FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

Contact: Loren Silber - Phone: 212-923-8008

E-mail: education@morrisjumel.org

IN HONOR OF BLACK HISTORY MONTH THE MORRIS-JUMEL MANSION PRESENTS:

AN AFTERNOON WITH DR. MICHAEL MORRISON AND PAUL ROBESON JR.

DISCUSSING PIONEERING AFRICAN-AMERICAN ACTORS

IN MULTICULTURAL CASTING OF SHAKESPEARE

SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 26 AT 3:00

DUKE ELLINGTON ONCE CALLED THE MORRIS-JUMEL MANSION THE CROWN AT THE TOP OF SUGAR HILL, A MANHATTAN NEIGHBORHOOD WELL KNOWN FOR ITS AFFLUENT AND ARTISTIC AFRICAN AMERICAN POPULATION. TODAY, WE WILL HONOR ONE OF THE NEIGHBORHOOD’S MOST PROMINENT CITIZENS, PAUL ROBESON, AS WELL AS OTHER AFRICAN AMERICAN ACTORS WHOSE SKILLFUL INTERPRETATIONS HELPED STAGE SHAKESPEARE TO MORE ACCURATELY REPRESENT THE CULTURAL DIVERSITY OF MODERN AMERICAN SOCIETY. DR. MICHAEL MORRISON’S LECTURE IS ENTITLED "O WORTHY PIONEERS: PAUL ROBESON, EARLE HYMAN, JAMES EARL JONES AND THE EVOLUTION OF MULTICULTURAL CASTING IN SHAKESPEARE PERFORMANCE". HE WILL BE JOINED BY PAUL ROBESON JR. WHOSE INSIGHTS INTO HIS FATHER’S CAREER AS AN ARTIST AND AS A SOCIAL ACTIVIST ARE UNPARALLELED. BOTH SPEAKERS WILL PUNCTUATE THEIR DISCUSSIONS WITH RARE VIDEO AND AUDIO CLIPS FROM ROBESON’S AND OTHERS’ PERFORMANCES OF SHAKESPEARE, INCLUDING A LIVE AUDIO RECORDING OF ROBESON’S BROADWAY OTHELLO, AND INTERVIEW SEQUENCES FROM THE SHORT FILM, "PAUL ROBESON: TRIBUTE TO AN ARTIST". QUESTIONS ARE WELCOMED FROM THE AUDIENCE AND PARTICIPANTS WILL BE INVITED TO VIEW THE TWO RESIDENCES WHERE ROBESON RESIDED IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD SURROUNDING THE MANSION.

ADMISSION IS FREE

Seating is limited. Reservations are required. Call 212 923 8008.

Dr. Michael A. Morrison is a New York-based writer and teacher. Formerly a Shakespearean actor, he received his doctorate in theatre from the City University of New York and has contributed theatre and drama related articles and criticism to a number of publications including The new York Times, the Village Voice, the London Daily Telegraph, Stagebill, Theatre History Studies, Theatre Survey and New Theatre Quarterly. He is the author of John Barrymore, Shakespearean Actor (Cambridge University Press), which won the Theatre Library Association’s Special Jury Prize for Distinguished Achievement. He is currently working on a book about Paul Robeson’s productions of Othello.

Paul Robeson Jr. is the owner and archivist of the extensive Paul Robeson and Eslanda Robeson collections, served as his father's close aide and personal representative for more than 20 years. He is the author of Paul Robeson Jr. Speaks to America: The Politics of Multiculturalism and The Undiscovered Paul Robeson (Wiley, 2001), and served as a consultant for several documentary films about his father, an African-American scholar, performing artist and activist regarded as one of 20th-century America's most complex and intriguing persons. A graduate of Cornell University with a degree in electrical engineering, Paul Robeson Jr. earned memberships in two honor societies and was a star athlete in football and in track and field. After spending 25 years as a translator and publisher of Russian scientific journals in the fields of physics and engineering, he became an author, lecturer, journalist, archivist and consultant.

Morris-Jumel Mansion is Manhattan’s oldest house. Built in 1765 by British officer Roger Morris, the house was later inhabited by George Washington during the Battle of Harlem Heights in 1776 and the Jumel family from 1810 to 1865. The house, now a museum, is open to the public Wednesday through Sunday 10 am to 4 pm. The museum is located between 160th and 162nd Streets just east of St. Nicholas Avenue and can be easily reached via the C train to 163rd Street, the A train to 168th Street, 1/9 train to 157th Street or the M2, M3, M101 or M18 bus to 160th Street. Visit our web site at www.morrisjumel.org. The Morris-Jumel Mansion is part of the Historic House Trust of New York

THIS PROGRAM IS MADE POSSIBLE THROUGH THE NEW YORK COUNCIL FOR THE HUMANITIES SPEAKERS PROGRAM AND CRITERION FILMS.

MORRIS-JUMEL MANSION
65 Jumel Terrace a New York, New York 10032
(212) 923-8008
http://www.morrisjumel.org