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[Last Updated 4/1/24] Latest Additions and News: 1) A 4/25/24 presentation about Sutton E. Griggs and Robert E. Bell will be delivered as part of the Shutz Lecture Series in Room 302 of the Student Union at the University of Missouri-Kansas City https://shss.umkc.edu/shutz-lecture-series.html; 2) The slide show for an 11/3/23 talk about Sutton E. Griggs, Imperium in Imperio, and Waco, Texas presented at Baylor University can be accessed here https://www.academia.edu/110057513/Sutton_E_Griggs_IMPERIUM_IN_IMPERIO_and_Waco_Texas; 3) A 2/28/23 lecture about Sutton E. Griggs and Nashville delivered at the Middle Tennessee State University Honors College can be accessed here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rxMWhFxJ7go, a Sutton E. Griggs Nashville Trail Map with annotations can be accessed here https://goo.gl/maps/pqdTHkjFUbuJ83bu8, and a Sutton E. Griggs Family and Early Life Texas Trail Map with annotations can be accessed here https://goo.gl/maps/u1VkeEcCm5UEZ5nC6; 4) In September 2022 in the United States, Oxford University Press published A Literary Life of Sutton E. Griggs: The Man on the Firing Line, https://southernlitreview.com/reviews/a-literary-live-of-sutton-e-griggs-the-man-on-the-firing-line-by-john-cullen-gruesser.htm; 5) An interview with famed Civil Rights activist, American Baptist Theological Seminary graduate, former American Baptist College President, and world-renowned teacher of nonviolence Dr. Bernard Lafayette, Jr., conducted 12/19 and 12/22/2020 is available in the Interviews and Acknowledgments section; 6) A Documentary Film about the Griggs Business and Practical Arts College (founded by Emma Griggs in honor of her husband Sutton), entitled the Griggs Legacy Project, is currently being made by J.S. Productions, which seeks to interview alumni of the school--griggslegacyproject@gmail.com, 901-609-6027--(please see the flier and the t-shirt at the very bottom of this page); 7) A Timeline of Poet and Playwright A. R. Griggs, Jr., along with a link to his poems, is now available on the Biography and Family Tree page; 8) An 11/21/19 Interview of Rev. Dr. Randolph Meade Walker, pastor of Castalia Baptist Church in Memphis and author of "The Metamorphosis of Sutton E. Griggs," is now available in the Interviews and Acknowledgements section; 9) Images of the 8-Page 1929 Pamphlet Proper Approach to the Race Question have been added to the Publications page; 10) An Updated Sutton E. Griggs Family Tree (with information from Fayette County, Georgia, Probate Records) is available on the Biography and Family Tree page; 11) A 1932 Republican Party Pamphlet written by Sutton Griggs is now available in Publications; 12) Wade and Cheryl Hudson received the second annual Sutton E. Griggs Lifetime Achievement Award 8/24/18 at the African American Museum, Dallas.
A Griggs grave marker with an elaborately carved cross (likely indicating that the deceased was a minister) was discovered in L. Butler Nelson Cemetery in Dallas in February 2018, thanks to information provided by Frances James and the sharp eyes of Dealey Campbell:
WELCOME
TO THE
SUTTON
GRIGGS
WEBSITE
This resource is devoted to the life, literature, and legacy of
Sutton Griggs (1872-1933), who published more novels in book
form than any other African American at the turn of the 20th century.
Besides providing information about Griggs and his writings, a major purpose of this site is to draw attention to the scholarly editions of all five of Griggs’s novels being published by West Virginia University Press in its Regenerations: African American Literature and Culture series. Information about the Regenerations series is available here: http://wvupressonline.com/series/regenerations
The first of these scholarly editions, The Hindered Hand; Or, The Reign of the Repressionist (1905), funded by a National Endowment for the Humanities grant, was published in September 2017.
"Students of black history will be especially interested in this new edition, but the novel itself is noteworthy for its smooth prose and serves as a fine example of early 20th century fiction" Southern Literary Review
Here is the cover:
Sutton Griggs Speaks:
Listen to Griggs's Sermons,
"A Hero Closes a War," "Saving the Day,"
"Self-Examination," and "A Surprise Answer to Prayer,"
recorded in 1928,
at the links below:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F8WI58tWbLQ&index=2&list=PLIGlqp3qM2QIE_IezSf8ggUN9w1h9aiMu
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ye4i0ToX9SI&index=5&list=PLIGlqp3qM2QIE_IezSf8ggUN9w1h9aiMu
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iOMj-7cfoOY&list=PLIGlqp3qM2QIE_IezSf8ggUN9w1h9aiMu&index=1
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oBkBbZiHP1o&index=4&list=PLIGlqp3qM2QIE_IezSf8ggUN9w1h9aiMu
More information about these recordings is available below (including the place and dates of the recordings and the names of two other sermons by Griggs for which audio is not available--"Speaking the Truth" and "Keeping the Peace"):
http://adp.library.ucsb.edu/index.php/talent/detail/18670/Griggs_Sutton_E._Rev._speaker
