The Marcus Garvey and Universal Negro Improvement Association Papers

The Marcus Garvey and Universal Negro Improvement Association Papers

Home

Documents

MEP

Home

Search

Copyright [year?], University of California Press. All rights reserved.

Article in the Sierra Leone Weekly News

[Freetown, 19 June 1920]

The Proposed Technical and Industrial School for Girls

A Reply to Ma Mashado

Shortly after originating the scheme, which was the outcome of her work with the Y.W.C.A., and previous to placing it before the public, Mrs. [Adelaide] Casely Hayford was selected President of the newly formed branch of the Women's Section of the U.N.I.A. She handed over the cut and dried scheme to them at the first meeting after her election, and it was warmly received by both sections of the U.N.I.A.
The idea of a house to house collection originated with Miss [Kathleen] Easmon, the Secretary, who herself prepared the way for the collections by notices, to the various Churches in the town.
Subscription lists were prepared and issued to any members, with the exception of the Vice-President, Mrs. Rollings, who expressed the desire for a collecting book—and Miss Evelyn Carew who kindly undertook to collect monies already forwarded to Mrs. Casely Hayford. Mrs. Easmon, "the Accra Delegate" referred to, informed Mrs. Casely Hayford of a fact, which had escaped her notice—that the U.N.I.A. had a lien on all monies collected in their name.
This "gave the h[i]atus to the coast excursion, and was the cause of the wrangle with the U.N.I.A. as to the legal interpretation of certain clauses in the Constitution."
On at least three occasions Mrs. Casely Hayford expressed her desire at the general meeting of the U.N.I.A., to make the scheme for a Girl's Technical and Industrial Training School an independent one—realizing to the full, that whilst it was under the auspices of the U.N.I.A., the question of finance would always be a serious handicap.
The attitude, however[,] taken up by this Association has made it imperative for her to sever all her connections with it and she is therefore no longer President of the Women's section.[1]
The boxes marked U.N.I.A. were opened and counted by the women's executive, the Treasurer requesting Miss Easmon at the time and also at subsequent meetings to take charge of the money, until the legal advice re its distribution had been received.
At the last women's meeting, which she attended, Miss Easmon handed over to the Treasurer the sum of £16. 4s. 8[d.], the exact amount collected not £15 as was stated in "Ma Mashado's" letter.
The £66 deposited in the Foundation Fund of the Girls' Technical and Industrial Training School, Bank of British West Africa,[2] was entirely collected by Mrs. Casely Hayford and Miss Easmon, with the exception of £3. 3s. collected by Miss Evelyn Carew.
I have in my possession a paper signed by the princip[al] donors stating that it was not their intention for their money to [be] used by the U.N.I.A.
Our subscription list as well as the results of the Concert will be published next week.
Printed in SLWN, 19 June 1920.
    
[1] The African World (London) noted that Hayford "resigned her presidency of the woman's section" of the UNIA "in order to devote her energies to the proposed Technical and Industrial School for Girls, of the Committee of which she is President" (31 July 1920).
    
[2] The Bank of British West Africa was founded in Lagos in 1894 by a group of businessmen headed by shipping magnate Alfred L. Jones, and had its head office in Liverpool. It was the most powerful bank in British West Africa throughout the colonial period, retaining this position even after the arrival of Barclay's Bank in 1926. When Jones died in 1909, Viscount Milner succeeded him as chairman and the head office was moved from Liverpool to London. By 1910 branches had been established in most major commercial areas within the territories and in Monrovia, and although approximately one quarter of the bank's deposits belonged to African customers, it was very difficult for these same customers to obtain loans. The bank, through an agreement with the colonial authorities, controlled the issue of all currency in the region until the West African Currency Board was created in 1912 (Allister Macmillan, ed., The Red Book of West Africa [1920; reprint, London: Frank Cass, 1968], pp. 297–299; A. G. Hopkins, An Economic History of West Africa [New York: Columbia University Press, 1973], pp. 201, 206–209).
Recommended Citation: The Marcus Garvey and Universal Negro Improvement Association Papers, ed. Robert A. Hill (Columbia, S.C.: Model Editions Partnership, 2000). Electronic version based on The Marcus Garvey and Universal Negro Improvement Association Papers, ed. Robert A. Hill, Volume 8, (Berkeley: University of California Press, [year?]). On the Web at http://mep.blackmesatech.com/mep/ [Accessed 30 March 2025]