Sutton E. Griggs
Sutton E. Griggs (1872-1933) was an influential African American Baptist pastor, author, and social activist from Texas. Born to the founder of the state's first Black newspaper, Griggs was deeply rooted in the fight for racial equity. He was educated at Bishop College and Richmond Theological Seminary, later serving in various churches in Virginia and Tennessee. Griggs became known for his novels, notably "Imperium in Imperio" (1899), which tackled themes of segregation and the quest for Black autonomy, and his works aimed at challenging racial stereotypes by featuring strong, activist characters. While he opposed assimilation, Griggs believed in achieving racial justice through moral integrity and trust-building with white communities. His later works shifted focus toward pamphleteering and promoting interracial cooperation, particularly during World War I, when he encouraged Black support for the U.S. government. Griggs’s contributions to the Niagara Movement, which laid the groundwork for the NAACP, underscore his commitment to civil rights. He passed away in 1933, leaving a legacy of advocacy for racial harmony and justice through faith and literature.
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Sutton E. Griggs
Writer
- Born: June 19, 1872
- Birthplace: Chatfield, Texas
- Died: January 1, 1933
- Place of death: Houston, Texas
Biography
Sutton E. Griggs was born in Chatfield, Texas, in 1872, to Emma Hodge Griggs and the Reverend Allen R. Griggs, a former slave and founder of the state’s first black newspaper and school. Griggs was educated in Dallas public schools, attended Bishop College in Marshall, Texas, and entered the Richmond Theological Seminary in 1890. Upon graduation in 1893, he was a Baptist pastor at churches in Virginia and Tennessee. In 1897, he married Emma Williams, a teacher. During his long tenure in the pulpit, he produced many religious treatises and numerous books, including novels intended to raise awareness and fight racism.
Though not the most artful of writers, Griggs had a powerful message to impart in both fiction and nonfiction. In order to counteract racial stereotypes, he populated his novels with larger-than-life characters who were extra beautiful, knowledgeable, talented, and politically aware. They were all activists, either overtly or covertly, who fought the forces of evil. He brought his books to tent revival meetings and distributed them door-to-door in black communities, eventually establishing the Orion Publishing Company in 1908 to help print, promote, and distribute his books.
These works were prescient, anticipating dilemmas that emerged in the Black Power struggles of the 1960’s. His first novel, Imperium in Imperio (1899), led some to believe he was advocating separatism, the creation of a black world apart from white domination. One of its characters commits suicide rather than taint her race by marrying a mulatto. The book’s very title meant “a nation within a nation” and it dealt with a covert operation to assume black control of Texas.
In reality, however, Griggs was content to work toward racial justice from within the political system. Following the teachings of his religion, he believed equality and racial harmony would come from righteousness, moral living, treating others properly, and having good social values. In these beliefs, he was at odds with black nationalists, who doubted that a wait-and-see attitude would yield positive results. While Griggs certainly did not favor assimilation, he believed that if he could gain the trust of whites, they would come to understand that discrimination hurt them as much as it did their black brothers.
Griggs’s second novel, Overshadowed (1901), explored the issues of separatism and assimilation. The next, Unfettered (1902), was about a man who learned he was a descendant of an African prince but chose to remain in his country and work for change. His 1905 novel, The Hindered Hand: Or, The Reign of the Repressionist, was written in response to a spate of antiblack works, most notably Thomas Dixon’s The Leopard’s Spots, that were becoming increasingly popular. Griggs hoped to awaken readers to the evils of racism by depicting the violence inflicted on darker skinned people.
By 1920, when Griggs moved to Memphis, Tennessee, to become pastor of the Tabernacle Baptist Church, he had abandoned fiction for the production of pamphlets. His ideas were now toned down and he advocated interracial trust. During World War I, he urged blacks to support the government and promoted the purchase of Liberty Bonds.
During his long career, Griggs held many posts and public offices. He was influential in supporting the Niagara Movement, which later evolved into the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). The stock market crash of 1929 forced him to sell the Tabernacle Baptist Church and to return to Texas to assume his father’s pastorate. He died in January, 1933.