John E. Bruce

Activist, journalist, and historian

• Born: February 22, 1856
• Birthplace: Piscataway, Maryland
• Died: August 7, 1924
• Place of death: New York, New York

Bruce was among the first wave of African American writers and journalists to appear after the Civil War and was instrumental in inspiring many young black writers to begin their careers. He pioneered African American scholarship and research and supported the burgeoning pan-African movement.

Early Life

John Edward Bruce was born a slave in Maryland in 1856. His parents were Robert Bruce and Martha Allen Clark. When his father was sold to a slave owner in Georgia, Bruce’s mother escaped with the boy to relatives in Washington, D.C., possibly when Union soldiers marched through Maryland on their way to the capital.

Martha’s relative was a house servant to Missouri senator Thomas Hart Benton. Bruce later claimed to have met a number of eminent visitors while there. Benton helped Martha obtain a post in Connecticut, where Bruce was able to attend an integrated school. Later, Benton apparently helped him receive further education and to attend Howard University in Washington.

Bruce’s first job was as an office boy at The New York Times at age eighteen. By age twenty-three, he had founded his own newspaper in Washington, The Argus Weekly. The next year, he founded The Sunday Item, then in 1882, The Republican. Bruce was among the first wave of post-emancipation African Americans to support the Republican Party, which he did throughout his life. Bruce’s journals were directed largely at a black readership.

Life’s Work

Bruce’s work was not restricted to journalism. After forming his own publications, he became an editor and business manager of The Commonwealth, a major Baltimore newspaper. In 1884, he began using the pen name “Bruce Grit” for his columns in an increasing number of national dailies. He used the term “grit” to indicate the uncompromising stand he would take on black advancement and the tone with which he would address those whites—especially white politicians—and African Americans who compromised or ignored the issues. Among the papers he wrote for were The Boston Transcript, The Buffalo Express, and the Washington Sunday Republic. In 1885, he married Florence Bishop of Cleveland, Ohio.

Bruce’s activism took other forms. In 1890, he joined the Afro-American League, founded by T. Thomas Fortune to organize black civil rights efforts. It later became the National Afro-American Council, and Bruce became its president in 1898. He became a well-known speaker and writer of political tracts, poems, satires, plays, fiction, and even music. Bruce also had a widespread and diverse correspondence with like-minded people in the United States, United Kingdom, and the West Indies. He particularly was influenced by Marcus Garvey and his back-to-Africa movement in the period after 1919.

In 1908, Bruce moved to New York, where he founded The Weekly Standard, based in Yonkers. In 1910, he became American correspondent for The African Times and Orient Review. However, his writing and activism did not generate sufficient income, so to support himself, he became a probation officer in Yonkers. Later he worked for New York’s Port Authority. He became interested in forming a Masonic order for African Americans, seeing the power of the white orders. In 1913, Bruce founded the Loyal Order of the Sons of Africa with the aim of freeing Africa from colonialism and unifying its people—a mixture of masonry and Garvey’s ideals. He went on to write Prince Hall, the Pioneer of Negro Masonry: Proofs of the Legitimacy of Prince Hall Masonry, published in 1921. Bruce also helped found the Negro Society for Historical Research in 1911 with Arthur Schomburg. This later became the Arthur Schomburg Center for Research in Harlem. Bruce died on August 7, 1924, and was given a state funeral at Liberty Hall, New York.

Significance

As a journalist, Bruce wrote for more than one hundred black newspapers and periodicals in his lifetime. He personally founded at least four black newspapers and inspired many young black writers to become crusading journalists. At the same time, he actively promoted the idea of black literature. He was willing to speak out against whites and African Americans alike in uncompromising terms, even to embrace an armed resistance to racist attacks. He was also a self-taught scholar and historian who researched the history of the African diaspora.

Bibliography

Crowder, Ralph. John Edward Bruce: Politician, Journalist, and Self-Trained Historian of the African Diaspora. New York: New York University Press, 2004. This biography attempts to assess Bruce’s influence and achievements in the many areas of his life.

Gilbert, Peter, ed. The Selected Writings of John Edward Bruce: Militant Black Journalist. New York: Arno Press, 1971. One of the first selections from Bruce’s writings, focusing on his activism.

Seraile, William. Bruce Grit: The Black Nationalist Writings of John Edward Bruce. Knoxville: University of Tennesse Press, 2002. A full collection of Bruce’s writings, with some biographical material.