Paul Robeson Centennial Project records consist of correspondence, promotion flyers, announcements, committee notes, artwork, newspaper articles, copies of declassified F.B.I. files, books, booklets, and photographs all related to Paul Robeson, the Chicago Paul Robeson Centennial Committee's work to celebrate Robeson’s 100^th birthday, as well as other committees in the U.S. and Europe, and the efforts by the Committee for the creation of a U.S.P.S. commemorative stamp of Robeson.

Early in 1996 Woodie White, Vice President of College Relations and Development (later called Institutional Advancement), Dr. Samuel A. Floyd Jr., Director of the Center for Black Music Research, and Morris Phibbs, Coordinator for Outreach and Development for the Center for Black Music Research, met with Nancy Mikelsons of the Paul Robeson 100^th Birthday Committee to discuss the possibility of Columbia College Chicago’s involvement with arranging, developing, and organizing various Paul Robeson centennial projects for the 100^th Birthday celebration to take place in 1998. Later that year, Mark Rogovin, founder of The Peace Museum in Chicago, and Fred Fine, Columbia College Chicago Trustee and Director of Public Affairs (part of College Relations and Development) were also involved with these discussions. Mark Rogovin was hired April 1, 1997 by Columbia College Chicago and began his position as Project Consultant for the Paul Robeson Centennial Project (at Columbia College).

Rogovin’s role was to: act as liaison between the Center for Black Music Research and the Paul Robeson Centennial Project (at Columbia College) and community groups planning events to honor Robeson; facilitate the efforts to bring Jessye Norman to Chicago; work with the local public television station representatives at WTTW and the CBMR staff in aspects of the Jessye Norman concert; coordinate aspects of the Paul Robeson film festival, co-sponsored by Columbia College and the Harold Washington Library; serve as a resource to professors and teachers planning courses on Paul Robeson; facilitate planning and implementation of a symposium on Paul Robeson, acting as advisor to professors and staff at the College; and to interweave work between the Paul Robeson Centennial Project at Columbia College and the Paul Robeson 100^th Birthday Committee, as appropriate and where beneficial in promoting the work of the College.

Rogovin also worked with Dr. Margaret Burroughs, co-founder of the DuSable Museum of African American History, located on Chicago’s south side, to bolster the enthusiasm and efforts of many African-American and white celebrities, historians, U.S. politicians, and other notable persons, such as President Bill Clinton, journalist and historian Studs Terkel, actor, singer, and activist Harry Belafonte, and musician, singer and activist Pete Seeger, to name but a very few.

Connecting and sharing information with other Paul Robeson Centennial Committees throughout major cities in the U.S. as well as in New Zealand, Australia, Germany, Japan, Russia, and elsewhere, the Chicago Paul Robeson Centennial Committee organized petitions which were sent to the United States Postal Commission requesting a commemorative stamp be created in Robeson’s memory; in 2004, their efforts were rewarded.

Though the Chicago Paul Robeson Centennial Committee disbanded between 1999 and 2001, there are still numerous committees and websites devoted to remembering Paul Robeson, the actor, athlete, singer, and activist.