Bragg, George Freeman, Jr.

(Jan. 25, 1863-Mar. 12, 1940). African American civil rights leader, priest, editor, and author. He was born in Warrenton, North Carolina, and grew up in Petersburg, Virginia, where he studied at St. Stephen's Parish and Normal School. He entered the Theological School for Negroes in Petersburg in 1879, a branch of the Virginia Theological Seminary. Bragg was suspended the next year because the rector claimed he was “not humble enough.” After a serious illness in 1883, he continued his theological studies under private tutors. In 1885 he reentered the theological school, which was renamed in 1886 the Bishop Payne Divinity School. He was ordained deacon on Jan. 12, 1887, and priest on Dec. 19, 1888. From 1891 until his death, he was the rector of St. James Church, Baltimore. In 1886 he founded the Afro-American Churchman, which became the Church Advocate. Bragg served as editor for thirty-four years. He was a pioneer writer on the history of African American Episcopalians, and his major work was History of the Afro-American Groups of the Episcopal Church (1922, reprinted in 1968). He died in Baltimore.