T State University. It was constructed in 1969 in Robeson’s honor and it still stands today housing the drama and dance departments many awesome performances.  The foyer of the theatre was named in honor of Dr. John M. Kilimanjaro, former A&T faculty member and founder and publisher of the Carolina Peacemaker newspaper. The theatre is the home of the award winning Richard B. Harrison Players.
Paul Robeson Theatre
