The African Progress Union (APU) was founded in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

in 1918 as "an Association of Africans from various parts of Africa, the

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British Guiana British Guiana was a British colony, part of the mainland British West Indies. It was located on the northern coast of South America. Since 1966 it has been known as the independent nation of Guyana. The first known Europeans to encounter Guia ...

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and America, representing advanced African ideas in liberal education". The first president was John Archer. He was succeeded in 1921 by

John Alcindor John Alcindor (8 or 9 July 1873 – 25 October 1924) was a physician and activist from Trinidad who settled in London. He is known for his role in the African Progress Union, of which he became president in 1921. Life and career Alcindor was bor ...

. Others involved as founders included John Eldred Taylor,

Thomas Horatio Jackson Thomas Horatio Jackson (1879–1935) was a Nigerian newspaper editor and publisher, who has been called a "veritable titan of the Lagos Press". Jackson's career, like that of his father John Payne Jackson, has been said to "exemplify the militant ...

and

Dusé Mohamed Ali Dusé Mohamed Ali (; 21 November 1866 – 25 June 1945) was a Sudanese-Egyptian actor and political activist, who became known for his African nationalism. He was also a playwright, historian, journalist, editor, and publisher. In 1912 he foun ...

. In 1919, the Union briefly merged with the Society of Peoples of African Origin (SPAO), which had been founded in 1918. A short-term change of name to the Society of African Peoples was followed by the founder of the SPAO, Felix Hercules, becoming Secretary of the Union. Also in 1919 the APU paid for Edward Theophilus Nelson as defence counsel in the Liverpool trial of 15 black men, in the aftermath of racially motivated communal violence. Alcindor died in 1924; he was succeeded by Kwamina Tandoh. For some years he worked closely with John Barbour-James. The Union's 1925 meeting was attended by

Ethel Snowden Ethel Snowden, Viscountess Snowden (born Ethel Annakin; 8 September 1881 – 22 February 1951), was a British socialist, human rights activist and feminist. From a middle-class background, she became a Christian Socialist through a radical prea ...

and

Gordon Guggisberg Brigadier (United Kingdom), Brigadier-General Sir Frederick Gordon Guggisberg, (20 July 1869 – 21 April 1930) was a senior Canada, Canadian-born British Army officer and British Empire colonial administrator. He published a number of works on ...

. The APU was active until 1927., p. 13.

References

*Killingray, David (1994). ''Africans in Britain''. London: Routledge. Educational organisations based in the United Kingdom {{edu-org-stub