author

Henry Clay Bruce

1836–1902

Born into slavery in Virginia and later living in Missouri and Kansas, this memoirist told his own life story with unusual clarity and force. His 1895 autobiography follows a life shaped by bondage, freedom, public service, and a hard-won sense of dignity.

1 Audiobook

The New Man: Twenty-nine years a slave, twenty-nine years a free man

The New Man: Twenty-nine years a slave, twenty-nine years a free man

by Henry Clay Bruce

About the author

Born on March 3, 1836, Henry Clay Bruce was an African American writer whose life stretched from slavery into the decades after emancipation. He was born enslaved in Virginia, was later taken to Missouri, and after the Civil War made a new life in Leavenworth, Kansas.

Bruce is best known for his autobiography, The New Man: Twenty-Nine Years a Slave, Twenty-Nine Years a Free Man, published in 1895. The book reflects on both his years in bondage and his later life as a free man, giving readers a personal view of slavery, Reconstruction-era change, and the effort to build a stable life after emancipation.

Reliable sources available here also indicate that he later worked in Washington, D.C., in the Post Office Department, after help from his brother, who was connected with the U.S. Treasury. He died in 1902, leaving behind a firsthand account that remains valuable for its direct, thoughtful record of survival and self-making.