In 1994, Frances P. Aulston and the West Philadelphia Cultural Alliance (WPCA) purchased the house where Paul Robeson lived the last 10 years of his life. They wanted it to be a legacy to a man who used his immense talents and powerful voice to speak out against racism and oppression all over the world, particularly in his own country.
Aulston and the WPCA set out on a campaign to renovate the house, keep it going with programs and other community activities and pay off the mortgage. To own it outright was her dream, which was assumed by Vernoca L. Michael after Aulston died in 2015.
That dream has now been realized. On Saturday, Jan. 25, 2020, Michael, WPCA/Robeson House volunteers and supporters gathered at the house at 4951 Walnut St. for a ceremonial mortgage-burning in honor of Aulston.
“Just to think that this mortgage is paid off is something that she really wanted,” said Michael. “The way it was structured somebody could have come in, picked it up and we would have been in la-la land.”
Aulston was the impetus behind the house, persuading friends, relatives and supporters to help her turn it into a center for arts in the community. The WPCA also bought the adjoining twin next door that houses administrative offices.
“Fran was the honey-do lady,” Arcenia McClendon, a longtime WPCA member and supporter, said at the ceremony. “Fran would honey-do this, honey-do that but there’s one thing about it. When Fran asked you to honey do something, you had to do it because Fran was the type of person she’s not going to ask you to do something she can’t do but at that particular time she probably had other things to do. She gave her life for this house.”
Today, the house has a small museum with memorabilia pertaining to Robeson’s life. The WPCA offers public tours and has attracted visitors from all over the world. The house is the home of the Paul Robeson Chess Club.
The WPCA has formed lasting partnerships with the Netter Center for Community Partnerships at the University of Pennsylvania, Paul Robeson High School, Sayre High School, among others. A year ago, WPCA joined with Scribe Video Center to produce a video – “Where Art Lives” – of both the house and its namesake.
One of Aulston’s honey-do people was her brother Thomas Norfleet, who attended the mortgage-burning.
“She would be so excited,” he said. “She would stay here at night just to get the feeling she owned (the house), that we all did. That was all in her mind. She put all she had into it. That’s all she’d tell her family. We have to own it.”
