Feb 21, 2008 - Sale 2137

Sale 2137 - Lot 357

Unsold
Estimate: $ 1,000 - $ 1,500
SIGNED BY ROBESON, WILLIAM PATTERSON AND HOWARD FAST (ROBESON, PAUL.) FAST, HOWARD. Peekskill USA. A Personal Experience. Illustrated. 8vo, original cloth in a lightly rubbed dust jacket. (New York): Civil Rights Congress, 1951

Additional Details

first edition, #56 of a small but unspecified number of copies specially signed by Paul Robeson, William Patterson and the author. On August 29, 1949, the town of Peekskill, New York was the scene of one of the most violent and shameful episodes of racial hatred in modern American history--certainly in the North-Eastern portion of the country. Paul Robeson, already branded a "red" by McCarthy's HUAC, was scheduled to give an open air concert in Peekskill. Though the promoters had received threats on Robeson's life and anticipated trouble, they had no idea of the depth of hatred or the riot that would ensue. Promoters and friends of Robeson, including Fast, tried in vain to enlist Peekskill's law-enforcement services before the concert, seeing that great numbers of jeering racists had already filled the town. Before long the entire town descended into violence with hundreds injured. Blockson Collection, 8309.