Eslanda Goode Robeson, portrait. ca. 1947. Los Angeles Daily News. University of California, Los Angeles. Library. Department of Special Collections. Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

By Karla Mendez, Lead Columnist of Black Feminist Histories and Movement

Writer Karla Mendez centers the life and accomplishments of Eslanda Goode Robeson, who was a radical leader in her own right.

Many people know of Paul Robeson and his work as a concert artist, actor, athlete, and activist. While his accomplishments were wide-ranging and have earned him a prominent spot in history, many overlook his wife, Eslanda “Essie” Goode Robeson. Her life is consistently confined to her role as his wife, but she was so much more. Her talents and intelligence were boundless; she was an activist, a writer, an anthropologist, a photographer, an actress, and a traveler. She broke barriers and excelled in the various jobs she held and was fearless in pursuing equality.

Goode Robeson was born Eslanda Cardozo Goode in Washington, D.C., on December 15th, 1895. Her mother’s family were members of the prominent and distinguished Cardozo family, including Francis Lewis Cardozo, former Secretary of State and Secretary of the Treasury of South Carolina during Reconstruction. Like her, Eslanda Cardozo, Goode Robeson understood the importance of education, studying at the University of Illinois and Columbia University, where she completed her undergraduate degree.

Goode Robeson was the first Black woman hired at New York City-Presbyterian Hospital in the surgical pathology department. It was here where she first met Paul Robeson, and in 1925 she left her position at the hospital to join Robeson in London, England. She eventually became his full-time manager, a role in which she held tremendous influence over his career. In her first publication, Paul Robeson, Negro, released in 1930, she wrote a revealing account of their life together and managing his career. She was forthcoming with their marital troubles and also celebrated his talents and her esteem for him.

“Her life is consistently confined to her role as his wife, but she was so much more. Her talents and intelligence were boundless; she was an activist, a writer, an anthropologist, a photographer, an actress, and a traveler.”

Although there is considerable attention placed on Robeson’s life and work, in discussing his career as an activist, many forget Goode Robeson not only participated in civil rights actions but was also subjected to the same treatment as Robeson. This included being a target during the McCarthy era because of their relation to the Soviet Union and support of Communism. They were questioned by the House Committee on Un-American Activities (HCUA). Despite the intimidation techniques employed by McCarthy and the American government, Goode Robeson continued her work with organizations like the Council on African Affairs, which she co-founded, and the United Nations as a correspondent for New World Review, a pro-Soviet magazine.

Through her work with the Council on African Affairs, Goode Robeson fought against racism, colonization, and imperialism and supported the decolonization of Africa and Asia. She made a final trip to Sub-Saharan Africa to participate in the first post-colonial All-American Peoples’ Conference. Until her breast cancer diagnosis in 1963 and her death from the disease in 1965, Goode Robeson continued her dedication to advocating for marginalized and oppressed groups and contributing to the literary canon and science. In positioning her life and accomplishments solely as Robeson’s wife, we diminish her work and achievements. We rob ourselves of learning about and gaining knowledge from the extraordinary work and legacy she created and left behind.

I spoke with Denise Campbell, an organizer of the Eslanda Goode Robeson Research and Study Group at the Paul Robeson House and Museum, and Christopher Rogers, program director of the Paul Robeson House to discuss the phenomenal life of Eslanda Goode Robeson and her work, whose influence is still felt today. The Paul Robeson House and Museum, located in Philadelphia Pennsylvania, was home to Robeson and his sister Marian R. Forsythe from 1966 until his death in 1976. The House and Museum houses artifacts once owned by Robeson like record albums, paintings, books, and photos as part of an exhibit titled “Paul Robeson: Up Close and Personal.” The aim of the house & museum is not only to provide a look into the life of a seminal figure of Black history, but to bring a cultural institution into Philadelphia.

"Portrait of anthropologist, activist, and photographer, Eslanda Goode Robeson". 1940 - 1965. Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, Photographs and Prints Division, The New York Public Librar

Karla Mendez (KM): Goode Robeson spent some time in South Africa in 1936, during which she wrote her book, African Journey. In the book, she writes, “I wanted to go to Africa. It began when I was quite small. Africa was the place we Negroes came from originally. When they could afford it, many Americans went back to see their ‘old country.’ I remember wanting very much to see my ‘old country’ and wondering what it would be like.” Can you speak a little about that experience visiting a country she felt very attached to as an African American, but in which racial segregation existed much like the United States was like for her?

Chris Rodgers (CR): She makes this switch from hard sciences like chemistry to social sciences and anthropology, which is deeply involved in travel. One of the things she would say is “my old country” but she’s traveling across many parts of the African continent; not just in 1936 but also in 1946. There’s also this Pan-Africanism, this connection of saying ‘Yes, I belong, I may genealogically belong to one tribe, one people, but I see this entire continent as part of my inheritance, my connection, and my relationship.’ Particularly during her time in London, she was at the London School of Economics alongside Jomo Kenyatta. She’s having these salons or workshops and established connections by recognizing the relationship between oppression and colonialism in the United States and what’s happening across the entire African continent. At the same time, she recognized the vast riches of culture, heritage, and religions. She was part of establishing this global network.

Denise Campbell (DC): When she got her passport, she traveled to China–and this was before China had the cultural revolution. She went to South Africa in 1958, and this was during the struggle against apartheid. I think she went there because she supported the anti-apartheid movement. She was connected to the anti-apartheid movement in South Africa and saw how it was a duplication of the oppression of Black people in America. Also, as Chris stated, she started exploring Pan-Africanism, anti-colonialism, and anti-imperialism. Chris, would you agree with that?

CR: Yeah! This is an important point I want to discuss. Paul Robeson was incredibly studied and spoke about a lot of global issues. I think people forget that in many ways, Eslanda was a part of building the library that Paul was drawing from to do the work he was doing and uplifting global movements. We have the Paul Robeson speech book where you can follow his trajectory. Eslanda would sometimes write pamphlets for the Council of African Affairs as Mrs. Paul Robeson, and sometimes she put her name as Eslanda Goode Robeson. It becomes blurry about who was the sort of impetus for a lot of these conversations and statements that were being made. There is still much work to be done in recovering what exactly Eslanda’s imprint is on how we understand Paul Robeson.

KM: In 1950, she collaborated on the American Argument with Pearl S. Buck, a White internationalist who championed human rights. They each speak of the United States and women’s rights in distinctively different ways, with Goode advocating for what would now be considered intersectionality. She was outspoken in her support of Black women and is viewed as an early influence on Black feminism as we know it today. Can you speak a bit of her women’s rights activism and how she went about advocating for a more inclusive feminist movement?

"Eslanda Goode Robeson speaking at Africa Women's Day gathering." *The New York Public Library Digital Collections*. 1939 - 1998. Claudia Jones is to the far left of the photo. Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, Photographs and Prints Division, The New York Public Library.

DC: I would not like Eslanda to be seen as a feminist because, based on her life, she was so far ahead of feminism. To put her in that pocket doesn’t give her the fullness of her impact–not just on women but on the oppressed, people of color, and poor people. I would like to know if there is any documentation of her speaking up for women and women’s rights. Her privilege is acknowledged, so I don’t know that she felt the oppressiveness some other women may have experienced. I am a little hesitant to engage in a conversation about her within a framework of feminism.

CR: In some ways, we project labels onto people of the past that can be somewhat limiting or place them in categories they themselves would not ascribe to. At the same time, it’s important to recognize that she’s one of the people there for the Sojourners for Truth and Justice in 1951 with Louise Thompson Patterson, Claudia Jones, and others. She’s present and recognizes this transnational connection. She acknowledges what’s happening to Black women in the U.S. Through her travels and her journeys in her diary, she’s uplifting the status and changes around African women, which becomes critical to her work.

There’s certainly a legacy of her words speaking to women’s rights. Claudia Jones became a huge figure in this sort of triple jeopardy or proto-intersectional movement. But Eslanda is right there also. I certainly don’t want to ascribe that label to her if she didn’t choose it. However, in terms of her legacy, it should be understood that she advanced some conceptual work that many Black feminists can take up. If you look at her diary, African Journey, or other archival research, she’s always giving place to the role of African women in the movement to end colonialism. That is not something that has always been covered. There’s still a lot to be recovered in the role of African women ending colonialism across the continent.

Martin Luther King, Jr. (left) and Eslanda Goode Robeson (right) attending a gathering at the African Unity House, sponsored by the Afro-Asian West Indian Community, in London, England, on October 30, 1961. Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, Photographs and Prints Division, The New York Public Library.

KM: Eslanda Goode Robeson’s life is often spoken about as an addendum to that of Paul Robeson’s, but she was a force all on her own; from her unapologetic testimony before Senator McCarthy’s anti-communist committee to her steadfast advocacy for various movements. Where should those interested in her life start if they’d like to learn more?

DC: I started with her book Paul Robeson, Negro. I see her, I feel her, I hear her. In that book, her commentary, along with relaying the history, shows her intellect; it shows her wit and cunningness. I would start with that book. That was the first public literature put out by her.

CR: When you talk about Paul Robeson, Negro, there’s a lot that needs to be reprinted or come back into print about her legacy. However, there are some things you can find online. For example, African Journey, I would love to see that reprinted. I think that needs to be done. The work that Barbara Ransby has done is very important. There are a lot of Paul and Eslanda papers at Howard University. There are also international outlets, including a huge repository in Berlin. To me, Barbara Ransby’s biography is the most comprehensive of Eslanda’s stories. However, I think it’s also important that you read Eslanda’s own words. For example, there is African Journey, P aul Robeson, Negro, and there are the pamphlets she wrote titled, “What Do the People of Africa Wan t” for the Council of African Affairs. There’s a foreword she wrote for William Alphaeus Hunton’s book Africa Fights for Freedom, where she’s talking about the importance of world peace and recognizing that if you look across Africa, Asia, and Latin America, we have warmongers outnumbered and if we only understood that, we could be able to move towards peace.

I think those works are great. Others are beginning to make connections. There’s a new book about the Robesons’ relationship with China that Eslanda played a considerable role within. One thing that is open access right now is the Freedomways tribute to Eslanda. She died in 1965; they printed the tribute in 1966. You can read about many people worldwide who are appreciative and directly connected and inheritors of her legacy.

As an aside, one of my favorite quotes from Eslanda is in the FBI file for both Eslanda and Paul, which we have in the house. People forget and say only Paul Robeson was being surveilled. No. As soon as the FBI found out about African Journey, Eslanda was also followed, tracked, and surveilled. Anytime she would speak out in international papers, that would also become part of the file. One of the things the FBI file noted is that Eslanda and Paul were walking down the street, and a crowd began to form around them. And basically, Eslanda said, “I’m a judo master, and if you get too close, I will kick you.” My other favorite quote is from Barbara Ransby’s biography. She’s talking about the House Un-American Activities Committee, and on the stand, Eslanda said, “The only thing I’m afraid of are cats.”

KM: How does Eslanda inspire your work?

Eslanda Goode Robeson" *The New York Public Library Digital Collections*. 1945. Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, Photographs and Prints Division, The New York Public Library.

CR: I’m really grateful for Ms. Denise Campbell. She was one of our singular champions at the Robeson House in making sure that we created a sacred space to honor and lift up the role of Eslanda Robeson and her contributions and accomplishments. Not that it always has to be tied back or be a foothold into Paul Robeson’s story, but being able to lift up her story on its own. We have created a section here at the house where we have a number of her works. We reprinted the pamphlet What Do the People of Africa Want and have that available. We, for a moment, had African Journey on display.

In terms of inspiration, Eslanda was someone who had many different careers.. She was Paul Robeson’s first manager, so she was helping carve out how the world would come to understand Paul Robeson. Particularly, as we look at the history and legacy of Black women and Black women leaders, there is still much that needs to be recovered from the ways they shaped our broadest global movements for change and are part of this pan-Africanist legacy. As we get deeper into the archives with Eslanda, we come to better understand and study her role in building the libraries of information, languages, and relationships that she and Paul Robeson would use. This global or third-world network comes out of relationships Eslanda built through her studies.

DC: For me, it’s more personal than political because I grew up in Harlem when the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture was a Countee Cullen library that I used to stop by on my way home from school at Harriet Beecher Stowe. I walked past those places to school every day, as an undergraduate at Columbia University, and most of all, she’s an ABD (all but dissertation), I’m an ABD, and I often wonder why Eslanda didn’t complete her dissertation. I feel so connected to her personally. She had one child; I had one child. I dedicated my life to the movement. And finally, I’m a Black radical woman. She’s my role model.

About the author:

Karla Mendez (she/her) is the Lead Columnist of Black Feminist Histories and Movement for Black Women Radicals blog, Voices in Movement. She is currently an undergraduate student at the University of Central Florida, pursuing a major in Interdisciplinary Studies and a double minor in Political Science and Women’s and Gender Studies. She holds a certificate in Feminism and Social Justice from the University of California, Santa Cruz, and has just completed an internship with the United Nations Association. In addition to being a student, she is a freelance writer. Karla is of Puerto Rican and Dominican descent, she recognizes the importance of intersectionality in feminism, and as such, her research and writing focus on the intersection of race, gender, class, and politics.

With her writing and research, she wants to introduce people to historical figures who paved the way for change while bringing awareness to how discrimination and oppression can affect people differently. She will continue to explore her research as she begins graduate school next year to pursue a Master’s in Women’s Studies and American Studies. When she isn’t studying or reading for school, she enjoys reading for fun, watching old movies, and spending time with her family. You can follow her on Instagram.

Not Just A Wife: The Remarkable Life of Eslanda Goode Robeson