Josephine St. Pierre Ruffin - Boston, MA
Posted by: 
neoc1
N 42° 21.496 W 071° 03.794
19T E 330086 N 4691617
A monument honoring publisher and civil right's leader Josephine St. Pierre Ruffin is located on the hallway wall outside Doric Hall in the Massachusetts State House at 24 Beacon Street, Boston, MA.
Waymark Code: WMWB9V
Location: Massachusetts, United States
Date Posted: 08/07/2017
Views: 1
The State House Women’s Leadership Project has commemorated Josephine St. Pierre Ruffin with a monument in the Massachusetts State House. She is one of six women, so honored, that have contributed to the government of the Commonwealth. A life size relief sculpture of Josephine St. Pierre Ruffin is presented within a circular opening near the bottom of a rectangular slab of green marble.
The top of the slab has the inscription:
IT IS THE WOMEN of America - black and
white - who are to solve this race problem, and
we do not ignore the duty of black women
in the matter. They must arouse, educate and
advance themselves. The white woman has
a duty in the matter also. she must no longer
consent to be passive. We call upon her to
take her stand.
The Woman's Era, 1894
Above her sculpture is inscribed:
IF LAWS ARE UNJUST
THEY MUST BE CONTINUALLY BROKEN
UNTIL THEY ARE KILLED OR ALTERED
{Sculpture}
JOSEPHINE ST. PIERRE RUFFIN
The lower side frame of the monument has the her date of birth and death: 1842-1924
Josephine St. Pierre Ruffin was a publisher, journalist, civil rights leader, suffragist, and editor of Women’s Era, the first newspaper published by and for African-American women. In 1869, she joined with Julia Ward Howe and Lucy Stone to form the American Woman Suffrage Association in Boston. She started the newspaper Woman's Era after the death of her husband in 1884. In 1895, she organized the National Federation of Afro-American Women. 1910, helped form and became a charter member of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. She co-founded the League of Women for Community Service, which still exists today.
The Massachusetts State House is open to the public Monday through Friday from 10 am to 4 pm. All visitors must enter through the General Hooker entrance.