GARVEY, MARCUS. Black Star Line Steamship Corporation. Large, accordion-style prospectus, made from a single elephant folio sheet (14 x 25 inches), folded to form six tall folio pages with illustrations from photographs; a few chips and closed tears; paper evenly toned. New York City: The Negro World, [Circa October 30, 1919]
The Black Star Line was to be Marcus Garvey's signature achievement in terms of offering black people a chance at economic parity with whites - however it would prove to be the weapon used by his avowed enemy, J Edgar Hoover to cause his downfall. As early as 1917, Garvey and his allies advocating economic and social parity with whites had set off alarms within the U.S. government, and its judicial arm, the F.B.I. J. Edgar Hoover was in charge of a special unit devoted to rooting out "seditious" individuals or groups, and Marcus Garvey was high on Hoover's list. From 1918 onward, the U.N.I.A. was completely infiltrated with informants. "Every Negro Should Buy Stocks in The Black Star Steamship Corporation. . .Will Open Up Untold Possibilities for the Race. . .You Can Buy From One to Two Hundred Shares at $5.00 Each." This elaborate brochure introduces Captain Cockburn, the Commander for the first ship-to be christened the Frederick Douglass. George Tobias, Jeremiah M. Certain, Ed. Smith-Green and other officers are pictured. Attached at the last page is a subscription blank for ordering shares. A full-page illustration of this prospectus appears at page 136 of Volume II of the U.N.I.A. Papers. No other copy of this prospectus is located by OCLC.
