Representative women of New England/Josephine St. Pierre Ruffin
JOSEPHINE ST. PIERRE RUFFIN, the founder and first president of the Woman's Era Club, of Boston, was born in this city. The daughter of John and Eliza Matilda (Menhenick) St. Pierre, on the paternal side she is of mingled French, African, and aboriginal American blood, and on the maternal side is of English, or possibly Welsh, stock, her mother having been a native of Bodmin, Cornwall, England. Eliza Matilda Menhenick and John St. Pierre were married in Boston in 1830 by the Rev. Dr. William Jenks, of the Green Street Church (Trinitarian Congregational).
Jean Japfiiies St. Pierre, father of John St. Pierre and grandfather of Mrs. Ruffin, came to Massachusetts from Martinique probably early in the nineteenth century, and, settling in Taunton, married Betsey Hill, of that town. She, Mrs. Betsey Hill St. Pierre, grandmotlier of Mrs. Ruffin, was the grand-daughter of an African prince, who, having been sent by his father to conduct a gang of slaves to the sea- coast, was himself kidnapped and brought to America. Landing in a Northern seaport, he escaped from his captors, and made his way to an Indian settlement in the vicinity of Taunton. Being kindly received, he married an Indian girl, became a land-owner, and, establishing a home, reared a family, which was called by the country people "the royal family."
This history, which has been handed down from former generations to the pi'esent, is attested in part by ancient land deeds and other papers, which Mrs. Ruffin has in her jxjsse.ssion. In one of these time-worn documents the re- quest is made that the original estate be kept as a safe refuge for such of the family as shall be living in the time of a great and bloody war, foretold by the African-born ancestor as surely coming to break the bonds of the slave.
It may here be added concerning the involuntary but, so far as appears, contented exile, that in "the sunset of life" he came to be looked upon as a seer and a prophet, and a collection of his prophecies was printed in a pamphlet, a copy of which is kept among the family papers. The original farm, "Rocky Woods," of which he was the owner, is still held and occupied by one of his descendants. On this farm is the family burial-place.
John St. Pierre was born in Boston. After his father's death his widowed mother removed with her little family to a farm, at Blake's Landing, near the Taunton River, in the town of that name. Mr. St. Pierre, as above men- tioned, was married in Boston, and subsequently for a number of years was engaged in business as a clothes dealer in this city. His sixth chiUl, the subject of this sketch, was named for the Empress Josephine (a native, be it remem- bered, of the island of Martinique) at the request of a French lady, her mother's friend, who gave her a christening robe.
The early education of Josephine St. Pierre, received mostly in the public schools of Salem, Mass., was supplemented later by instruction from private tutors in New York. For a few months she was a pupil in the Franklin School, Boston. While still of school age, she was married to George Lewis Ruffin, who has been described as "one of the handsomest and ablest colored men in Boston."
Mr. Rufiin was born December 16, 1834, in Richmond, Va., of free colored parents, who were eilucated and were possessed of some means. In 1853 the family removed to Bos- ton. He here attended the Chapman Hall School. Some years later he studied law in the office of Jewell & (laston, and in 1869 he was graduated from the Harvard Law School. He servetl as a member of the House in the State Legislature in 1870 and 1871 and as a Councilman of Boston in 1876 and 1877. In November, 1883, he was appointed by Governor Butler Judge of the municipal court of Charles- town, being the first colored man to be apjiointed on the bench north of Mason and Dixon's line. This position he held, "serving with fidelity and eflnciency," until his death on November 19, 1886.
To Mr. and Mrs. Ruffin were born four children: Hubert St. P., Florida Yates, Stanley, and George L. The death of Judge Ruffin was followed in a few years by that of his eldest son, Hubert St. P., who was a member of the Suffolk bar. Fitted for college at the Boston Latin School, Hubert St. Pierre Ruffin entered Harvard in the class of 1882, and on leaving college studied law with his father. At the Latin School, as testified by one who was in the same class with him, "his keen wit, genial disposition, and chivalric courage made him a favorite with the boys; while his high scholar- ship, displayed distinctly in the beauty and exactitude of his translations from the classics, won for him the admiration and esteem both of his classmates and instructors. Mr. Ruffin was in learning and natural abilities eminently fitted for the profession which he chose. Skilful and ready in debate, c[uick in repartee, and eloquent and logical in argument, he merited the distinction which was his, of being one of the best young lawyers at the Boston bar." Florida Yates Ruffin was graduated from the Boston High and Normal Schools, and was the second colored woman to receive an appoint- ment as teacher in the public schools of Boston. She is now the wife of U. A. Ridley and the mother of two children. As the first secretary of the Woman's Era Club and one of its leading members, she aided her mother in making a great success of the first convention of colored women in the country.
Stanley Ruffin, a graduate of the Massachu- setts Institute of Technology and an inventor, is the general manager and treasurer of a man- ufacturing company in Boston.
George L. Ruffin, the youngest son, is a graduate of the English High School of Boston. He has marked musical ability, and for some years he was a boy soprano at the Church of the Advent. He is a member of the vested choir of Trinity Church, Boston, has been a member of the Handel and Haydn Society and of the Cecilia Musical Society, and is now the organist of St. Augustine's Church, Boston.
At an early age Mrs. Ruffin became identified with reform movements: the advancement of woman and the welfare of the colored race, especially of the children, were questions that strongly appealed to her sympathies. At the time when, after the close of the Civil War, many colored people were fleeing from oppression in the South and pouring into Kansas, often arriving in destitute circumstances, she called the women of her neighborhood at the West End together for the purjxxse of devising ways and means of helping the needy refugees. An organization was formed, named the Kansas Relief Association, of which she was made president. Under her direction and aided by the wise counsels of William Lloyd Garrison, work was immediately begun, and carried forward with zeal and alacrity, resulting in the shipment to Kansas of many bales and boxes of clothing, both new and old, and also in the sending of money through Kidder, Peabody & Co.
Success in this philanthropic effort led to co-operation with the A.ssociated Charities, then just starting in Boston, Mrs. Ruffin acting as a visitor for about eleven years. She also joined in the work of the Country Week Society, devoting herself to the task, considered exceptionally difficult, of finding places in the country for colored chiklren.
Mrs. Ruffin has been for many years an ac- tive member of the Massachusetts Moral Edu- cational A.ssociation and of the Massachusetts School Suffrage Association and a member of the executive board of each. As editor of the Woman's Era, she has the privilege of membership in the New England Woman's Press Association. The Woman's Era (now dormant, December, 1903, but with hopes of being revived) was the organ of the colored women of America, and exerted an influence that was widely recognized.
Mrs. Ruffin was one of the founders of the Association for the Promotion of Child-training in the South, which has accomplished good re- sults. It is interested in a school at Atlanta, Ga., among whose regular visitors were several prominent women of that State.
As the first president of the Woman's Fa-a Club of Boston, Mrs. Ruffin has gained a na- tional reputation. This club was formed "for colored women and by colored women, to the end that problems of vital interest to the col- ored jjopulation might be discussed." From the beginning the club evinced a progressive spirit, and the meetings were full of interest. Mrs. Ruflin is an able woman, well read, keen- witted, pleasing in manner, and has the uplift- ing of the colored race sincerely at heart. She, more than any other woman, formed the club, and much of the success is due to her good sense and enterprise.
In L'^QS it was decided to hoUl a national convention of colored women in Boston. This convention was decitledly interesting, ami the outcome was the formation of a federation of colored women's clubs. Since 1895 the W^oman's Era Club has been connected with the Massa- chusetts State Federation, and its president has participated in the sessions of the State conference. Mrs. Ruffin has also been elected a member of the Massachusetts State Federa- tion and an officer on its board.
The Woman's Era Club continues its meetings twice each month, and a few white women, who were cordially welcomed to membership, have participated in its deliberations. " We never drew a color line," said one of the mem- bers. Mrs. Hannah C. Smith, former corre- sponding secretary, states that its object is educational rather than benevolent, but that it has mdertaken a number of philanthrojjic plans and carried them through successfully. Several scholarships in colored educational in- stitutions have been purchased, and in this way many who would not have l)ad an educa- tion otherwise have been provide<l for. At the outset the club was divided into several classes and each placed under the direction of a leader. These classes discu.ssed civics, do- mestic science, literature, public improve- ments, and questions of importance to the col- ored race! Circulars written by members of the club uj)on important questions have been issued, and numerous copi<^s circulated. Money has been raised and expended, which has aided in promoting the welfare of the colored race in Boston and other cities. Assistance has also been given to worthy charities.
In 1900 the club accepted an urgent invita- tion to join the General Federation, and their application was forwarded by the State secre- tary. Mrs. R. D. Lowe, president, promptly returned a certificate of membership, and offi- cially expressed her pleasure at the action of the club. It was then entitled to be repre- sented at the biennial convention of the Na- tional Federation at Milwaukee, Wis., in June, 1900. Mrs. Ruffin was chosen its delegate. She journeyed to Milwaukee as a representa- tive also from the New England Woman's Press Association and from the Massachusetts Federation of Women's Clubs. The progranune conmiittee of the National FediM'ation refused to allow Mrs. Ruffin to appear before the con- vention and extenil greetings. She was de- nietl recognition as a delegate, notwithstanding the elo(iuent pleadings of rej)resentatives from many States. Telegrams armouncing this de- cision were sent to all parts of th(> country, and hunilnnls of editorials were ]nil)lished by the press, conmientiiig on the subjcci, which had become one of national interest. Many protests were officially promulgated by local clubs, and some' have withdiawn from the Federation.
Throughout all this discussion Mrs. Ruffin has maintained an attitude of womanly dignity, and has the cordial sympathy and regard of thousands of friends.
In November, 1900, the Woman's Era Club issued an official statement of the whole mat- ter, addressed to the members of clubs of the Ceneral Federation, its conclusion being .summed up as follows. Could anything Ije clearer tljan the logic of their jjosition?
"The General Federation of Women's Clubs has no color line in its constitution. There is nothing in its constitution, in its oft-published statement of ideas and aims, in its supposed ad- vanced positifin upon humanitarian ([uestions, to lead any club, with like aims and views, to imagine itself ineligible for membership. The A'onian's P>a Club having been regularly ad- mitted, no legal or moral ground can possibly be found upon which it could be ruthlessly thrown out at the pleasure of a few individuals." The action taken by the General Federation at the biennial convention lield at I^os Angeles in May, 1902, was such as to render it practi- cally impossible for any coloretl club to .secure recognition. The reply of the Woman's Era Club to (juestions in regard to its status in 1903 is this:—
"It stands just as it stood before, and just as it would have stood had the reorganization plan been carrietl through successfully. As a part of the State Federation, it has member- ship in the general body; as an individual club, it has all the legally executed documents which eminent legal authority declare justifies our club in considering itself as much an individual member of the G. F. W. C. as any other cluli in that bodv" (Annual Report of the AVoinan's Era Club fo'r 1902-1903).
"June 1, 1903, the annual meeting was held, and for the first time in the history of the club there was a change in presidents.
"The retiring president, Mrs. Josephine St. P. Ruffin, foun(l(>r of the club, has for eleven con- tinuous and harmonious years occupied the l)osition of club president, with honoi' not only to herself and its members, but to the whole race. She positively decrmcil anf)ther re-elec- tion becau.se of the prej^siu'e of other work. In her retirement the club keenlv feels its loss; and, to assuage to an extent this feeling and retain a claim upon her ability and foresight, and still to have her valuable aid and counsel, the club voted to create for her the position of honorary president with active rights.
"The newly elected officers for the year 1903-1904 are: President, Mrs. Hannah Clike Smith; First Vice-President, Mrs. R. C. Richardson; Recording Secretary, Mrs. M. Cravatt Simpson; Corresponding Secretary, Mrs. K. T. Moore; Treasurer, Mrs. E. Taylor-Cotton; Auditor, Mrs. M. E. Wingfield."
The report shows that the Woman's Era Club continued its useful activities during 1902-1903 with good results, that year being pronounced the most successful in the club's existence. One thing upon which the club justly congratulated itself in the report was the "prominent part it had taken in promoting the good work of enlarging Mrs. Sharpe's home school in Liberia." Of the American Mount Coffee School Association, formed in January, 1903, to aid this school, Dr. Edward Everett Hale was chosen president and Mrs. Ruffin a vice-president.
In the same season Mrs. Ruffin delivered her lecture on " Moral Corn-age as a Factor in Social Regeneration" before the Revere Woman's Club, the Lynn Suffrage Club, the Ladies' Physiological Institute, the Jersey City Heights Club, and in the West.