Universal Negro Improvement Association letters

1925-1929

Uriah Gittens was the Executive Secretary of the New York Local of the Universal Negro Improvement Association (UNIA) during the 1920s. He appears to have assumed this position some time prior to the imprisonment of Marcus Garvey, founder and president of UNIA, in 1925. A collection of 24 letters (1925-1929) primarily written by Uriah Gittens, the Executive Secretary, New York Local of the United Negro Improvement Association (UNIA). The Gittens' letters detail the factionalism and infighting that plagued the UNIA at all levels and contributed significantly to the demise of the New York Local, as well as the creation of the Garvey Club. The letters are addressed to Marcus Garvey during his imprisonment in the Federal Prison in Atlanta, Georgia and later in Jamaica, West Indies following his deportation. Correspondents include George A. Weston, Vice-President of the New York Local-UNIA and William Sherrill, Acting President General, UNIA-Parent Body, relating to Weston's attempt to remove Gittens from the position of executive secretary of the New York Local.