September 4, 1949
Thousands of people loved Paul Robeson. When they felt that he was in danger they decided to come and stand by him. Meanwhile in Peekskill, petitions were filed by concert organizers asking for police protection. Nervous authorities met. The Catholic War Veterans met and planned a counter demonstration. Counter petitions were filed asking that they not be allowed to march at the same place and at the exact same time. Steve Swego agreed to let his property be used for the concert. Some say that he was a survivor of the Holocaust.
Ordinary people like Ruth McFadden grew afraid and yet managed to speak out in the public exchange of viewpoints..
*September 2, 1949: Letter to the Editor, Peekskill Evening Star
Sir:
You have performed an important service to the people of Peekskill in the last two weeks by giving the most complete coverage possible to both sides of a highly controversial issue that was catapulted into the national spotlight overnight.
An aroused citizenry of Peekskill may feel duty bound to protest pollution of out political philosophy, just as we should protest pollution of the Hollow Brook itself - and for the same reason. It is unhealthy and not in the interest of the common weal.
I plead with the leaders of this affair to give us a Sunday afternoon Peekskill will remember with pride. I would like to suggest that we hear an impromptu program by our newly organized civic band and that a contribution be solicited for our Peekskill Hospital, a democratic institution which all loyal Peekskillians and neighbors are currently striving to support. Let us put our own house in order before aiding and abetting an extra territorial scheme.
Ruth N. McFadden
What was happening in Peekskill reflected what was going on all over the country. Defense Secretary Louis Johnson visited Peekskill and spoke to the American Legion about the dangers of the Russian enemy. He complimented them on being "awake" to the dangers posed by the Soviet Union. This article about his speech appeared the day of the concert.
September 3 ,1949, Peekskill Evening Star
Peace Through Power
"We will build our ramparts so strong that no aggressor will dare attack us."
That was the declaration of Defense Secretary Louis Johnson before the American Legion. It may be taken as the policy of the national administration. Secretary Johnson did not mince words.
Twice in our life time, he reminded, we have had peace within our hands and twice we lost it. If we make the same mistake the third time it may be our last chance. Secretary Johnson made no mystery as to what possible aggressor he had in mind. He named Russia bluntly. Into every political vacuum, which developed after World War ll, he told the Legion, she has pushed with propaganda and military force, dropping the iron curtain to envelop each new conquest.
Already we have gone a long way to correct the mistake of our demobilization stampede. We can have peace, said Secretary Johnson, if we want it - but only if we are prepared to fight for it. Now that we are fully awake, we are grimly determined that history shall not repeat itself.
Concert Guards Surrounding the Concert Site
Many young veterans and union members felt moved to come and protect what they had gone to war for - democracy. Plans were made for two thousand men, many of them wearing uniforms or union hats, to create a living wall around the concert area. They left the city in buses and arrived at the concert grounds early on the morning of Sept. 4, well before the police. Many carried baseball bats.
The site was a natural amphitheater with a wooded ridge surrounding sloping hills leading down to a large tree where the stage was constructed. District 67, the Garment and Fur workers Union took the lead in organizing the security for the concert. Leon Strauss assumed command of this civilian army. When the police showed up later in the day there was a confrontation and the police were asked to leave, which under the law, they were required to do since this was a private event. Two thousand men circled the concert area and quite literally stood shoulder to shoulder. Paul Robeson Junior tells the story of how fifteen men were chosen to guard Paul Senior on the stage. They drew straws and the first man to draw a short straw sat down and cried. Other teams patrolled the hills and found two sniper nests. The men in them had rifles with telescopic sights. The rifles were destroyed, the men roughed up and escorted from the grounds.
Of course it wasn't all emotion and principal. Economics played a role in what was unfolding as well. Peekskill was a company town and that company was Standard Brand. Standard Brand was the largest yeast factory in the country during the war. Joel Mitchel and George Stover ran Standard Brand. They had hired up to 1,200 in their factory during the war. Now employment was down to 770. There was fear of union organizing and organizers. They were also major advertisers in the Peekskill Evening Star and friends with Editor Albertson.
The battle lines were drawn. The day before the concert the Peekskill Evening Star ran one last editorial entitled Wake Up America, a slogan that was later publicized around the world
September 3, 1949, Editorial, Peekskill Evening Star
Wake up America! Peekskill Incident
Leaders of veterans organizations of the Peekskill area have taken a firm stand in their decision to protest the reappearance of Paul Robeson tomorrow afternoon by staging a demonstration parade which, at this moment, gives every indication of turning into one of the largest assemblies in the history of Peekskill.
While there is a possibility that a last minute decree by Governor Thomas E. Dewy, in the interest of public safety might call off either or both demonstrations, both the Robesonites and the veterans are proceeding with their plans and the law enforcement authorities are marshaling forces to cope with what in all probability will be a rally and counter - rally of very considerable dimensions and significance.
We commend last night's organizing group for the rigid insistence with which they charged leaders of all participating veteran organizations to assume absolute and complete responsibility for the peaceful and orderly behavior of their ranks. We are also happy to see that police authorities are making what appears to be adequate provisions for any eventuality.
We are still wholeheartedly in support of all who feel it their patriotic duty to protest in a legal and peaceful way against the alien ideology of Paul Robeson and his political followers.
The issue is clear and real and in pungently expressed in the posters appearing around town:
WAKE UP AMERICA: PEEKSKILL DID!
Paul Robeson on Stage Surrounded by Concert Guards
Members of District Council 65
People are complex, even then it was not possible to generalize. There were veterans on both side of this issue and not all union members agreed with the action of District Council 65. Gus Hellman, a member of DC 65, talks about some of the organizing meetings held early in the week "between the Peekskills." The doors were locked so that no one could leave and members were required to leave keys or other identification to even go to the bathroom in order to ensure their return. Many strategies were discussed about how to best meet the anticipated local opposition to the concert. Concert guards were encouraged to bring baseball bats, which were legal. They boarded buses in New York City at three in the morning to arrive at the site and secure the area.
And so they came: concert guards, concert goers, counter demonstrators...
State Troopers
Most accounts concur that there was no physical violence during the concert. Eyewitness reports say that the police helicopter flying overhead made it was difficult to hear the music. State troopers and other police were stationed at intervals along the road. Entry into to grounds was along a narrow local road. Counter demonstrators marched on the same road, at the same time, going in the opposite direction. There were frequent verbal assaults and exchanges but the organized presence of concert guards wearing union and military insignia caused as uneasy stand off.
It was when the concert was over that violence erupted. Eyewitnesses say that as the concert goers left the grounds they were all directed, by State Police, the same way down Oregon Road. There were people along the road waiting with piles of rocks. Pete Seeger talks about the young man who stood by the roadside next to a large pile of rocks which he hurled at the windshield of each passing car. Pete's windshield was smashed as his wife and children ducked to the floor. He stopped to ask an officer to stop the assault and was told to move along, much to relief of the driver in the car behind him who was being pummeled. Elen Perlo recalls the same thing as she traveled the gauntlet of rocks and epithets all the windows in her car were smashed. Some cars were turned over and rolled down hills. Many of the bus drivers who had brought people up from New York City did not return to their busses. People were stranded and the concert guards were the last to leave the area. A contingent marched to Mohegan Lake Colony where they spent the night since they had no transportation back to the city.
What happened in Peekskill and the surrounding area made headlines around the world. Reports were prepared and hearings were held to determine the official version of what happened on September 3. Hearing were held and testimony heard over a period of many months. The official report exonerated the police who had firm instructions to remain at their stations. The American Civil Liberties report which was issued about the same time came to very different conclusions. Some of those who had been assaulted attempted to pursue a class action suit with a young lawyer recently out of law school. Her name was Bella Abzug. Her advice was that while the evidence was there, the chances of winning a suit in the current political climate was practically non- existent. Years later Pete Seeger found that he was denied permission to perform in a New York school because he had filed a law suite against the state of New York. He used the rocks which had been thrown through the windshield of his car in the construction of the chimney which warmed the log cabin he was building in Beacon, New York. He also wrote a song with Lee Hays called Hold the Line. The chorus of the song speaks of holding the line for truth and justice, holding the line in Peekskill, holding it everywhere.
It has been said that everything that happens is the perfect unfolding of all that has gone before. History unexamined is history destined to repeat itself. How do we define our sense of community? Who are our neighbors?
Now is the time to look at what happened then and see the repercussions it has in our community today. Now is the time for change... a time for dialog... a time for understanding and reconciliation. A time to look at what brings us together, not at what divides us.
It is fitting to close with the words of Paul Robeson: "to be free, to walk the good American earth as equal citizens, to live without fear, to enjoy the fruits of our toil, to give our children every opportunity in life - that dream which we have held so long in our hearts is today the destiny that we hold in our hands.
Voices of History Video Project