First Pan-African Conference

First Pan-African Conference
Henry Sylvester Williams · Public domain · source
Name	First Pan-African Conference
Caption	Delegates at the 1900 conference, including W. E. B. Du Bois, Bishop Alexander Walters, and others
Date	23–25 July 1900
Venue	Central Hall, Westminster
Location	London, United Kingdom
Organized by	Henry Sylvester Williams, Pan-African Association, William Edward Burghardt Du Bois
Participants	W. E. B. Du Bois, Bishop Alexander Walters, Henry Sylvester Williams, Samuel Coleridge-Taylor, Henry Francis Downing, Bishop Joseph Parker, Orishatukeh Faduma, Dr. Edward Wilmot Blyden
Outcome	Resolutions on anti-colonialism, anti-racism, self-government, appeals to powers

First Pan-African Conference

The First Pan-African Conference convened in London from 23 to 25 July 1900 under the initiative of Henry Sylvester Williams and attracted activists, clergy, scholars, and politicians including W. E. B. Du Bois and Bishop Alexander Walters, who debated colonial rule, racial discrimination, and self-determination across the African continent, the Caribbean, and the United States. The gathering produced resolutions aimed at ending abuses in Congo Free State, opposing lynching, and petitioning imperial capitals such as Paris, Berlin, and Brussels for redress. The conference marked an early institutional expression of Pan-Africanism and influenced later forums like the Pan-African Congresses and leaders such as Kwame Nkrumah, Marcus Garvey, and Jomo Kenyatta.

Background

By 1900, debates over imperialism and race intersected with movements led by figures from Sierra Leone, Liberia, Trinidad and Tobago, Barbados, Jamaica, and United States Black communities, where concerns about Congo Free State abuses under King Leopold II and discriminatory laws in United States states provoked activists such as Edward Wilmot Blyden and Henry Francis Downing. Intellectuals like W. E. B. Du Bois—then associated with Atlanta University and Harvard University—brought scholarship on The Souls of Black Folk-era themes into transatlantic organizing alongside musicians such as Samuel Coleridge-Taylor and clergy from Methodist Church of Great Britain and African Methodist Episcopal Church. The climate included diplomatic tensions following the Scramble for Africa and public campaigns by societies like Aborigines Protection Society and newspapers such as The Times and The Voice of the Negro.

Organizers and Key Participants

The conference was primarily organized by Henry Sylvester Williams, a lawyer from Trinidad and Tobago resident in London, who formed the Pan-African Association and enlisted support from activists including Bishop Alexander Walters of the African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church, W. E. B. Du Bois—a delegate from United States academia—and Caribbean leaders like Henry Francis Downing and John Archer. Other delegates included West African intellectuals such as Edward Wilmot Blyden, Yoruba figures connected to Ifá-linked communities like Orishatukeh Faduma, and diasporic organizers linked to newspapers including Negro World and The Freeman (Indianapolis). The meeting drew clergy from Church of England, advocates associated with Anti-Slavery and Aborigines Protection Society, and scholars linked to Oxford University and Cambridge University.

Proceedings and Resolutions

Over three days at Central Hall, Westminster, delegates debated motions introduced by Williams and Du Bois that addressed abuses in the Congo Free State, unequal treatment under laws in the United States, and the rights of subjects in colonies administered by United Kingdom, France, Belgium, and Germany. Resolutions called for petitions to the cabinets of Queen Victoria, Émile Loubet, Leopold II, and Kaiser Wilhelm II demanding inquiry into forced labor and human-rights violations, remediation for victims, and equality before the law for people of African descent. The meeting adopted statements denouncing lynching and racial violence, urged reform of colonial administrations in West Africa, East Africa, and Southern Africa, and proposed the creation of networks linking organizations such as the African Association and nascent Pan-African bodies. Drafts were circulated to editors of periodicals like The Crisis-precursors and to legislators in United Kingdom and United States.

Immediate Outcomes and Reactions

Newspapers in London, New York City, Paris, and Brussels reported varying reactions: some conservative papers criticized the gathering as radical, while abolitionist and reform journals praised its moral urgency, prompting responses from figures connected to British Parliament and societies like the London Society for the Extension of University Teaching. Delegates such as Du Bois published accounts that circulated through networks tied to Atlanta University and Fisk University alumni, and petitions reached diplomatic channels in Berlin and Washington, D.C.. The conference led to the formal establishment of the Pan-African Association and spurred follow-up meetings among diasporic societies in Kingston, Jamaica, Accra, Freetown, and Sierra Leone.

Legacy and Historical Significance

Historically, the conference is cited as a foundational moment for Pan-Africanism, influencing later gatherings such as the 1919 Pan-African Congress convened by Du Bois and C.L.R. James-era organizers and shaping ideologies of leaders including Kwame Nkrumah, Jomo Kenyatta, Sekou Touré, Haile Selassie, Marcus Garvey, and Garveyism proponents. It prefigured international human-rights campaigns against abuses in the Congo Free State that pressured institutions like the Belgian Parliament and International African Association-linked actors. The conference's resolutions and networks contributed to the emergence of anti-colonial parties, trade unions, and intellectual currents at University College London, Howard University, and Pan-African Congress successors, informing debates at later forums including the United Nations era decolonization efforts and independence movements across Africa and the Caribbean. Its archive and press coverage remain key sources for scholars at institutions such as School of Oriental and African Studies, Institute of Commonwealth Studies, and Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture studying early transatlantic Black internationalism.

Category:Pan-Africanism Category:1900 in London Category:Anti-imperialism