Welsh Memorial Landscapes of Paul Robeson
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“THEY FEEL ME A PART OF THAT LAND”: WELSH MEMORIAL LANDSCAPES OF PAUL ROBESON A thesis submitted To Kent State University in partial Fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts by Mark Alan Rhodes II August, 2015 © Copyright All rights reserved Except for previously published materials Thesis written by Mark Alan Rhodes II B.A., St. Cloud State University, 2013 B.E.S., St. Cloud State University, 2013 M.A., Kent State University, 2015 Approved by ___________________________________ Chris Post, Associate Professor, Ph.D., Department of Geography, Masters Advisor ___________________________________ Mandy Munro-Stasiuk, Professor, Ph.D., Chair, Department of Geography _____________________________________ James L. Blank, Ph.D, Dean, College of Arts and Science Table of Contents TITLE PAGE ............................................................................................................................................... I SIGNATURE PAGE ................................................................................................................................ III TABLE OF CONTENTS ......................................................................................................................... III LIST OF FIGURES .................................................................................................................................... V ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS .................................................................................................................... VIII CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................................ 1 CHAPTER 2: ROBESON AND PHILOSOPHY; ROBESON AND GEOGRAPHY .......................... 8 The Philosophies of Paul Robeson ......................................................................................................................... 9 Location and Scale ............................................................................................................................................... 11 Memory, Heritage, & Landscape .......................................................................................................................... 13 Archival Research ................................................................................................................................................ 16 Interviews ............................................................................................................................................................ 18 Landscape ............................................................................................................................................................ 19 CHAPTER 3: ROBESON’S PHILOSOPHICAL FRAMEWORK ..................................................... 23 Anti-Colonialism .................................................................................................................................................. 25 Socialism/Labor ................................................................................................................................................... 32 Human Rights ...................................................................................................................................................... 36 CHAPTER 4: THE MEMORIAL LANDSCAPE .................................................................................. 42 The Grand Pavilion – Porthcawl ........................................................................................................................... 42 The South Wales Miners’ Museum ...................................................................................................................... 53 iii The South Wales Miners’ Library ......................................................................................................................... 55 The National Waterfront Museum ....................................................................................................................... 61 National Library of Wales .................................................................................................................................... 66 CHAPTER 5: EXHIBITING MEMORY: TEMPORARY, MOBILE, AND PARTICIPATORY MEMORIALIZATION AND THE LET PAUL ROBESON SING! EXHIBITION ............................ 70 The Paul Robeson Exhibition ............................................................................................................................... 70 Participatory, Temporary, and Mobile Landscapes .............................................................................................. 72 Let Paul Robeson Sing!......................................................................................................................................... 79 CHAPTER 6: PAUL ROBESON, MEMORIALIZATION, AND WALES ........................................ 97 Socio-Political Factors in Welsh Memorialization................................................................................................. 97 The Productions of Scalar Social Relations ......................................................................................................... 104 Memorial Entrepreneurs ................................................................................................................................... 109 Philosophical Disconnects on the Landscape ..................................................................................................... 112 The Commemorative Power and Potential of Paul Robeson .............................................................................. 119 CHAPTER 7: CONCLUSION ............................................................................................................. 122 REFERENCES ....................................................................................................................................... 126 DISCOGRAPHY ................................................................................................................................... 151 FILMOGRAPHY .................................................................................................................................. 152 APPENDIX 1 ........................................................................................................................................ 153 APPENDIX 2 ........................................................................................................................................ 154 APPENDIX 3 ........................................................................................................................................ 155 iv LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1. A map depicting all the sites where Robeson personally interacted with in Wales (sojourns), sites where temporary commemorations in honor occurred (ephemeral), and sites where was or is a material presence of Robeson on the memorial landscape (March 2015) Source: author ................................................................................................ 6 Figure 2. This map shows the same data as the previous map, however only sites during Robeson's life are being highlighted by the large red icons (March 2015) Source: author ................................................................................................................................................. 7 Figure 3. The Grand Pavilion, Porthcawl, Wales (June 2014) Source: author ..................... 42 Figure 4. Audience of the South Wales Miners' Eisteddfod's Transatlantic Exchange on Oct. 7th, 1957 in the main auditorium of The Grand Pavilion Source: Morgan 2004, 108-109 .................................................................................................................................. 43 Figure 5. The Paul Robeson Room in The Grand Pavilion from the perspective of the elevator looking to the right (June 2014) Source: author ................................................. 46 Figure 6. The first of eight panels hanging in the Paul Robeson Room in The Grand Pavilion (June 2014) Source: author .................................................................................. 47 Figure 7. A framed image in the Paul Robeson Room of Robeson and Uta Hagen in their 1943 Othello production in New York (June 2014) Source: author ................................ 49 Figure 8. An author "selfie" with the Young Robeson bust (June 2014) Source: author .... 50 Figure 9. The Young Robeson bust, modeled from Paul Robeson Jr., and sitting in the corner of the Paul Robeson Room. (June 2014) Source: author ...................................... 50 Figure 10. A painting of Robeson hanging in the Paul Robeson Room based off of a 1940 photograph by Yousuf Karsh (June 2014) Source: author .............................................. 50 Figure 12. The Young Robeson bust in the foyer of The Grand Pavilion being appropriated into an event (n.d.) Source: Jennifer Wallen ..................................................................... 52 Figure 11. Some The Grand Pavilion staff have their photo taken with the Young Robeson bust in the main foyer of the Pavilion (n.d.) Source: Jennifer Wallen ............................ 52 Figure 13. The front entrance of the primary South Wales Miners' Museum building (June 2014) Source: author ............................................................................................................ 53 Figure 14. A vinyl record of the Transatlantic