Bruce Grit: The Black Nationalist Writings Of

Bruce Grit will prove extremely valuable to scholars who do not have access to the Schomburg’s Bruce collection or the time necessary for the daunting task of sifting through its contents. - African American Review

John Edward Bruce (1856-1924) witnessed the dying days of American slavery, the turbulence of the Civil War and Reconstruction, the rise of Jim Crow, and the development of American imperialism. As a journalist, historian, and bibliophile, he was a major figure in African American history and politics during his lifetime. In this first intellectual biography of Bruce- a prolific writer and correspondent who published most frequently under the name Bruce Grit- William Seraile explores Bruce’s tireless advocacy on behalf of African peoples everywhere, particularly in the United States.

William Seraile traces Bruce’s shifting strategies and tactics and his alliances with famous contemporaries such as Arthur A. Schomburg, Carter G. Woodson, Booker T. Washington, and Marcus Garvey. He argues that underlying all of Bruce’s work was what would become his greatest legacy: his promotion of history and culture of African people in the diaspora as valuable fields of study.

William Seraile is professor emeritus of Lehman College. He is the author of Voice of Dissent: Theophilus Gould Steward and Black America, Fire in His Heart: Bishop Benjamin Tucker Tanner and the A.M.E. Church, and New York’s Black Regiments During the Civil War.