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Pacifica Radio Archives’ “From the Vault”
Each week the Pacifica Radio Archives chooses a program "From the Vault" of broadcasts in a half-hour program.
This week on From the Vault, we present 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, Howard Fast and others describe the Peeksill Riots from 1949, Paul Robeson on the campaign trail with The Progressive Party’s candidate Henry Wallace in 1948, Robeson commenting 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 using a trans Atlantic cable, among other historic, newly �discovered� audio from Pacifica Radio Archives.
