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RFH 2010, Colgate News

Student Expelled from Colgate to Join Abolition Hall

Fri, Apr 08, 2011

A student expelled from Colgate in 1847 is now being honored in ceremonies at what would have been his alma mater had he finished his studies

The National Abolition Hall of Fame in Peterboro announced that George Gavin Ritchie is one of three people being inducted this fall in ceremonies at Colgate. The hall yesterday also announced that Abby Kelley Foster and Jermain Loguen will also be inducted during ceremonies Oct. 22.

Ritchie (1820 – 1853) was expelled from Colgate for publishing an editorial on equal suffrage. in the Hamilton Student. He was the editor of this voice of abolition and reform in Central New York. The college further thwarted his efforts to obtain a degree for the ministry in New York State. Faced with dire economic circumstances, Ritchie continued to work in the abolition movement. He became ill while delivering an abolition speech and died at a young age.

Foster (1811 – 1887) was a Massachusetts anti-slavery lecturer, organizer, and fundraiser. She was one of the first women to speak publicly against slavery. During her first speech a mob threatened to burn down the hall where she spoke. Foster became the focus of controversy over female participation in the abolition movement. She advocated “come-outerism,” the belief that abolitionists must leave churches that did not condemn slavery.

Loguen (1813 – 1872) was born into slavery in Tennessee and escaped to Canada in 1834. He attended Beriah Green’s abolition school at Whitesboro, started a school for African American children in Utica and became a licensed preacher of the American Methodist Episcopal Church serving in Syracuse, Bath, Ithaca and Troy. The Loguen home in Syracuse aided more than 1,500 freedom seekers. Loguen was one of those who rescued William Henry, a runaway slave imprisoned in Syracuse.

The 2011 inductees are the fourth group of abolitionists to be inducted. Two of the inductees were selected from a list developed from suggestions by abolition scholars, and one inductee -- Ritchie -- was selected from the first public nominations to the Hall of Fame.

The National Abolition Hall of Fame and Museum (NAHOF) was started in 2004 by the Smithfield Community Association in partnership with the Upstate Institute. 

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