First Pan-African Conference
The First Pan-African Conference was held in London from 23 to 25 July 1900 (just prior to the Paris Exhibition of 1900 "in order to allow tourists of African descent to attend both events"). Organized primarily by the Trinidadian barrister Henry Sylvester Williams, the conference took place in Westminster Town Hall (now Caxton Hall) and was attended by 37 delegates and about 10 other participants and observers from Africa, the West Indies, the US and the UK, including Samuel Coleridge-Taylor (the youngest delegate), John Alcindor, Benito Sylvain, Dadabhai Naoroji, John Archer, Henry Francis Downing, Anna H. Jones, Anna Julia Cooper, and W. E. B. Du Bois, with Bishop Alexander Walters of the AME Zion Church taking the chair.
| Date | 23–25 July 1900 |
|---|---|
| Duration | Three days |
| Venue | Westminster Town Hall |
| Location | London, England |
| Theme | Anti-racism, self-government |
| Participants | 47+ delegates and participants, inc. Samuel Coleridge-Taylor John Alcindor, Benito Sylvain, Dadabhai Naoroji, John Archer, Henry Francis Downing, W. E. B. Du Bois, George James Christian, Richard E. Phipps, Anna J. Cooper, Anna H. Jones, Bishop Alexander Walters |
Du Bois played a leading role, drafting a letter ("Address to the Nations of the World") to European leaders appealing to them to struggle against racism, to grant colonies in Africa and the West Indies the right to self-government and demanding political and other rights for African Americans.