When David Ruggles, an Underground Railroad conductor in Manhattan who is said to have opened the nation’s first black bookstore and black-owned printing press, died in 1849, the antislavery advocate and publisher William Lloyd Garrison lauded his contributions to the abolitionist movement.
“He deserves to be ranked among the benefactors of his race,” Garrison wrote. “His biography remains to be written.”
Just a few years ago, Graham Russell Gao Hodges, a history professor at Colgate University, happened upon Garrison’s remark and came to a surprising realization: “Here we are in the first part of the 21st century,” Dr. Hodges recalled thinking, “and it’s still true.”
Dr. Hodges has now written the book Garrison called for more than 150 years ago. He will be speaking about Ruggles tonight at 6:30 at the New-York Historical Society. Read more…
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