Robert Robinson (engineer) facts for kids

Robert Nathaniel Robinson (born June 22, 1906 – died February 23, 1994) was a skilled toolmaker from Jamaica. He worked in the car industry in the United States. When he was 23, he was asked to work in the Soviet Union. Soon after he arrived in Stalingrad, he was attacked by two white American workers because of his race. These workers were arrested, put on trial, and sent out of the Soviet Union. This event was widely reported.

Robert Robinson first signed a one-year work contract in the Soviet Union. He liked it so much that he renewed his contract twice. After the attack, he felt it would be hard to go back to the US. So, he decided to become a Soviet citizen. He later earned a degree in mechanical engineering. For many years, he tried to get permission to visit other countries. Finally, in 1974, he was allowed to visit Uganda. There, he asked for safety and was given it. He married an African-American professor who was working in Uganda. In 1986, he was finally able to return to the United States. He became well-known for sharing his experiences from his 44 years living in the Soviet Union.

Robert Robinson's Early Life

Robert Robinson was born in Jamaica. When he was young, he moved with his parents to Cuba, where he grew up. His father left him and his mother when Robert was six years old. His mother was born in Dominica and had moved to Jamaica for work. Later, Robert and his mother moved to the United States and settled in Detroit. He went to local schools and became a very skilled toolmaker. He worked at the Ford Motor Company during a time when the car industry was growing fast.

In 1929, Ford Motor Company and the Soviet Union made a deal. They agreed to work together on a car factory in Gorky. This factory would build Model T cars. In 1930, a group from Russia visited Ford, where Robinson worked. The leader of the group offered Robert and other workers a one-year contract to work in the Soviet Union. The pay would be much higher. They were also promised free rent in a nice apartment, cleaning services, and a car. Robert was 23 years old. He was worried about losing his job because of the Great Depression and the unfair treatment of Black people in the United States. So, he accepted the offer.

Life in the Soviet Union

Robert Robinson arrived in Stalingrad on July 4, 1930. He started working at a tractor factory. He was the only African American among the workers from the United States. Soon after he arrived, two white American workers beat him. After this event, the Soviet newspapers made him a bit famous. They used his story to show how racism existed in America.

After his first year, he signed another contract. When his second one-year contract ended in June 1932, Robinson went to Moscow. He wanted to get a ticket to return to the United States. However, officials convinced him to sign another one-year contract. This time, he would work at a factory that made ball bearings. He was one of 362 "foreign specialists" at that factory. After Sergei Mironovich Kirov was killed on December 1, 1934, the special treatment for foreign workers ended very quickly.

In 1937, the US government told Robinson he had to return home or give up his American citizenship. Robinson chose to stay in the Soviet Union because the Great Depression was still happening. He became a Soviet citizen, though he later wished he hadn't. He managed to survive a difficult time when many foreign people he knew in Moscow disappeared between 1936 and 1939.

On June 22, 1941, Germany attacked the Soviet Union. From Soviet news reports, Robinson and others at his factory suspected that the Soviet army was losing badly. Many Russians went to church that day, which surprised Robinson. Even after 24 years of Communist rule, there were no priests to lead the services. During the rest of the war, the government allowed people to attend religious services.

Robinson survived the German invasion of Russia. Hitler's army was stopped only 44 miles from Moscow. During the war, he almost died from hunger. Some of his meals were just a few cabbage leaves soaked in warm water. Even with the war, the Soviets made sure people could continue their education. According to his own story, Robert Robinson graduated with a degree in mechanical engineering in July 1944. However, he did not receive his actual diploma until two years later.

In 1947, he acted in a film about Nicholas Miklouho-Maclay, playing a Black American character. He also helped with and acted in a Russian movie based on the American play Deep Are The Roots.

Robert Robinson's Return to the United States

After World War II, Robert Robinson tried to go back to the US. He asked the famous singer and actor Paul Robeson, who had visited the Soviet Union, to help him leave. Robeson refused, saying it would hurt his relationship with the Soviet leaders. From the 1950s onward, Robinson applied every year for a vacation visa to go abroad, but it was always denied.

Thanks to the help of two Ugandan ambassadors, Robinson was finally allowed to visit Uganda in 1974. He bought a round-trip ticket so no one would suspect his plan. Once in Uganda, he asked for safety, and Idi Amin temporarily granted it. In 1976, Robinson married Zylpha Mapp, an African-American professor working at a university in Uganda.

With the help of Ugandan officials and a US Information Service officer named William B. Davis, Robert Robinson was eventually allowed to re-enter the United States. He became a US citizen again in 1986. He lived in the US until he passed away in 1994. After returning, he gave many interviews. He shared his unique view of what life was like inside the Soviet Union. He was also featured in the Detroit Free Press newspaper. The Ford Motor Company honored him 60 years after he first started working there. He moved to Washington, D.C. with his wife.

After returning to the United States, Robert Robinson wrote his life story with writer Jonathan Slevin. It was published in 1988 as Black on Red: My 44 Years Inside The Soviet Union.

Robert Robinson died from cancer in 1994. His wife, William B. Davis, and Mathias Lubega, who was a former Ugandan ambassador to the Soviet Union, attended his funeral.

See Also

• Alexander Dolgun (1926–1986) – A person who survived a Soviet labor camp and returned to the United States.
• Thomas Sgovio (1916–1997) – An American artist who was held in a Soviet labor camp.
• Victor Herman (1915–1985) – An American who spent 18 years in Soviet labor camps in Siberia.
• George Padmore (1903–1959) – A writer and activist who studied in the US and moved to the Soviet Union.