Universal negro improvement association

International black fraternal and philanthropic organization founded in 1914 by Marcus Garvey. Originally designed to promote Pan-Africanism, it later developed into a radical political organization which advocated the repatriation of blacks to Africa.

From the description of Records 1921-1986. (Rhinelander District Library). WorldCat record id: 17975241

The Universal Negro Improvement Association and African Communities League (UNIA) was founded in Jamaica on August 1, 1914, by Marcus Garvey. The organization is also known as the UNIA-ACL or simply the UNIA. The motto of the organization is "One God! One Aim! One Destiny!" After traveling throughout the United States in early 1916, Garvey established the New York Division of the UNIA in 1917. In August of 1918, the UNIA began publishing The Negro World, a weekly newspaper, which reported UNIA activities until it ceased publication in 1933. By 1920, the UNIA had over 1,000 divisions in more than 40 countries. That same year, it held its first international convention in New York, New York, which put forth a program based on "The Declaration of Rights of the Negro Peoples of the World." After Garvey's conviction and imprisonment on mail fraud charges in 1925 and his deportation to Jamaica in 1927, the organization began to take on a different character and internal rivalries prevailed. As a result, the UNIA continued to be officially recognized as the Universal Negro Improvement Association and African Communities League, but a rival "UNIA-ACL August 1929 of the World" emerged, headed by Marcus Garvey himself after his deportation to Jamaica. From Jamaica, Garvey settled in England where he established and headed the UNIA 1929, until his death in 1940. Upon Garvey's death, James R. Stewart, a commissioner from Ohio, was named the successor and in 1949 moved the parent body headquarters to Monrovia, Liberia. Unhappy with this development, a rehabilitating committee held a conference in Detroit, Michigan. The committee denounced the leadership of Stewart and the UNIA became fragmented once again. Former High Chancellor Thomas W. Harvey became President General of the new faction and an international UNIA headquarters was established in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1951. At the first International Convention held in August 1953, William LeVan Sherrill was elected President General and served until he resigned due to ill health in December 1958. Harvey stepped in to finish Sherrill's term and was then elected President General in August 1959, a post he held for nearly 20 years, until his death in June 1978.

From the description of Universal Negro Improvement Association records, 1916-1989. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 123411017

International self-help organization founded in 1914 by Marcus Garvey (1887-1940) in Jamaica.

From the description of Universal Negro Improvement Association miscellaneous collection, 1918-1948 (bulk 1920-1929) (New York Public Library). WorldCat record id: 456430324

From the guide to the Universal Negro Improvement Association miscellaneous collection, 1918-1948, 1920-1929, (The New York Public Library. Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, Manuscripts, Archives and Rare Books Division.)

The Universal Negro Improvement Association (UNIA) was founded in Jamaica in 1914 by Marcus Garvey. Originally designed as a fraternal and philanthropic organization advocating pan-Africanism, based partially on the writings of Booker T. Washington, the UNIA developed into a radical political organization that at one time advocated the repatriation of blacks to Africa. Garvey came to the United States in 1916 with hopes of expanding the UNIA. By 1925 approximately nine hundred divisions were chartered in the United States and nearly five hundred more were chartered world wide. Garvey's philosophy emphasized material and economic success, and to these ends the UNIA established several businesses, including the Black Cross Navigation and Trading Company, and the Black Star Steamship Company. These enterprises failed and Garvey was arrested in 1922 on charges of mail fraud in connection with these and other UNIA business ventures. He was imprisoned, and finally, deported to Jamaica. The UNIA, Inc. split into separate factions following the deportation of Marcus Garvey to Jamaica in 1927, and in 1929 Garvey officially denounced the UNIA, Inc. operating out of New York and established the Universal Negro Improvement Association and African Communities League, August 1929 of the World ("UNIA-ACL 1929"). In an effort to salvage the UNIA Garvey moved its base of operations to London, England, where he ran the organization until his death in 1940.

Following Garvey's death, the UNIA Parent Body headquarters was moved to New York City and the organization was managed by a Secretary General. At an emergency conference in August 1940, James R. Stewart, Commissioner for the state of Ohio, was elected Acting President General, succeeding Marcus Garvey in that office. The UNIA headquarters was again moved, this time to Cleveland, Ohio. An international convention held in 1942 re-elected Stewart President General. At the same time a group of UNIA members who were disenchanted with Stewart met in New York and formed a Rehabilitating Committee, the goal of which was to rebuild the organization based on the principles of Marcus Garvey, which the committee felt Stewart had abrogated. This committee functioned independently of Stewart's organization throughout the 1940s.

In 1949 Stewart took Liberian citizenship and moved the UNIA Parent Body headquarters to Monrovia, West Africa. His departure from the United States prompted the Rehabilitating Committee to elect its own president general. Henceforth, two separate organizations, both calling themselves the Universal Negro Improvement Association, operated in the United States. Stewart continued to govern from Africa, and a new headquarters was established by the Rehabilitating Committee in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, presided over by Thomas Harvey, the former UNIA High Chancellor.

Stewart ran the UNIA until his death in 1964. The parent body office was then moved from Monrovia to Chicago, Illinois, where it was run by James A. Bennett (1965-1968), and Vernon Wilson (1968-1975). Upon Wilson's death the president generalship fell to Cleveland chapter president and Executive Vice President Mason Hargrave, who moved the organization's headquarters back to Cleveland. Cleophus Miller (b. 1952) became president of the UNIA upon the death of Mason Hargrave in 1988. In 2007, the UNIA-ACL 1929 and UNIA, Inc. held a unification conference and have operated as a single organization known as the Universal Negro Improvement Association and African Communities League, 1918 and 1929 of the World, since that time.

click here to view the Encyclopedia of Cleveland History entry for the Universal Negro Improvement Association

From the guide to the Universal Negro Improvement Association Records, 1919-1986, (Western Reserve Historical Society)