Edmund Fitzgerald Fredericks (–1935) was a lawyer and educator from

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

. Fredericks came to the United States to study to become a lawyer, settling in

North Carolina North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and So ...

in 1903. He graduated from

Shaw University Shaw University is a private Baptist historically black university in Raleigh, North Carolina. It is affiliated with the American Baptist Churches USA. Founded on December 1, 1865, Shaw University is the oldest HBCU to begin offering courses in ...

in 1905. He became the principal and teacher of the segregated Mooresville Colored School. He worked there until 1917, then moved to England, where he worked during

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

in the

War Office The War Office was a department of the British Government responsible for the administration of the British Army between 1857 and 1964, when its functions were transferred to the new Ministry of Defence (MoD). This article contains text from ...

. Fredericks became involved in the

African Progress Union The African Progress Union (APU) was founded in London in 1918 as "an Association of Africans from various parts of Africa, the West Indies, British Guiana, Honduras and America, representing advanced African ideas in liberal education". The first p ...

(APU). Fredericks served as a delegate to the first

Pan-African Congress The Pan-African Congress was a series of eight meetings, held in 1919 in Paris (1st Pan-African Congress), 1921 in London, Brussels and Paris (2nd Pan-African Congress), 1923 in London (3rd Pan-African Congress), 1927 in New York City (4th Pan-Afr ...

in 1919. That same year, he returned to

. Fredericks, along with Theodore Theophilus Nichols started the Negro Progress Convention (NPC) in 1922. This organization was meant to assist Black people in

, and worldwide. In 1923, he was living in

Georgetown, Guyana Georgetown is the capital (political), capital and largest city of Guyana. It is situated in Demerara-Mahaica, region 4, on the Atlantic Ocean coast, at the mouth of the Demerara River. It is nicknamed the "Garden City of the Caribbean." It is t ...

. Fredericks created

trade schools A vocational school is a type of educational institution, which, depending on the country, may refer to either secondary or post-secondary education designed to provide vocational education or technical skills required to complete the tasks ...

for young people and established

scholarship A scholarship is a form of financial aid awarded to students for further education. Generally, scholarships are awarded based on a set of criteria such as academic merit, diversity and inclusion, athletic skill, and financial need. Scholarsh ...

s for students to study at university. Fredericks was also on Executive and Legislative Councils in British Guiana. Fredericks died at age 60 on April 6, 1935.

References

{{Authority control People from Georgetown, Guyana 1874 births 1935 deaths British Guiana people Guyanese educators Shaw University alumni Guyanese lawyers Guyanese activists Date of birth missing South American pan-Africanists