George Ruffin
*George Ruffin was born on this date in 1834. He was a Black business owner, attorney, and judge. George Lewis Ruffin was from Richmond, Virginia, the son of free Blacks.
He was educated in Boston, Massachusetts, and soon became a force in the city’s civic leadership. After marrying Josephine St. Pierre, Ruffin supported his family by working as a barber. The couple's daughter, Florida Ruffin, also became active in the community. In his spare time, Ruffin read law books and wrote reviews for a weekly publication. Eventually, Ruffin was admitted to Harvard Law School, where, in 1869, he became their first Black graduate. Later that year, Ruffin was admitted to the Suffolk County Bar Association.
In 1864 Ruffin served as a delegate to the National Negro Convention in Syracuse, New York, where he championed Black suffrage and urged the organization to support the re-election of President Lincoln. From 1876 to 1877, Ruffin served on the Boston Common Council (city council). In 1883, he was appointed a judge at the Charlestown, Massachusetts Municipal Court. Ruffin was the first African American to serve in both posts.
Along with his civic duties, Ruffin served twelve years as an officer of the 12th Baptist Church of Boston. George Lewis Ruffin died in Boston, Massachusetts, on November 19, 1886, leaving his widow, three sons, and a daughter. In his honor, the George Lewis Ruffin Society was founded at Northeastern University in 1984 to support minorities studying in the Massachusetts criminal justice system.
