Erwin A. Salk collection on Paul Robeson

Collection

Identifier: 2293

Staff Only

Content Description

The Erwin A. Salk collection on Paul Robeson dates from 1933 to 1976 and consists of 0.80 linear feet of material devoted to actor, singer, scholar and civil rights activist Paul Robeson. Materials include brochures, photographs and audiovisual materials.

Of interest are a collection of photographs representing Robeson’s educational accomplishments as a star varsity team member on Rutgers Intercollegiate Debating Association. In addition, images feature Robeson as a star athlete and football player, including photographs of him wearing his football uniform at Rutgers (circa 1919). There is also a 1919 black and white photograph of Robeson as one of four students selected into Cap and Skull, a senior-year honor society at Rutgers University.

Other photographs highlight Robeson’s talent as a bass baritone concert artist and stage and film actor. Two images show Robeson’s participation in benefit concerts on behalf of relief efforts during World War II. Lastly, two black and white photographs portray Robeson as the lead actor in William Shakespeare’s Othello.

Other materials within the collection encompasses a 1958 program from the Progressive Club of Mother A.M.E. Zion Church in New York City which presented Robeson in concert. Another item is a brochure from Janus Films, Inc. highlighting the documentary film, Paul Robeson: Tribute to an Artist (circa 1980).

The collection concludes with audiovisual materials, including three interviews with Salk. Items of note include recordings of proceedings held at Carnegie Hall in salute to Robeson on April 15, 1973.

Dates

Other: 1933-1976

Creator

Salk, Erwin A. (Person)

Biographical / Historical

Businessman, civil rights activist, peace advocate, philanthropist and educator Erwin Arthur Salk was born in Chicago, Illinois in 1918. He grew up in the Albany Park neighborhood on the Northwest side of Chicago and earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the University of Chicago. After graduation, Salk joined the Army, then worked for the United Nations in Paris, France before returning home to work for his father’s mortgage banking firm.

Primarily remembered for his work as a mortgage banker and businessman, Salk’s passion for housing justice led him to become an advocate for the poor and compelled him to study, teach and write several works, including A Layman's Guide to Negro History and the exhibit pamphlet Dubois-Robeson: Two Giants of the Twentieth Century. Salk taught a course titled “Missing Pages in U.S. History” at Columbia College. He also became an essential figure in founding the Center for Black Music Research at Columbia College in Chicago.

Additionally, Salk served as a member on several boards, including the Center for Black Music Research board of directors; the executive board of the Amistad Research Center; as vice president of the Jewish Council on Urban Affairs; and on the board of directors for the DuSable Museum of African American History in Chicago.