Marcus Garvey was a Jamaican civil rights activist, the founding father of the Universal Negro Improvement Association (UNIA), and an owner of the Black Star Line shipping company.

Civil rights advocates and lawmakers have long said that Mr. Garvey’s 1923 conviction for mail fraud was unjust, arguing that he was targeted for his work.

The president’s pardon of Garvey, a seminal figure in the civil rights movement, is another reflection of his presidency’s ties to the Black community.