Trailblazing Black journalist buried in unmarked grave in Yonkers finally getting a headstone

A trailblazing Black journalist, born enslaved just before the Civil War, lies in an unmarked grave in Yonkers, but soon, an elaborate headstone will help preserve his place in history.

As CBS News New York’s Tony Aiello reports, it’s an honor 101 years in the making.

“It was something that just slipped through the cracks of history”

John Edward Bruce, also known as “Bruce Grit,” was one of the America’s leading Black voices in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. He founded several newspapers and wrote one of the first novels featuring a Black detective.

“He was internationally renowned … both as a reporter and as an opinion maker,” said Robert Baskerville, with the urban think tank RiseUp. “And he was also widely known across the world as one of the pioneers of the Pan-Africanist movement.”

Baskerville says it’s sad to realize Bruce was laid to rest in an unmarked grave.

Hundreds attended his 1924 burial at Oakland Cemetery in Yonkers, including Bruce’s close associate Marcus Garvey, but Bruce’s fame did not equate to fortune. He wasn’t a rich man, and whatever plans there may have been for a headstone, it was never installed.

“You know, a few years later, we faced the Great Depression. So I guess it was something that just slipped through the cracks of history,” said Harold McKoy II, with Rise Up.

“It was important to him that Black culture was acknowledged”

Now, private and public funds have paid for a black granite headstone etched with a portrait of Bruce.

It will soon be installed, marking the final resting place of a man dedicated to preserving Black history.

“It was important to him that Black culture was acknowledged and us as Black individuals knew our history,” McKoy said.

Baskerville and McKoy say it’s a fitting tribute to a trailblazer and the legacy of Bruce.