Harlem’s Marcus Garvey’s SS Shadyside Sank At 157th Street, 1919-1922

The shining star of Marcus Garvey’s Universal Negro Improvement Association UNIA movement offices located at 54-56 West 135th Street in Harlem.

It was the home of the Black Star Steamship Line, Inc., in NYC from 1919 to 1922. Being a Hudson River boat, the Shadyside was easily accessible to the large African American population in New York City, particularly in Harlem where Garvey’s UNIA was headquartered

PBS in their People & Events: The Black Star Line notes for their documentary on Marcus Garvey said, that the “S. S. Shadyside,” a Hudson River excursion boat, carried black passengers on a ‘cruise to nowhere’ on the Hudson one summer, and in the fall, sprang a leak and sank.”

Garvey spent $200,000 for the Black Star Steamships that were anchored on the Harlem Piers, the ships were the SS Yarmouth, the Kanawha (renamed the SS Antonio Maceo), and the SS Shadyside. The Shadyside was an initiative in economic self-sufficiency and economic empowerment.

The ship sprang a leak and sank near the foot of 157th Street in the Harlem River In NY.

According to W.E.B. Du Bois, by March 1921, the Shadyside was already in a “hopeless condition” beyond repair, lying on the beach beside the North River at the foot of 157th Street in Harlem, NY.

In a 1922 article titled The Back Star Line, W. E. B. DuBios wrote; “The Shadyside was listed by the Black Star Line as worth $35,000 … In March 1922, the Shadyside lay on the beach beside North River at the foot of 157th Street and was in a hopeless condition, quite beyond repair.” Garvey’s organization put down a $10,000 deposit (equivalent to about $115,240 in 2023) to acquire this paddle ship.

The ship was thought to be sabotaged, according to reports, the wreck of the SS Shadyside is believed to still be in the Hudson River today