A plaque, inconspicuously attached to Charles Street, recognizes the work of a significant Beacon Hill activist from the turn of the 20 th century, Josephine St. Pierre Ruffin. Pierre Ruffin assumed many public roles throughout her life, from publisher and clubwoman to community leader and national organizer. Pierre Ruffin grew up in a multicultural family. Pierre, had Caribbean Martinique , African, and Indigenous ancestry.
Pierre owned a successful clothing shop, and he stood as a local leader in the burgeoning Black community on the hill. As a result, Josephine grew up surrounded by the abolitionist ideals of justice, equality, and political representation. Josephine had a robust education, studying in Salem, Massachusetts, and New York, eventually returning to Boston once school desegregation occurred. During this time, she met George L. Ruffin, whose family had moved north from Virginia.
They married in Although briefly moving to England, Josephine and George Ruffin quickly returned to Boston to take part in the anti-slavery movement. Together, they became pillars in the Beacon Hill community. For example, during the Civil War, they recruited African American men for the 54 th and 55 th Massachusetts infantry regiments.
It also worked to address issues that directly affected the African American community, from local politics and education to the debilitating discrimination and terrorism of Black Americans in the South. In less than a year, the club grew to over members from greater Boston. Josephine St. In her opening address of the conference, Ruffin announced the launch of a new movement, one led by women of color:. Ruffin hoped this conference would encourage Black women to unify under a single organization and "in truth bring a new era to the colored women of America.
In addition to laying the foundation for the Black clubwomen's movement, Josephine Ruffin supported the local suffrage movement. In the months leading to the election, Ruffin helped organize meetings at churches and private homes on Beacon Hill. They encouraged women to register to vote in school elections a right Massachusetts women had won in [13] , and men to vote for a Ward 9 representative who supported municipal suffrage for women. Proudly announcing her dedication to "suffrage work in Massachusetts for forty years and more," Ruffin called on African Americans to support suffrage.
