This week, a pair of events in Westchester County will recognize the 75th anniversary of the Peekskill Riots. In August 1949, an outdoor concert by Black singer and activist Paul Robeson was cancelled after a mob including white supremacists attacked the crowd. Robeson would return to perform for more than 20,000 supporters in Peekskill that September 4th, but many concertgoers were attacked on the way home.
On Thursday at 6 p.m., the Living Artist Society is sponsoring a gala at the site of the riots, which is now the Hollow Brook Golf Club in Cortland Manor. On Sunday at 3 p.m., the Paramount Hudson Valley Theater in Peekskill will host a performance by Grammy Award-winning singer Mark S. Doss featuring Robeson’s catalogue.
WAMC Hudson Valley Bureau Chief Jesse King spoke with organizer Wendy Talio to learn more. Talio says the riots are a key moment in the region’s history that helped set the stage for the civil rights movement.
