The Impact of Marcus Garvey in Newport News, Virginia
Marcus Garvey, who had already established two divisions of the Universal Negro Association in New York City, came to Newport News to launch the third division. Garvey, Plummer (one of the early members of UNIA), R.H. Taylor, and eight others met for dinner at Gaskins Café. They were impressed by Garvey’s ideas and arranged for him to speak at First Baptist Church on the 23rd and Jefferson in Newport News the following night. His message of Black pride, Pan-African unity, and economic uplift proved to connect with the audience when 100 people joined the Newport News division of the UNIA that night. Within six months of its establishment, the Newport News division had a roll of 3,000 to 4,000 members. By 1919, Newport News UNIA membership estimates were 7,000, making it the second-largest UNIA division outside New York.
Source: Mariners’ Museum and Park
