GUIDE TO THE MICROFILM EDITION OF THE FBI INVESTIGATION FILE ON MARCUS GARVEY A Microfilm Publication by Primary Source Media Primary Source Media 12 Lunar Drive, Woodbridge, CT 06525 Tel: (800) 444-0799 and (203) 397-2600 Fax: (203) 397-3893 P.O. Box 45, Reading, England Tel: (+44) 1734-583247 Fax: (+44) 1734-394334 ISBN: 1-57803-352-7 All rights reserved, including those to reproduce this microfilm guide or any parts thereof in any form Printed and bound in the United States of America 2006 Table of Contents Publisher’s Note, iv Biographical Essay, v Reel Notes for FBI Investigation File on Marcus Garvey , 1 iii Publisher’s Note The microfilm publication of the Federal Bureau of Investigation Files is produced with the cooperation of the FBI, Washington, DC. The publisher does not claim copyright to the materials comprising this collection or to the accompanying guide. The documents were filmed in the exact order as supplied by the FBI. This microfilm edition of the Marcus Garvey Investigation File faithfully reflects the visual quality of the materials received from the FBI. Some of the pages received were very poor-quality electrostatic reproductions; gross illegibility of an original is indicated in this edition by a “Poor Quality Original” target above the page. iv Biographical Essay Marcus Garvey was born in St. Ann's Bay, Jamaica, on Aug. 17, 1887. He went to elementary school there and at the age of 14 became an apprentice in the printing trade. In 1903 he went to the capital, Kingston, to work as a printer. He soon became involved in public activities and helped form the Printers Union, the first trade union in Jamaica. He subsequently published a periodical called the Watchman . In 1910 began a series of travels that transformed Garvey from an average person concerned about the problems of the underprivileged to an African nationalist determined to lift an entire race from bondage and debasement. He visited Costa Rica, Panama, and Ecuador. After briefly returning home, he proceeded to England, where contacts with African nationalists stimulated in him a keen interest in Africa and in black history. In each country he visited, he noted that the black man was in an inferior position, subject to the whim, caprice, and fancy of stronger races. His reading of Booker T. Washington's Up from Slavery at this time also had great effect upon him. On his return in 1914 from England, where he had done further study, Garvey formed the Universal Negro Improvement Association (UNIA) and the African Communities League. These organizations were intended "to work for the general uplift of the Negro peoples of the world." In 1916 Garvey went to the United States to raise funds to carry on the work of his Jamaican organizations. He was immediately caught up in the agitation of the times, and his voice thundered in the evenings on the streets of Harlem in New York City. A New York branch of the UNIA was established, soon followed by branches in other cities in the United States, in Central and South America, and in the Caribbean. The expansion of the UNIA was fostered by its official organ Negro World, a newspaper published in English, Spanish, and French. Published in New York City from 1918 to 1933, it was succeeded by the monthly Black Man, which ran through the 1930s, published after 1934 in London. The Negro World reached out to black communities all over the world. It even penetrated into the interior of Africa, although the white rulers had banned it there. Garvey stressed the need for blacks to return to Africa for the building of a great nation, but he realized that until this was accomplished Africans needed to make themselves economically independent wherever they were. He encouraged blacks to start their own businesses, taking the commerce of their ghettos into their own hands. Together with the American clergyman Archbishop George A. McGuire, Garvey formed the African Orthodox Church. This was in accordance with one of his basic principles, for he believed that each race must see God through its own racial spectacles. The Black Christ and the Black Madonna were proclaimed at the UNIA convention of 1924. v The Black Star Line shipping company and the Negro Factories Corporation were to be the commercial arms of the Garvey movement. It was the failure of the shipping venture that gave Garvey's enemies their chance to destroy him. Investments in the line were lost, and Garvey was imprisoned in 1925 in the United States. After serving 2 years 10 months of a 5-year sentence, he was deported to Jamaica. Previously, his plans for colonization in Liberia had been sabotaged by the colonial powers who brought pressure to bear on the Liberian government. As a result, the land which had been granted to the Garvey organization for the settlement of overseas Africans was given to the white American industrialist Harvey Firestone, and the expensive equipment shipped to Liberia for the use of Garvey's colonists was seized. In Jamaica, Garvey attempted to enter local politics, but the restricted franchise of the time did not allow the vote to the black masses. He went to England and continued his work of social protest and his call for the liberation of Africa. He died in London on June 10, 1940. Marcus Garvey was married twice. His second wife, Amy Jacques, whom he married in 1922, bore him two sons. The Garvey movement was the greatest international movement of African peoples in modern times. At its peak, in 1922-1924, the movement counted over 8 million followers. The youngest cadres were taken in at 5 years of age and, as they grew older, they graduated to the sections for older children. Garvey emphasized the belief in the One God, the God of Africa, who should be visualized through black eyes. He told black people to become familiar with their ancient history and their rich cultural heritage. He called for pride in the black race--for example, he made black dolls for black children. His was the first voice clearly to demand black power. It was he who said, "A race without authority and power is a race without respect." In emphasizing the need to have separate black institutions under black leadership, Garvey anticipated the mood and thinking of the future black nationalists by nearly 50 years. He died, as he lived, an unbending apostle of African nationalism. The symbols which he made famous, the black star of Africa and the red, black, and green flag of African liberation, continued to inspire younger generations of African nationalists. ______________ Source: "Marcus Mosiah Garvey." Encyclopedia of World Biography , 2nd ed. 17 Vols. Gale Research, 1998. Reproduced in Biography Resource Center . Farmington Hills, Mich.: Thomson Gale. 2006. http://galenet.galegroup.com/servlet/BioRC vi FBI INVESTIGATION FILE ON MARCUS GARVEY ♦♦♦♦♦ Reel 1 2 FBI Investigation File on Marcus Garvey Type of Description Date Item letter To Edward J, Brennan from Director (William J. Burns) October 29, 1921 flyer Universal Negro Improvement Association, December 5-6, 1921 "All are cordially invited to hear the Hon. Marcus Garvey…" report Agent: unknown unknown memorandum "Memorandum for Mr. Hoover" November 6, 1921 letter To Edward J. Brennan from Director (William J. Burns) November 9, 1921 telegram To Burns (Washington DC) from Brennan (New York, NY) November 7, 1921 letter To Mr. Edward J. Brennan from Director (William J. Burns) November 13, 1921 report Agent: Mortimer J. Davis, New York, NY; Report Covers Period: November 15, 1921 November 18, 1921 flyer Black Star Line, Inc. "Management" n.d. flyer Black Star Line, "Best Opportunity Ever Offered the Race" n.d. flyer Black Star Line, "Colored Men! Would you like to be Ship Masters? Engineers?” n.d. flyer Black Star Line, "Invest your money in the most colossal, most prosperous negro n.d. industry of all times…" report Agent: Hopkins, Los Angeles, CA; Report Covers Period: November 16-17, 1921 November 17, 1921 letter To Director, Bureau of Investigation from Edward J. Brennan December 5, 1921 memorandum "Memorandum for Mr. Ruch" signed J.E. Hoover November 7, 1921 letter To Dr R.D. Simmons, Chief Inspector, Post Office Department from December 7, 1921 Director (William J. Burns) letter To Edward J. Brennan from Director (William J. Burns) December 6, 1921 report Agent: J.T. Flournoy (Washington DC), re. "Covering Meeting" November 21, 1921 Report Covers Period: November 20, 1921 letter To George F. Ruch from "800" [Confidential Employee 800] April 4, 1905 letter Handwritten letter n.d. report "Statement of Anthony Rudolph Silverston" n.d. letter To George F. Ruch from "800" [Confidential Employee 800] n.d. letter To George F. Ruch from "800" [Confidential Employee 800] n.d. booklet "Constitution and Book of Laws, made for the government of the Universal Negro August 1921 Improvement Association, Inc. and African Communities League Inc of the World" memorandum "Memorandum for the Files" December 9, 1921 report Agent: Maurice A. Joyce, Washington DC; Report Covers Period: December 6, 1921 December 13, 1921 letter To Mr. David H. Blair, Commissioner, Internal Revenue, Treasury Department from December 12, 1921 Director (William J. Burns) memorandum "Memorandum for Mr. Hoover" November 6, 1921 memorandum "Memorandum for Mr. Grimes" from J.Edgar Hoover November 10, 1921 letter Handwritten letter from Chicago, IL December 28, 1921 letter To Chicago, IL from Director (William J. Burns) January 9, 1922 memorandum "Memorandum for the File" by W. Lewis January 3, 1922 letter To Director, Bureau of Investigation, Washington DC from Edward J. Brennan, Division October 20, 1921 Superintendent, Bureau of Investigation, New York report Location: New York, NY January 4, 1922 letter To Director from Edward J.