Josephine Ruffin

Josephine Ruffin (born August 31, 1842 in Boston - March 13, 1924 in Boston) was born as Josephine St. Pierre. She was a civil rights leader.

Related Topics:
August 31 - 1842 - Boston - March 13 - 1924 - Civil rights

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Ruffin's mother was a white woman and her father had been born in Martinique. John St. Pierre was a successful clothes dealer and was able to afford a good education for his daughter. He objected to the segregated schools in Boston and so she was sent to Salem to be educated. When she was sixteen, she married George Lewis Ruffin, the first African-American to graduate from Harvard Law School. The couple were both active in the struggle against slavery and, during the Civil War, they helped recruit black soldiers for the Union Army.

Related Topics:
Martinique - John St. Pierre - Salem - George Lewis Ruffin - African-American - Harvard Law School - Slavery - Civil War - Union Army

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Ruffin also supported women's suffrage and in 1869 joined with Julia Ward Howe and Lucy Stone to form the American Woman Suffrage Association (AWSA) in Boston.

Related Topics:
Women's suffrage - 1869 - Julia Ward Howe - Lucy Stone - American Woman Suffrage Association

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In 1895 Ruffin organised the National Federation of Afro-American Women. The following year, the organization merged with the Colored Women's League to form the National Association of Colored Women (NACW). Mary Church Terrell was elected president and Ruffin served as one of the organization's vice-presidents.

Related Topics:
1895 - National Federation of Afro-American Women - Colored Women's League - National Association of Colored Women - Mary Church Terrell

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In 1894, Ruffin organized the Women's Era Club, an advocacy group for black women, with the help of her daughter Florida Ridely and Maria Baldwin, a Boston school principal. From 1890 to 1897, Ruffin served as the editor and publisher of Woman's Era, the first newspaper published by and for African-American women. The paper highlighted the achievements of African-American women and championed black women's rights.

Related Topics:
Florida Ridely - Maria Baldwin

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Ruffin remained active in the struggle for equal rights and in 1910 helped form the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.

Related Topics:
1910 - National Association for the Advancement of Colored People

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