George Lewis Ruffin

(1834-1886)

First African American graduate of Harvard Law, Pioneering Judge and Politician

Josephine St. Pierre Ruffin

(1842-1924)

Activist, Journalist, Editor and Suffragette

George and Josephine Ruffin were remarkable individuals in their own right, and together were Boston civic leaders extremely active in political circles and social causes focused on progressing people of color and rights of women.

George Ruffin was born in 1834 in Richmond, Virginia as a free person of color. His family moved to Boston in 1853, where he was educated in the public schools. He supported himself as a barber while reading and studying the law, and was admitted to Harvard Law School, graduating in 1869 as the first African American graduate. He practiced law successfully, and became active politically. He was elected to the state legislature in 1870 as a Republican and served one term. Ruffin was elected as the first man of African descent to the Boston City Council, where he served two terms, 1875–1876 and 1876–1877. He was the first African American to hold judicial office in the United States when he was appointed judge of the Municipal Court, Charlestown district, in 1883. The same year, he was made consul resident for the Dominican Republic and served with honor.

Josephine St. Pierre Ruffin was born in Boston in 1842 to parents of comfortable means. She attended desegregated schools in Salem, MA, a New York “Finishing School”, and was then privately tutored in New York. She met and married George Lewis Ruffin in 1858 at the age of 16 and together they raised 4 children. During the Civil War Josephine helped to recruit African American soldiers for the 54th and 55th Massachusetts Regiments, and worked for the Sanitation Commission, providing aid for the care of soldiers in the field. After the war, Josephine collected money and clothes for the Kansas Freedmen’s Relief Association, to aid southern Blacks resettling in Kansas.

Josephine Ruffin was also a tireless suffrage. In 1869, she joined Julia Ward Howe and Lucy Stone to form the American Woman Suffrage Association (AWSA) in Boston. Josephine often served as a go between, sharing information from the elite white women to the working women of color and vice versa.

On November 19, 1886, George Lewis Ruffin died at the age of 52. Josephine continued to utilize her resources and connections to continue her social justice work. She founded, published, and edited the first African American woman's illustrated newspaper, The Woman's Era, with her daughter Florida Ruffin Ridley. She also wrote for the African American weekly paper, The Courant, and became a member of the New England Woman's Press Association.

Josephine Ruffin is best known for her contributions in starting and sustaining the role of clubs for African American women. Josephine was the first African American member of the New England Women's Club, founded by Howe and Stone, when she joined in the mid-1890s. Continued resistance of all-white national women’s clubs to African American membership reinforced her commitment to clubs for African American women. She organized the Women’s Era Club, among the first African American women’s organizations in 1894 and the following year launched the National Federation of Afro-American Women.

She traveled to support women’s clubs and to stand against racism. In 1910, Ruffin helped to form the Boston Chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), of which she was a charter member. She continued her work until her death at the age of 81 in 1924.

Josephine Ruffin’s work was honored with induction into the National Women’s Hall of Fame in 1995 and in 1999 a bronzed bust of Josephine was unveiled at the Massachusetts State House in honor of her lifelong dedication to social justice. George’s legacy is honored through the George Lewis Ruffin Society, established in 1894 and now based at Northeastern University, to support minority professionals working in the Massachusetts criminal justice system.

Sources:

https://www.womenofthehall.org/inductee/josephine-st-pierre-ruffin/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Lewis_Ruffin

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Josephine_St._Pierre_Ruffin

https://www.masshist.org/longroad/03participation/profiles/ruffin.htm

https://www.nps.gov/people/josephine-st-pierre-ruffin.htm

https://www.baystatebanner.com/2018/02/09/judge-george-ruffin-19th-century-politician/