Feb 27, 2007 - Sale 2105

Sale 2105 - Lot 213

Price Realized: $ 6,240
?Final Price Realized includes Buyer’s Premium added to Hammer Price
Estimate: $ 1,000 - $ 1,500
(ISLAM.) DREW, NOBLE ALI. The Moorish Science Temple of America's First Annual Convention. Chicago . . . October 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 1928. Poster, 28x18 inches; with various vignette illustrations along the borders, text in columns, with a photo of Drew in the center; faint creases where folded. Chicago, 1928

Additional Details

Noble Ali Drew (1886-1929), born Timothy Drew in North Carolina, gave several versions of his life, all of which were colorful. In the one most generally offered, he said that he was the son of two former slaves, raised by Moroccan father and a Cherokee mother. After running off with a circus, he acquired a "lost version" of the Koran and was thus inspired to begin his Temple, loosely fashioned after Islam. After an internecine battle within the temple, Drew was accused of stabbing his rival. He was allegedly beaten while in police custody and died not long afterward.