ABSTRACT
John Edward Bruce was born a slave in Maryland, but was carried into the freedom of Washington by his mother, who worked as a cook to support him. Bruce received his early education privately and at quite an early age developed a taste for journalism. Beginning as Washington correspondent for the Richmond Star, he wrote under the nom de plume of “Rising Sun”. Over the years he was editor of several newspapers: The Argus in Washington, D.C.; The Sunday Item in Washington; The Republican in Norfolk; and The Commonwealth in Baltimore. Later, writing under the name of Bruce Grit, given him by Thomas Fortune, he became a famous correspondent, contributing to a great number of papers of the Negro press, such as the St. Louis World, The Indianapolis World, The Pittsburgh Virginia Herald, The Virginia Star, The Chicago Conservator, The Florida Sentinel, The New York Freeman, the New York Age, The Elevator, The Kansas City Call, and The Omaha Monitor. He also contributed to The Boston Transcript, The Albany Argus, and The Buffalo Express. Mr. Bruce did not confine himself to papers in the United States, and occasionally contributed to The New Age of London, The West African-Lagos Record, The South African Spectator of Cape Town, The Jamaica Advocate of Kingston, Jamaica, and The African Times and Orient Review of London.
