On Wednesday, March 13th, Mr. Robert Sandler had Professor Graham Hodges from Colgate University come to discuss the life of David Ruggles, a famous black abolitionist & New Yorker during the Jacksonian Era. He shares that Ruggles was the head of the New York Vigilance Committee and helped hundreds of fugitive slaves escape bounty hunters that roamed the streets of New York City. Ruggles rescued the 21-year-old Frederick Douglass and gave him shelter for ten days in his house on Lispenard Street in modern day TriBeCa. In was in this house that Douglass then Frederick Bailey married his wife Anne Murray, and it was here that America’s first black owned bookstore was located. Afterwards, we took Professor Hodges & his son to the plaque outside Stuyvesant commemorating where Douglass arrived after escaping bondage from Maryland. It was a fascinating talk! (photo courtesy of Mr. Sandler)
