author
Benjamin Griffith Brawley
1882–1939
A pioneering scholar of Black literature and history, he helped shape how generations of students encountered African American writing. His books blended criticism, history, and poetry at a time when those voices were too often pushed aside.
4 Audiobooks
A Social History of the American Negro Being a History of the Negro Problem in the United States. Including A History and Study of the Republic of Liberia
by Benjamin Griffith Brawley
Women of Achievement Written for the Fireside Schools
by Benjamin Griffith Brawley
Your Negro Neighbor
by Benjamin Griffith Brawley
The Negro in Literature and Art in the United States
by Benjamin Griffith Brawley
About the author
Born in Columbia, South Carolina, in 1882, Benjamin Griffith Brawley became an influential American author, literary critic, poet, and educator. He studied at Atlanta Baptist College, later known as Morehouse, and went on to teach at several historically Black colleges and universities, including Morehouse, Shaw University, and Howard University.
Brawley wrote widely on African American literature, history, and culture. His best-known books include The Negro in Literature and Art in the United States, A Short History of the American Negro, and The Negro Genius. During his lifetime, some of his works were used as standard college texts, reflecting how important he was in bringing Black writers and artists into academic discussion.
He died in 1939, but his work still matters as part of the early foundation of African American literary scholarship. Beyond his criticism and history writing, he is also remembered as a teacher who helped open space for Black intellectual life in American education.