1950s America had a bizarre loyalty test: Why owning one singer's record could threaten your job

While a music collection should have revealed taste preferences, not political views, having a record with the name of Paul Robeson on its cover became a touchy issue for American government employees during the loyalty checks of those years. A singer's name on the cover of a record album was enough to raise questions in the time of the American Red Scare of the 1950s, when communist sympathies could destroy careers and reputations. This case is among other interesting facts discussed in a BBC Culture article describing Paul Robeson's decline from a famous personality to a political pariah.

This fact shows that the anti-communist sentiment went far beyond politicians, Hollywood film studios, and street protests because it even pursued people in their personal lives.

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Paul Robeson was not just some little-known artist who became notorious because of his political activities.

On the contrary, he was one of the most popular artists in America who managed to combine an unusual voice with great achievements in performance, movie acting, and even sports. It was the singer's increasing commitment to political and civil rights issues that led to his becoming a target during the Cold War period.

How did a famous singer's records become a source of suspicion?

For many years, the life of Paul Robeson seemed to be beyond any control.

Having been born in Princeton, New Jersey, in 1898, Paul showed himself to be an outstanding athlete and scholar before becoming a professional footballer. Also, he attended the Columbia University Law School until he faced racial discrimination from one law firm.

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Entertaining professions gave him new ways. Paul Robeson gained fame as a stage actor, Hollywood actor, and outstanding bass-baritone singer.

The Ballad for Americans, a musical piece glorifying the diversity of the population of the USA as a patriotic song, brought Paul immense fame after it was aired on the radio in 1939.

According to the BBC, Paul Robeson was seen to be the most famous black man in America by the end of the 1930s. This fame made the fate of Paul Robeson even more unexpected. A musician who used to have great audiences suddenly became excluded from the American entertainment industry.

His views on politics formed an integral part of the debate.

Robeson was vocal about issues of racism, was against performing to segregated crowds and even supported the labour movement.

Besides, Robeson sympathised with the Soviet Union and other leftist movements, and the more the Cold War heated up, the more hostility he faced.

It all came to a head on April 20, 1949, when Robeson participated in a peace meeting in Paris.

During the meeting, he delivered a speech in which he stated that Black Americans would not be ready to go to war with the Soviet Union, a country that gave Black people respect. The reactions were immediate.

According to the BBC, the response to Robeson did not just include criticism of his speech.

As the months passed, there were violent outbursts against his attempts to hold concerts near Peekskill, New York. Concertgoers were beaten with stones, sticks, and fists by protesters, who injured 150 people.

This led to the organisations that contributed to Robeson’s fame feeling pressured.

NBC would not allow him on Eleanor Roosevelt’s television show in March 1950 because of protests. After four months, the State Department cancelled his passport and therefore did not allow him to travel outside the country to sing.

These were hard times for his career.

No one would release his records or record any songs for him. According to the BBC, “Robeson, who had once earned $100,000 performing in concert just three years prior, was now earning roughly $6,000 a year.”

What did Paul Robeson's blacklist mean for ordinary Americans?

The attacks on Robeson were not limited to the individual alone but extended to his artistry and reputation. Ballad for Americans was no longer taught in schools, references to Robeson in textbooks were stripped away, and his name was retrospectively removed from lists of NAACP award winners and football champions, the BBC notes.

But it is the following information that really makes this account telling: Having a record of Robeson could be used against government employees during loyalty board examinations in the 1950s.

These investigations were meant to find individuals deemed politically disloyal.

President Truman had created the loyalty program among federal employees in 1947 that implied investigation of all government workers. According to the records available at the National Archives, this programme implied FBI investigations as well as examination through the Loyalty Review Board.

In that environment, associations and political connections might matter.

Robeson's records were more than music because Robeson's name had political connotations by that time. At the same time, BBC implies that having a record by Robeson did not necessarily mean being fired from one's job.

But other famous black Americans were also involved in the controversy.

Jackie Robinson, who was the most famous baseball player at that time, was summoned by the House Committee on Un-American Activities and questioned regarding the statements that Robeson made in Paris. Robeson appeared before the same committee in 1956 and refused to back off from his standpoint.

However, even after the return of his passport in 1959, he remained outside the world of professional activity and lived the rest of his life in peace. He passed away in 1976.

The history of Paul Robeson is not only the story of one talented artist who lost everything that he had worked for. It proves that under certain political circumstances, the most ordinary decisions may become suspicious.

In 1950s America, the possession of records became an issue, and the singer, who used to be a symbol of American identity, could only be known as an unknown person.