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(CIVIL RIGHTS.) Edward Schwartz. Photograph of Paul Robeson before his riot-interrupted Peekskill concert. Peekskill, NY, 1949 Gelatin silver print, 7¼ x 9¼ inches, with inked address stamp of photographer Edward Schwartz of New York on verso, and inscribed in Schwartz's hand "1949 Paul Robeson in Peekskill"; minimal wear. The actor, singer and activist Paul Robeson drew increasing attention for his leftist politics in the late 1940s, as the Red Scare approached its peak. He planned a concert on 27 August 1949 in Peekskill, NY to benefit the Civil Rights Congress, which drew the ire of local Klansmen, neo-Nazis and other "true patriots."  This photograph likely dates from 27 August 1949, the originally scheduled date of the Peekskill concert which was thwarted by neo-Nazi rioters. We have found no other photographs of Robeson from that day. The photograph may have been taken when he was met at the train station by his friend and fellow activist Helen Van Dernoot Rosen (1906-1998) of New York, who had a weekend home in nearby Katonah. She recalled in a 1998 PBS interview: "I had three stalwart friends in the next town, Yorktown, with a better car than we had. And I asked them if they would also meet Paul at the station. They were great devotees of him, and these three men came in a decent sedan car and Paul got off the train and we had a little conference at the station where there were absolutely no signs of anything going on. And I insisted that he sit in the back of the car with them." In another interview, she identified Robeson's driver as her friend Sydney Danis (1904-1986) of Croton. When the cars reached the fairgrounds, they found rioters blocking the roads and were just barely able to drive Robeson to safety. Robeson returned to Peekskill for a rescheduled 4 September concert, which was followed by more rioting. In photographs of that concert, Robeson is wearing a dark suit jacket. The photograph was taken by Edward Schwartz (1906-2005) of New York, a prominent documentary photographer with the progressive Photo League. Schwartz also photographed Robeson in 1947 and 1951. Provenance: consigned by a friend of the photographer, who states that Schwartz confirmed verbally that the photograph was taken in Peekskill.