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an =~ _~ P. 208 As tt as te PP. | , oh > ee et oe ob oh et Fale alt Ss ooo td Fo Sh oo oe Se ee oe eh ee Uae LYVILOZ. TiAnH7/¢ « UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT ro. ; ‘THE DIRECTOR *. DATE: May 3, 1947 | “A _ ’ rik. Se From: D. M. LADD vA we: Siar ' ¥- Ooo —<spayecT: = RACIAL UNREST CREATED ROBESON 'S 2 a SCHEDULED APPEARANCE AT ; INOIS a Ar. Penna The Daily Worker of April 19, 1947, reflects that a concert oe scheduled by es Robeson at Peoria, Illinois, was called off by the City sis sea Council. beson, according to the article, in a telephone statement to thafCouncil on African Affairs, Kew York City, assailed the Peoria City Council whi unanimously adopted a resolution condemning an appearance there of "any \ speaker or artist who is an avowed or agtive propagandist for un-American ideology. According to the article, Mayor Carl G@ Triebel had reversed an earlier approval for the use of the City Hall which was to be used for the reception of Paul Robeson by 4 citizen's committee. The Mayor's reversal, according to the article, was based on his fear of “riots or disturbances." In a statement the Mayor had inferred that "Robeson is coming here for a fight" because the singer had told the press of threats he hed received. According to this article Paul Robeson made the statement that he did "not intend to be:bullied™ and expressed conviction that "Peoria citizens, 7: feeling as I do, will demonstrate their own feelings against the un-American assault in their own way." os .. it was ascertained that several officials a2 6 Comm Party in Chicago discussed the reaction of the people in Peoria , =. after the scheduled singing engagement of Paul Robeson was banned and he was re- | fused the use of the Peoria Public Hall which is operated by the City of Peoria, Tllinois. Among those Communist officials present were GilbertyGreen, Chairman of District No. 8; Alfregfsagenkrecht, First Vice Chairman; Wil L tterson, negro, Second Vice Chairman,’ and JinxXeller, Organizer. William L. Patterson, according who it is known visited Peoria, Illinois, advised . the other Com present that he saw more guns down there "among our . / ty people® than he ever had before and that they expected violence. Alfred Wagenknecht asked Patterson if some of the boys had guns and Patterson said that everybody had = a gun. It is not known if Patterson referred to Communist Party members when used the words "among our people," or whether he referred to negroes in Peorla, l inasmuch as Patterson is 4& negro. | The Ministerial Association at Peoria has invited Paul Robeson to appear again in Peoria at some future date and he witt be allowed the use of a church to | make a speech allegedly against "Peoria oo RECOMMENDATION: st PG lo oO -laso 6b letter to MID with copies for ONI, also ohn ee this information to ; \ y ‘ALL mrcmaTt CONTAINED (fs ya Obymod = HEREIN I5 UlcLacSIFIER to your attention. There is attached for your approval a letter to the Attorney General their attantio 6 all ee ne alli ahd an bar My te 8 . ce tele A ag oe es Inasmuch as the above incident almost caused a riot,. it is being brought |