December 4

Abolitionist Profile

David Ruggles was born to free parents in Norwich CT in 1810.  The eldest of seven children, he was educated at various charity schools in the area and excelled as a student.  As a young man, he became involved in anti-slavery activism under the mentorship of Rev. Samuel Eli Cornish, editor of the Freedom’s Journal, America’s first black newspaper.  In 1828 while living in New York and working as a mariner, Ruggles opened a grocery story that hired self-emancipated black people, sold only items not produced by enslaved laborers, and housed the first black-owned bookstore, including a circulating library and reading room for African Americans who were not allowed to access New York public libraries.  A prolific abolition author and speaker, he was also “conductor” on the Underground Railroad, helping at least 600 enslaved people to freedom, including Frederick Douglass.  In the 1830’s Ruggles founded the New York Committee of Vigilance which fought against the practice of kidnapping free Blacks in New York, as well as self-emancipated African Americans, then illegally selling them into slavery in the South. Ruggles intervened to stop slave catchers, and the Vigilance Committee offered their victims legal assistance.  In the early 1840’s he resisted segregated travel laws, refusing to be forced into black-only seating on trains and steamships.  After suffering many injuries and illnesses, Ruggles died in 1849 at the age of 39.

Prayer

With spaces of peace and justice, come Wisdom.
In the midst of our fear, come Wisdom.
With persistent imagination, come Wisdom.
In the daily practice of abolition, come Wisdom.  Amen.