The 5-part docu-series, “The Peekskill Riots” is a must-see event and movie-hunt. Made by filmmaker Jon Scott Bennett, this documentary explores local hidden history. According to the film’s website: “On August 27 and September 4th, 1949, violence broke out at two concerts held outside Peekskill, NY, headlined by Black singer, actor, and activist Paul Robeson. Citizens of Peekskill, galvanized by racist and anti-Semitic sentiments and disdain for Robeson’s left-wing views and campaign for civil rights, started two riots that resulted in hundreds of injuries, made national news, and unofficially marked the beginning of the McCarthy era, which would nearly erase Robeson from the public consciousness. Who was he? What did he do? What did he stand for? These questions must be answered in order to understand what brought him to Peekskill.

The Peekskill Riots is a major event involving violence and blacklisting, but is a hidden incident that is not mentioned, for example, in the Peekskill Museum. Should a news outlet cover it, said the filmmaker Jon Scott Bennett during his first screening at Beacon’s Howland Public Library, someone from the Peekskill Museum has been known to have allegedly written letters to that media outlet to ask them to shush about it. Being that A Little Beacon Blog is used to this letter-writing treatment by now, we will publish with gusto!

And we thought the Beacon riots of 1977 were bad (they resulted in the community coming together for Spirit of Beacon Day). After learning about The Peekskill Riots of 1949, involving a concert where 20,000 attended, several of whom were Jewish who had come up to the Hudson Valley to summer, who ended up being beaten by fellow white people, some who identified as Klu Klux Clan Members and “anti-Communist members of local Veterans of Foreign Wars and American Legion chapters,” according to Wikipedia. Jon Scott Bennett’s film exploring this is much more researched than that, but this gives you a taste. Makes one wonder…was the Spirit of Beacon Day a facade? To quickly and quietly shush everyone in 1977, after the Civil Rights Movement in the 1960s, and after the violent Peeksill Riots in 1949? It’s an event that is not taught or mentioned locally.

This invisibility of a huge event is what bothered filmmaker Jon Scott Bennett. A self described history enthusiast who was raised in the area, he was bothered that it took him until college to learn about the Peekskill Riots. And so began his quest and extreme deep dive into the Peekskill Riots, and the Afro-American man who it erased: Paul Robeson (here is Wikipedia, and here is PBS, but, PBS calls his devotion to fighting for equality for Black people “radical political beliefs,” so proceed with a critical eye).

The documentary is broken up into 5 parts. Filmmaker Jon calls them “episodes,” even though they are hugely in-depth. After the screening, an audience member asked if PBS and others had shown interest. Jon answered that he wants “freedom to express the message first. I want to focus on getting it into the heart of Peekskill first.” Episodes 1 and 2 are complete, and Episode 3 is nearly finished.

That’s why he is starting with the library circuit. The first screening was in Beacon. The second screening on June 8, 2024 will be near the scene of the crime, at the Peekskill Library.

The episodes Are about:

1: “The Mighty Oak In The Forest”
Introducing Paul Robeson. This builds him up so that you understand who he is by the time of the riots. To understand the significance of the loss of Paul Robeson.

This first episode of a 5-part docu-series serves not only as an introduction to the story of the concerts, but also introduces the headlining performer, Paul Robeson, the first and last casualty of The Peekskill Riots.

2: “The Friendly Town By The River”
The filmmaker wanted to next contextualize characterization of Peekskill as its own character. “To understand Peekskill during the Riots, we must first understand the forgotten past of the ‘Friendly Town’ by the River. The culture of hatred strengthened by the Ku Klux Klan shaped Peekskill for decades, while the working class, Jewish summer colonies of the region provided an opportunity for a progressive culture to blossom in the Hudson Valley. This second episode displays the duality of Peekskill’s long-lost history to contextualize the atmosphere of hate and those who would become victim to it.”

3: The Two Riots. This episode will lead up to the 2nd concert, which 20,00-30,000 people come out to support.

4: The Riot After The Second Concert.

5: The Aftermath. The Investigation. The social death contributing to literal death of Paul Robeson, according to the filmmaker. 

Who Was Paul Robeson

Paul Robeson was self described Afro-American man who was American bass-baritone concert artist, actor, professional football player, and activist who became famous both for his cultural accomplishments and for his political stances,” as described by Wikipedia. “His father, William, was of Igbo origin and was born into slavery. William escaped from a plantation in his teens and eventually became the minister of Princeton's Witherspoon Street Presbyterian Church in 1881.” During the film, we learn that he was forced out of that church.

Paul knew 11 languages, was valedictorian of his college class, and played professional football. After being racially ostracized from the legal profession soon after he entered it, despite winning his college’s oratorical contest 4 years in a row, his wife and consistent supporter of his theatrical talents encouraged him to pursue them professionally, which he eventually did. Bringing him to Peekskill for this concert in September of 1949 (Palestine had just gone through its first Nakba in 1947 when Israel was declared a state with the United State’s blessing over the land of Palestine).

The late local activist and celebrity Pete Seeger’s was also involved in the Peekskill Riots. The filmmaker will have you know very quickly that after the violent riot in Peekskill, where Klan members dragged some people from their cars and bashed their car windows while police stood by and a helicopter hovered over-head, Pete Seeger and Paul Robeson were both blacklisted as Communists. Pete Seeger, says the filmmaker, was unknown then, and was the opening act for Paul.

While Pete Seeger endured violence that night with a brick being through through the window of his car, he bounced back professionally. But Paul Robeson never got that chance to come back. Pete Seeger’s “Hold The Line” song was about the Peekskill Riots, says filmmaker Jon. “Reasons why Pete Seeger got his second wind, and Robeson didn’t, is another conversation,” Jon told the audience at the Beacon library. Jon’s mission is to tell the Robeson story, to breathe wind into his legacy.

Paul’s passport was taken by the United States government, making him unable to travel for singing work. He was stricken from the College Football All-American roster as part of his punishment for his activism for equality for Black lives. At his hearing, he refused to answer if he was a Communist, and responded: “I am not being tried for whether I am a Communist. I am being tried for fighting for the rights of my people, who are still second-class citizens in this United States of America,” according to the Zinn Education Project. He was inducted posthumously into the Rutgers College Football Hall of Fame in 1995. By the time Paul got his passport back from the federal government years later, Robeson’s mental and physical health were deteriorating, said the filmmaker.

But where Pete Seeger got a second chance and a come-back, Paul Robeson did not, for all of his major accomplishments, Jon told the Beacon audience. Paul Robeson was wiped from history, as the Peekskill Riots attempted to be. The mission of the filmmaker became to resurrect Paul Robeson’s life and legacy with this docu-series. “When the riots happened,” Jon told the Beacon audience, “Robeson and the victims (Jewish attendees) were blamed. After that, that was the excuse to blacklist and erase them.”

How To Watch The Full Series

Follow Jon’s Instagram, and sign up for A Little Beacon Blog’s newsletter for Event postings. On June 8th, 2024, the screening for the 2nd episode may be at the Peekskill Library. You can watch the fist episode and maybe subsequent ones on https://www.jonscottbennett.com/ and on YouTube.