UNIA Member in Full Uniform

Originally from Saint Ann's Bay, Jamaica, Marcus Garvey left at 23 and traveled throughout Central America and moved for a time to England. During his travels he became convinced that uniting Blacks was the only way to improve their condition. Towards that end, he departed England on June 14, 1914, aboard the SS Trent, returning to Jamaica on July 15, 1914. He traveled to the United States, where he founded the Universal Negro Improvement Association (UNIA) on August 1914 in Akron, Ohio. He intended it to unite all of Africa and its diaspora into one grand racial hierarchy. After traveling through the United States beginning in March 1916, Garvey inaugurated the New York Division of the UNIA in 1917 with 13 members. After three months, the organization's dues-paying membership reached 3, 500. The Pan-African organization enjoyed its greatest strength in the 1920s, and was influential in the United States prior to Garvey's deportation to Jamaica in 1927. After that its prestige and influence declined, but it had a strong influence on African-American history and development. UNIA member not identified, no photographer credited, undated

Restrictions Only for Ireland and United Kingdom

Colonization Communities Garvey Improvement Nationalism Negro Negroes Pan-africanism

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