Jamaica Progressive League — the first organisation to demand an end to colonial rule in Jamaica

Founded in New York City in 1936 by thirteen Jamaicans — among them Ethelred Brown, Wilfred Adolphus Domingo, and Walter Adolphe Roberts — the Jamaica Progressive League set out to secure better financial, economic, social, and educational advantages for Jamaicans in Jamaica. It became the first organisation to formally demand an end to British colonial rule in Jamaica.

Key facts

  • Country: United States
  • Founded: 1936
  • Headquarters: New York City
  • Founder: Ethelred Brown; Wilfred Adolphus Domingo; Walter Adolphe Roberts
  • Type: association

Founding and Early Structure

The League took shape at a founding conference in 1936 at which thirteen Jamaicans were named directors. W. Adolphe Roberts, W. A. Domingo, James O’Meally, and Ethelred Brown were among those directors. The Jamaica Gleaner described the gathering as the birth of Jamaica’s first nationalist organisation. Wilfred A. Domingo was elected the League’s first vice president, and Ethelred Brown became its first Secretary.

The founding documents laid out a set of policy goals that were radical for their era: universal adult suffrage, the removal of property qualifications for public office, the legal right to form labour unions, and the encouragement of study in Jamaican history, geography, and literature. These aims placed the League firmly in opposition to the colonial order that then governed the island.

An attempt to inaugurate a branch on Jamaican soil on November 27, 1937 was broken up before it could proceed. Ten days later, the founding resolution was passed in an office at 66 Duke Street, Kingston, with a reporter from The Daily Gleaner present as witness.

Labour Unrest and Colonial Confrontation

The League’s Kingston branch was drawn into the labour crisis of 1938 when colonial authorities arrested 745 suspects following the Frome Riots. The branch worked alongside Alexander Bustamante to help provide legal representation for those detained, one of its earliest direct interventions in Jamaican domestic affairs.

The League maintained close ties with the People’s National Party (PNP) from the party’s formative years. According to FBI records, the New York League named the PNP as its foreign principal and was instrumental in raising money for the party over many decades stretching back to party founder Norman Manley.

Co-founder Wilfred A. Domingo paid a personal price for his activism. Colonial authorities arrested him on his arrival in Jamaica in June 1941 after FBI agents intercepted letters identifying his work for the PNP. He was detained for approximately 20 months on the grounds that he was ‘a threat to the peace and security of the country.’ The American Civil Liberties Union and other organisations protested his confinement, and his case was debated in the British House of Commons on September 10, 1941.

Influence on U.S. Law and Civil Rights

The League’s reach extended well beyond Caribbean politics. It claimed as a major achievement its advocacy work in advancing the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965, which abolished the National Origins Formula that had governed U.S. immigration policy since the 1920s. The reform opened legal pathways that shaped Caribbean migration to the United States for generations.

The League was also present at the White House signing of the Civil Rights Act by President Lyndon B. Johnson, a recognition of its standing as a civil rights actor within the United States as well as an overseas advocate for Jamaica. It was also listed with the U.S. State Department as an agent able to advocate on behalf of Jamaica.

Headquarters, Honours, and Cultural Traditions

The League owns a building at 2230 Light Street in the Bronx, New York, which serves as its headquarters. The building houses the Karl and Faye Rodney Library, named after a one-time president of the League. The address places the organisation in the North-East Bronx, a long journey in both geography and character from the Harlem neighbourhood where it was established in 1936.

On September 28, 2019, the intersection of Light Street and Dyre Avenue was officially co-named ‘Jamaica Progressive League Way’ by New York City. New York State Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie and Senator Jamaal Bailey were among those attending the street co-naming ceremony.

For many years the League hosted a week-long celebration to mark Jamaica’s Independence, with cultural activities culminating in the Jamaica Independence Ball — a tradition that has since lapsed.

Recent Direction and Challenges

In September 2021, at the League’s 85th anniversary luncheon, President Sadie Campbell unveiled a five-year plan called the ‘Hopeful Village’ project. The plan aimed to improve access to education, physical and mental health care, economic opportunities, political and legal support, and communication for Caribbean migrants. At the same event, the League announced it was considering establishing a financial institution — such as a bank or credit union — to assist Caribbean immigrants with affordable housing and business funding.

Also in September 2021, the League formally announced a move to embrace the wider Caribbean diaspora rather than serving solely as a PNP affiliate, a structural shift after 85 years of close alignment with one political party. As of June 2022, Sadie Campbell was identified as the League’s 12th and longest-serving president, leading a team of approximately 40 members, the membership being overwhelmingly Jamaican.

As of November 2023, the Jamaica Gleaner reported that the League was facing an uphill struggle to survive. President Sadie Campbell acknowledged that the organisation had failed to attract new members and was often unable to achieve a quorum at its meetings — a stark contrast to the institution that had once helped rewrite U.S. immigration law and worked to provide legal representation for the 745 suspects arrested following the Frome Riots of 1938.

Did you know

  • Co-founder Wilfred A. Domingo had a prior connection to Marcus Garvey, serving as the first editor of Garvey’s newspaper Negro World before breaking with Garvey over ideological differences and later co-founding the League in 1936. (hutchinscenter.fas.harvard.edu)
  • The FBI reportedly labeled JPL co-founder Wilfred A. Domingo “one of the chief trouble makers among the negroes,” yet his detention by British colonial authorities in 1941 was raised on the floor of the British House of Commons. (morningstaronline.co.uk)
  • Although the League was founded in Harlem in 1936, its current headquarters on Light Street in the Bronx sits adjacent to the Dyre Avenue subway station, and the intersection was officially co-named “Jamaica Progressive League Way” by New York City in 2019. (jamaicans.com)
  • In September 2021, the League formally announced it was ending its historic role as a PNP affiliate to instead serve the broader Caribbean diaspora — a shift 85 years in the making. (jamaicaobserver.com)

Data sources

Where it appears

Data updated: 2026-10-28