A Literary Life of Sutton E. Griggs The Man on the Firing Line

John Cullen Gruesser, Senior Research Scholar, Sam Houston State University

John Cullen Gruesser is Senior Research Scholar at Sam Houston State University in Huntsville, Texas, and a visiting fellow at the Melbern G. Glasscock Center for Humanities Research at Texas A & M University. Prior to this, he taught at Kean University in New Jersey where he coordinated the M.A. in
Liberal Studies program. He has been the president of the Pauline Elizabeth Hopkins Society, the New Jersey College English Association, and the Poe Studies Association, which named him an Honorary Lifetime Member in 2020.

Introduction: Sutton E. Griggs: Orator, Author, Activist, Elder, and Ancestor
1. The Early Years: A Family History Recovered, a Juneteenth Birth, and a Baptist Upbringing
2. Engaging in Debate and Turning to Fiction to Make His People's Case: Imperium in Imperio
3. Championing Black Labor and Fighting for the Franchise: Overshadowed and Unfettered
4. Risking All in an Attempt to Become a National Author and Publisher: The Hindered Hand
5. Transitioning away from the Novel: Pointing the Way