On this day in ...... 1916, Rutgers University benched all-American athlete Paul Robeson (left), because the Washington and Lee football team it faced refused to take the field against a squad that included an African-American player. (photo credit) Robeson went on to Fame, and not only in the College Hall of that name. He would graduate from Columbia Law School and study languages at the University of London; become a "superbly talented" actor and singer; and engaged in political activism on issues such as the Spanish Civil War, workers' rights, the Vietnam War, and racial discrimination. He was called to testify before anti-Communist inquiries in state and federal legislatures, and for years during the 1950s was denied a passport to travel on account of his views. Robeson died in 1976 at age 77.
(Prior October 14 posts are here, here, and here.)
