The 27th stamp in the Black Heritage Series was issued on January 20, 2004. The First Day Ceremony was held beginning at 10 A.M. in the Richardson Auditorium of Alexander Hall at Princeton University in Princeton, New Jersey with Amy Gutmann, Princeton University Provost presiding. The ceremony was free and open to the public.

Presentation of Colors was by the Princeton University ROTC. Murry E. Weatherall, Vice President of Diversity Development for the Postal Service will dedicate the stamp. Tribute speakers included: U.S. Representative Rush Holt, New Jersey Secretary of State Regina L. Thomas, Princeton University President Shirley M. Tilghman and Paul Robeson, Jr.

First Day Ceremony Program and First Day Covers of the January 20, 2004
Paul Robeson issue produced by members of the ESPER Stamp Club 

Paul Robeson was born on April 9, 1898 in Princeton, New Jersey; the son of a former slave turned preacher. He attended Rutgers University in New Brunswick, N.J., where he was an All-America football player and graduated at the head of his class.

Paul rejected a career as a professional athlete and instead entered Columbia University where he obtained a law degree in 1923, however he was unable to find work as a lawyer because of the lack of opportunity for African Americans in the legal profession. Paul began his acting career in 1921 and he made his stage debut in London in 1922. He joined the Provincetown Players, a New York theatre group that included playwright Eugene O'Neill, and appeared in O'Neill's play All God's Chillun Got Wings in 1924. Paul starred in the title role of O'Neill's The Emperor Jones playing to sold-out crowds in New York City (1924) and in London (1925). He also starred in the film version of the play in 1933. In addition to his other talents, Paul had a superb bass-baritone singing voice. In 1925 he gave his first vocal recital of African American spiritual songs in Greenwich Village, New York. He became world famous as Joe in the musical play Show Boat with his version of Ol' Man River. His characterization of the title role in Othello in London (1930) won high praise, as did the Broadway production in 1943, which set an all-time record run for a Shakespearean play on Broadway.

Increasing political awareness impelled Robeson to visit the Soviet Union in 1934, and from that year he became increasingly identified with strong left-wing commitments, while continuing his success in concerts, recordings, and theatre. In 1950 the U.S. State Department withdrew his passport because he refused to sign an affidavit disclaiming membership in the Communist Party. In the following years he was virtually ostracized for his political views, although in 1958 the Supreme Court overturned the affidavit ruling. Robeson then left the United States to live in Europe and travel in countries of the Soviet bloc, but he returned to the United States in 1963 because of ill health.

Paul appeared in a number of films, including Sanders of the River in 1935, Show Boat and Song of Freedom in 1936, and The Proud Valley in 1940.  Paul Robeson's autobiography, Here I Stand, was published in 1958.

Paul Robeson Died in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on January 23, 1976.

Source: 
Encyclopedia Britannica