From the Historian: George Lewis Ruffin Jr.

Dear Trinity Church and friends, 

George Lewis Ruffin Jr. was born March 23, 1867, the youngest son of historic figures, George L. Ruffin, Massachusetts’s first Black judge, and abolitionist, suffragist and journalist Josephine St. Pierre Ruffin.  

Ruffin’s musical journey began when Reverend Phillips Brooks, who enjoyed visiting the children’s Sunday school class taught by Cordelia Harmon, happened to hear him sing.  

“This child must sing in the choir,” stated Brooks. 

As described by Maud Cuney-Hare in her book, Negro Musicians and their Music, Ruffin would go on to sing solo at St. Augustine, a Black church in the West End. At the age of sixteen, when his voice changed, he returned to Trinity’s choir and sang consecutively under direction of Horatio Parker, Wallace Goodrich, Ernest Mitchell, and Francis W. Snow. 

In addition to his role in the choir, Ruffin was an active parishioner. Church records show that he was a member of the Trinity Club, founded in 1885 to “Spread the Spirit of Brotherhood.” He witnessed the baptism of his cousin Ednorah Nahar at Trinity in March 1885. Soon after, Ednorah would debut as a professional harpist and launch a career as one of the most successful elocutionists of her time. As noted in Lorraine E. Hansen’s Black Bostonians and the Politics of Culture, 1920-1940, Ednorah performed more than sixty times in Boston between 1886 and 1892, and in 1892 performed on two occasions for an audience of five thousand at the Boston Theatre. 

In addition to supporting the aspirations of family members, Ruffin made a name for himself as a tenor and baritone. He was a lead performer for the Theodore Drury Opera Company. The company performed for Black and White audiences in the early 1900s. Ruffin performed in productions across the northeast including productions of Aida, Handel’s Messiah, and Othello.  

He was the first Black member of the Handel and Haydn Society, a senior tenor of Boston’s Cecilia Society, and would later in life be named an honorary member of the Boston Symphony Orchestra. In 1894, the magazine Women’s Era, founded by Ruffin’s mother Josephine, noted, “The Cecelia Club closed a most brilliant season with their yearly private reception and musical on Thursday evening, May 24, on which occasion Mr. George L. Ruffin was one of the few soloists selected to entertain the club. Mrs. Adelaide Smith Terry and Mr. Ruffin are as yet the only colored members of this very large and celebrated musical association.” When not performing, Ruffin was teaching. He advertised singing lessons using the Lamperti method in Women’s Era. 

Ruffin’s mother passed away March 13, 1924. Her funeral was held at Trinity with three clergy officiating and the full-vested choir taking part. Fourteen years later in 1938, the church honored Ruffin for his 57 years as member of the choir. Ruffin was retired on pension. Rector Reverend Kinsolving thanked him for his many years of loyalty and service to the church. 

When not immersed in music, Ruffin traveled extensively to Europe, South America, and Cuba. He worked as a bookkeeper and assistant to the treasurer of the New England Telephone and Telegram Company. When he retired at the age of 67, he received free telephone service. 

Ruffin was an ambassador for Blacks in Boston. In 1924, a young Beauford Delaney moved to Boston from Knoxville, TN, seeking art teachers. He was befriended by Ruffin. In the historic and cultural hub of Boston, Delaney attended several art schools, and with the aid of people like Ruffin, engaged with the cultural and political elite of the city’s Black community. In his memoir, Delaney fondly remembered his time in the city attending concerts at Symphony Hall and at Trinity Church. Today, Beauford Delaney (1901-1979) is considered one of America’s most important painters. 

In 1949 a testimonial dinner was given on Ruffin’s behalf for his 57 years of service as organist and choirmaster with St. Augustine and St. Martin. Bishop Norman Nash, the tenth Bishop of Massachusetts, was among the guests as were representatives from all the churches and institutions Ruffin had served including Trinity Church. 

Three years later on August 24, 1952, George Lewis Ruffin Jr. died at Cambridge City Hospital. He is buried in the Ruffin family plot at Mt. Auburn Cemetery. 

Until next month, 

Cynthia