David Ruggles (1810-1849) was an African-American abolitionist in New York who helped fugitive slaves, including Frederick Douglass, reach free states. He was a printer and journalist in New York City in the 1830s and opened the first Black-owned bookstore in the United States. Detail of a lithograph titled The Disappointed Abolitionists, by Edward Williams Clay (1799-1857), circa 1838. David Ruggles can be seen in the middle.

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