Archibald Grimké · Portrait of a Black Independent

This biography by Dickson D. Bruce, Jr., presents the first full-length examination of one of the most important figures in African-American life during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Born a slave in Charleston, South Carolina, in 1849, Archibald Grimke was the nephew of two of the major leaders of the antislavery movement, Angelina and Sarah Grimke. With their assistance, he attended college after Emancipation and became one of the first black graduates of Harvard Law School. As a young man, he edited a newspaper and became active in Republican, then Democratic, politics. He also began literary career and wrote widely read biographies of Charles Sumner and William Lloyd Garrison, among other works. From 1894 to 1898, he served as American consul to the Dominican Republic. After the turn of the century, Grimke became an ever more prominent and influential participant in African-American intellectual life, producing scores of pamphlets, magazine articles, and newspaper pieces. He was a key figure in one of the central debates in African-American history, that between he proponents and opponents of Booker T. Washington. Grimke occupied a peculiar place in that debate, helping to frame the arguments that challenged Washington's accommodationist views while, for a time a least, working closely with Washington's allies. His actions tell us much about the dynamics of African-American thought and politics during the early years of the century. Grimke participated in the founding of the NAACP, and as president of its influential District of Columbia branch he became one of the organization's most visible leaders. For many years Grimke was the NAACP's point man in the battleagainst segregation at the national level. Throughout his career, both black and white leaders sought his advice and counsel on racial issues. Bruce's biography of Grimke is grounded in an impressive array of primary sources, particularly the letters and writings of Grimke and hi