Ford, Arnold Josiah, 1877-1935

Born in Barbados, Arnold Josiah Ford was one of the first black rabbis in the United States and an early leader of black Judaism in America. He was also the founder of the Beth B'nai Abraham Congregation at 29 West 131st Street in Harlem, New York City.

Ford was a musical director of Marcus Garvey’s Universal Negro Improvement Association and he wrote many of the pieces in The Universal Ethiopian Hymnal .

"Arnold Josiah Ford." Religious Leaders of America, 2nd ed. Reproduced in Biography Resource Center. http://galenet.galegroup.com/servlet/BioRC (accessed November 2009). "Marcus Garvey and the Universal Negro Improvement Association." http://nationalhumanitiescenter.org (accessed November 2009).