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 Honorable
George Lewis Ruffin
(1834–1886)
Appointed Charlestown Municipal Court Judge in 1883, Judge George Lewis Ruffin was a civic leader in Boston, as well as the first African American appointed to the Massachusetts judiciary,and the first African American graduate of Harvard Law School.
Courtesy Harvard Law School Art Collection |  |
| Ruffin certification of free status
In 1852, although a free person, the state of Virginia compelled Ruffin, aged 17, to prove his status in court before granting him permission to leave—only 31 years before Ruffin gained appointment to the Massachusetts court system.
Courtesy The Amistad Research Center atTulane University, New Orleans, Louisiana |  |  | Ruffin appointment to court
Governor Benjamin F. Butler took an historic step by appointing George L. Ruffin as Judge of the Charlestown Municipal Court. This was the first appointment of an African American as a judge in Massachusetts.
Courtesy Heslip-Ruffin Family Papers, Amistad Research Center at Tulane University 
Ruffin runs on the Labor Reform ticket
In 1871, Ruffin was on the Labor Reform ticket. His bid for Attorney General of Massachusetts was unsuccessful.
Courtesy Heslip-Ruffin Family Papers, Amistad Research Center at Tulane University | | | | previous | index | next | | |
