Episode 4 of the Peekskill Riots documentary by filmmaker Jon Scott Bennett will have its public premiere
at The Field Library in Peekskill, on January 21 at 6:30 pm. The new episode also can be viewed at JonScottBennett.com.
On September 4, 1949, roughly 30,000 people were attacked after attending a Paul Robeson concert. A similar concert was prevented from happening the previous week by a racist and antisemitic mob.
The attacks thrust the small upstate community into a national controversy, prompting supporters of Robeson to organize a second concert to defend his right to perform and speak freely. With the Governor of New York State promising an unprecedented level of police protection, many felt secure in attending the concert, assuming violence would not break out again.
While the concert was peacefully conducted, attendees would be ambushed upon leaving the concert grounds. Projectiles and hateful epithets alike were hurled at the exiting cars and buses. Hundreds of attendees left the grounds bloodied, bruised, and outright maimed. The worst riot in the region’s history would unfold before the eyes of the world.
