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The Works of Francis J. Grimké #1
The Works of Francis J. Grimké: Volume I: Addresses Mainly Personal and Racial
658 pages, Unknown Binding
Published January 1, 1942
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July 23, 2024
Francis Grimké died in 1937. Five years later Carter G. Woodson edited and published The Works of Francis J. Grimké in 4 volumes. Volumes 1 and 2 contained a large selection of sermons, Volume 1 subtitled “Addresses mainly Personal and Racial,” and containing 50 sermons ranging in date from 1892 to 1936. The sermons are grouped thematically:
- Addresses dealing with the Careers of Distinguished Americans —biographical sermons, often preached at funerals or memorial services, including Daniel Payne, Alexander Crummell, Frederick Douglass, William Lloyd Garrison, John Brown, Theodore Roosevelt, his brother Archibald Grimké, and others.
- Addresses Chiefly Racial -- 5 sermons
- The Lynching of Negroes in the South: ITs Causes and Remedies — a 3-part series delivered in 1899
- Miscellaneous Sermons — 22 sermons covering a wide variety of topics, including The “Roosevelt-Washington Incident” when the president invited Booker T. Washington to dinner; “God and the Race Problem”; “The Atlanta Riot” (1906); a sermon on the 50th anniversary of the Emancipation Proclamation (1913); several blistering critiques of white Christian racists; sermons on the conclusion of World War I; and a sermon on the NAACP.
The volume, being the first of the four, opens with a 16-page biographical “Introduction” by Carter G. Woodson. This is an important document, especially read in light of Woodson’s History of the Negro Church to see the interplay in Woodson’s thought between the broad themes of history and the specifics of one individual. Woodson was notoriously critical of certain members of the Black clergy, but he seems to have held Grimké in the highest regard. Woodson notes the unique longevity and overlap of Grimké’s life: born into slavery in 1850 in South Carolina, and living through the Civil War, Emancipation, Reconstruction, “redemption,” Jim Crow, World War I, to the eve of World War II:
“His life, therefore, is a long chapter in the history of the Negro in the United States, an important chapter in that of all America. In his works the efforts of all helpful agencies throughout his active career may be traced, and all important issues before the American people and how they were decided may be studied” (xix).
I cannot begin to assess the importance of this volume of sermons, and indeed the Works of which it is a part. These are some of the “best of the best” of one of the best preachers to ever stand in the pulpit. I say “best preachers” without qualification—white or Black—though the fact that as a Black man Grimké had to overcome mountains of opposition and prejudice speaks all the more to his abilities (see, for example, "Prejudice at Princeton ," for an account of Grimké’s time in seminary).
Every sermon is worth reading—how do you distinguish the crème from the crème? My palate is not refined enough. If 50 sermons in over 600 pages is too daunting, honestly, just pick up anywhere. Browse the Contents and read anything that looks interesting. Read his sermons on lynching; read his sermons on race prejudice; read his sermons on the role of prayer in the struggle; read his sermons on Frederick Douglass and John Brown and Alexander Crummell. Read it all (eventually)!
I am convinced that there are few voices that speak as relevantly and as urgently to our current 21st century context as Francis J. Grimké. Sadly, a century still has not seen change in some of the fundamental dynamics of “race prejudice” and inequality that Grimké resisted so ardently in his own day. His courage, his conviction, his steadfastness, his unwillingness to compromise with powerful rich white racism earn him a place in the hall of heroes.
(this volume is available for free online here, though unfortunately it is not in print and not available for sale anywhere that I can find (the last time I saw the four volume set for sale it was over a $1,000 on a rare book site):
https://books.google.com/books?id=8--...
- Addresses dealing with the Careers of Distinguished Americans —biographical sermons, often preached at funerals or memorial services, including Daniel Payne, Alexander Crummell, Frederick Douglass, William Lloyd Garrison, John Brown, Theodore Roosevelt, his brother Archibald Grimké, and others.
- Addresses Chiefly Racial -- 5 sermons
- The Lynching of Negroes in the South: ITs Causes and Remedies — a 3-part series delivered in 1899
- Miscellaneous Sermons — 22 sermons covering a wide variety of topics, including The “Roosevelt-Washington Incident” when the president invited Booker T. Washington to dinner; “God and the Race Problem”; “The Atlanta Riot” (1906); a sermon on the 50th anniversary of the Emancipation Proclamation (1913); several blistering critiques of white Christian racists; sermons on the conclusion of World War I; and a sermon on the NAACP.
The volume, being the first of the four, opens with a 16-page biographical “Introduction” by Carter G. Woodson. This is an important document, especially read in light of Woodson’s History of the Negro Church to see the interplay in Woodson’s thought between the broad themes of history and the specifics of one individual. Woodson was notoriously critical of certain members of the Black clergy, but he seems to have held Grimké in the highest regard. Woodson notes the unique longevity and overlap of Grimké’s life: born into slavery in 1850 in South Carolina, and living through the Civil War, Emancipation, Reconstruction, “redemption,” Jim Crow, World War I, to the eve of World War II:
“His life, therefore, is a long chapter in the history of the Negro in the United States, an important chapter in that of all America. In his works the efforts of all helpful agencies throughout his active career may be traced, and all important issues before the American people and how they were decided may be studied” (xix).
I cannot begin to assess the importance of this volume of sermons, and indeed the Works of which it is a part. These are some of the “best of the best” of one of the best preachers to ever stand in the pulpit. I say “best preachers” without qualification—white or Black—though the fact that as a Black man Grimké had to overcome mountains of opposition and prejudice speaks all the more to his abilities (see, for example, "Prejudice at Princeton ," for an account of Grimké’s time in seminary).
Every sermon is worth reading—how do you distinguish the crème from the crème? My palate is not refined enough. If 50 sermons in over 600 pages is too daunting, honestly, just pick up anywhere. Browse the Contents and read anything that looks interesting. Read his sermons on lynching; read his sermons on race prejudice; read his sermons on the role of prayer in the struggle; read his sermons on Frederick Douglass and John Brown and Alexander Crummell. Read it all (eventually)!
I am convinced that there are few voices that speak as relevantly and as urgently to our current 21st century context as Francis J. Grimké. Sadly, a century still has not seen change in some of the fundamental dynamics of “race prejudice” and inequality that Grimké resisted so ardently in his own day. His courage, his conviction, his steadfastness, his unwillingness to compromise with powerful rich white racism earn him a place in the hall of heroes.
(this volume is available for free online here, though unfortunately it is not in print and not available for sale anywhere that I can find (the last time I saw the four volume set for sale it was over a $1,000 on a rare book site):
https://books.google.com/books?id=8--...
Displaying 1 of 1 review