Pre-Independence
The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines liberty hall as, “a place where one can do as he likes.” Inspired by the Irish movement for independence from English rule, Garvey named the Universal Negro Improvement Association/African Communities League (UNIA-ACL) headquarters Liberty Hall after Liberty Hall in Dublin, Ireland which was the symbolic seat of the Irish Revolution. Eventually, the name was given to several spaces established by National Hero, Marcus Garvey for the development and processing of ideas for intellectual and spiritual upliftment, and as shrines of ‘Negro inspiration and the cradle of Negro Liberation’.
The Kingston Division of the Universal Negro Improvement Association/African Communities League (UNIA-ACL) bought Liberty Hall in 1923 at 76 King Street which served as the headquarters for the Kingston Division. The establishment of the two-storey, wooden structure was made possible from funds raised by the members of the Kingston Division; it cost £800. Liberty Hall Kingston was the first meeting place in Jamaica that was fully owned and operated by Blacks.
On Garvey’s return to Jamaica in December 1927, a large crowd gathered from the United Fruits Company Pier all the way to Liberty Hall to greet him. The crowd at Liberty Hall was so big that it spilled over into the street. On Garvey’s arrival to the gate, he found an extremely large crowd waiting inside the property and an even larger one on the outside. Consequently, he decided that he would stay on the outside so everyone would have a fair chance of seeing and hearing him. He climbed onto the roof of the car he was travelling in and gave a three-minute address to the crowd.
Liberty Hall had been thoroughly renovated for his return and a banquet was planned there with a big programme, in his honour, two (2) days after his arrival.
In Garvey’s time, Liberty Hall was a place for community meetings, businesses, political meetings, pre-trade union activities, an employment bureau, and entertainment activities. The Kingston Amusement Company was established to promote cultural activities there and cultural units were also maintained there, including an adult choir, a children’s choir and a band. In addition to these activities, U.N.I.A groups such as the Black Cross Nurses, the Legionnaires and the Juveniles used to meet in the space.
