Peekskill riots

The Peekskill Riots were anti-communist riots (with anti-black and anti-Semitic undertones) that took place at Cortlandt Manor, Westchester County, New York in 1949. The catalyst for the rioting was an announced concert by black singer Paul Robeson, who was well known for his strong pro-trade union stance on civil rights and his outspoken beliefs in international socialism, anti-lynching legislation and anti-colonialist movements. 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.

Paul Robeson's remarks in Paris, 1949

Previously three concerts had been performed by Paul Robeson in Peekskill without incident, but in recent years Robeson had been increasingly vocal against the Ku Klux Klan and other forces of white supremacy, both domestically and internationally. Robeson specifically made a transformation from someone who was primarily a singer into a political persona with a vocal support for what was at the time considered radical causes including the decolonization of Africa, anti-Jim Crow legislation and peace with the USSR. Robeson had also appeared before the House Committee on Un-American Activities to oppose a bill that would require Communists to register as foreign agents, and, just months before the concert in 1949, he had appeared at the Soviet-sponsored World Peace Conference in Paris. Referring to the growing tensions between the USA and the USSR, he stated:

"...it is unthinkable that American Negroes will go to war in behalf of those who have oppressed us for generations... against a country which in one generation has raised our people to the full dignity of mankind."

In the early stages of the Cold War and Communist expansion in Europe, and its accompanying wide anti-Communist sentiments in the West, such a comment was seen by many as very anti-American. The local paper, The Peekskill Evening Star, condemned the concert and encouraged people to make their position on Communism felt, but did not directly espouse violence.There was a racial element to the riots including burning crosses and lynches in effigy of Robeson both in Peekskill and in other areas of the United States.

First concert on August 27, 1949

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. Thirteen people were seriously injured before the police intervened. The concert was postponed until September 4.

Robeson's long time friend and Peekskill resident, Helen Rosen, who had been arranged 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 chanting "Dirty Commie" and "Dirty Kikes." Paul Robeson made more than one attempt to get out of the car and confront the mob but was restrained by his friends.

The media was 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; a state police spokesman said there had never been a request for state troopers. The commander of Peekskill Post 274 of the American Legion avoided making any excuses only stating: "Our objective was to prevent the Paul Robeson concert and I think our objective was reached."

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 was unanimously determined that Robeson should be invited back to perform at Peekskill. Representatives from various left wing unions-the Fur and leather workers, the Longshoremen and the United Electrical Workers- all agreed to converge and serve as a wall of defense around the concert grounds. Ten union men slept on the property of the Rosens, effectively guarding it. A call was then put out by the "Emergency Committee to Protest the Peekskill Riot." On Tuesday, August 30, an overflow of crowd of three thousand people assembled peacefully and without incident at the Golden Gate Ballroom in Harlem to hear Robeson speak,

"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...."

Second concert on September 4, 1949

The re-scheduled concert itself was free from violence, though 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 Hollow Brook Golf Course in Cortlandt Manor, near the original site of the concert. Twenty-thousand people showed up. Security, organized by labor unions, was tight with union men standing in a circle of protection around the entire concert grounds and sitting with Robeson on the stage. Musicians, such as Pete Seeger, performed without incident. The aftermath of the concert, however, was far from peaceful. As they drove away, concertgoers were forced to run a gauntlet miles long of hostile locals, veterans, and outside agitators, 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. 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.

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. Seeger used some of the thrown rocks to build the chimney of his cabin in the Town of Fishkill, NY, to stand as a reminder of that incident.

The beating of Eugene Bullard

The first black combat pilot and World War I veteran, Eugene Bullard was knocked to the ground and beaten by the angry mob which included members of state and local law enforcement. The beating was captured on film and can be seen in the 1970s documentary The Tallest Tree in Our Forest and the Oscar winning Sidney Poitier narrated documentary Paul Robeson: Tribute to an Artist. Despite recorded evidence of the beating, no one was ever prosecuted for the assault. Graphic photos of Eugene Ballard being beaten by two policeman, a state trooper and concert goer, were later published in Susan Robeson's pictorial biography of her grandfather, The Whole World in His Hands: a Pictorial Biography of Paul Robeson.

Protests for justice following the concert

Following the riots, more than 300 people went to Albany to voice their indignation to Governor Thomas Dewey, who refused to meet with them, blaming communists for provoking the violence. Twenty-seven plaintiffs filed a civil suit against Westchester County and two veterans groups. The charges were dismissed three years later.

Reactions in The US House of Representatives

Following the Peekskill Riots, House Representative John E. Rankin of Mississippi condemned Robeson on the house floor. When New York Congressman Jacob Javits spoke to the United States House of Representatives, deploring the Peekskill riots as a violation of constitutional guarantees of freedom of speech and free assembly, Rankin replied angrily. "It was not surprising to hear the gentlemen from New York defend the Communist enclave," Rankin bellowed, saying that he wanted it known that the American people are not in sympathy "with that Nigger Communist and that bunch of Reds who went up there." On a point of order, House Representative Vito Marcantonio protested to speaker Rayburn that "the gentlemen from Mississippi used the word 'nigger.' I ask that the word be taken down and stricken from the RECORD inasmuch as there are two members in this house of Negro race." Rayburn claimed that Rankin had not said "nigger" but "Negro" but Rankin yelled over him saying "I said Niggra! Just as I have said since I have been able to talk and shall continue to say." Speaker Rayburn then defended Rankin, ruling that "the gentlemen from Mississippi is not subject to a point of order... referred to the Negro race and they should not be afraid of that designation." Then Representative Gene Cox of Georgia denounced Robeson on the House floor as a "Communist agent provocateur."

Aftermath

Within a few days, hundreds of editorials and letters appear in newspapers across the nation and abroad, by prominent individuals, organizations, trade unions, churches and others. They condemned not only the attacks but also the failure of Governor Dewey and the State Police to protect the lives and property of citizens, and called for a full investigation of the violence and prosecution of the perpetrators. Following the Peekskill riots, other cities become fearful of similar incidents, and many scheduled concerts were canceled.

On September 12, 1949, in response to Roebeson's support of Joseph Stalin, 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, 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, he spoke at a luncheon for the National Labor Conference for Peace, Ashland Auditorium, Chicago and referenced the riots.

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.

The Peekskill Riots in fiction

• The Peekskill riots appears in E.L. Doctorow's novel The Book of Daniel. Paul Isaacson 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 parents serve as local organizers of the concert.

The Peekskill Riots in recording and film

• Song: "Hold the Line" recorded by Pete Seeger and The Weavers
• Song: "My Thirty Thousand" written by Woody Guthrie and 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
• Radio: NPR's 50th anniversary commemoration of Peekskill Riots
• Radio: The Peekskill Riots, Maryknoll Sisters radio documentary
• Video: The Robeson Concerts
• Video: Paul Robeson: Here I Stand, PBS American Masters
• Film: Joe Glory
• Film: Paul Robeson: The Tallest Tree in Our Forest
• Film: Paul Robeson: Portrait of an Artist

External links

• The Robeson Concerts: Peekskill, New York, 1949
• FBI documents on the Peekskill Riots peekskil_riots.htm document removed
• Courtney, Steve. "Peekskill's days of infamy: The Robeson riots of 1949," The Reporter Dispatch, September 5, 1982. Sec. AA: pp.1,4-5.
• Silverstein, Richard. "Peekskill Riots--1949." [Weblog entry] Tikun Olam: Make the World a Better Place. June 16, 2004.