David Ruggles Publishes Mirror of Liberty, First Black Magazine in US

David Ruggles, the Black New York bookseller, printer, and abolitionist who had personally assisted Frederick Douglass's escape, published the Mirror of Liberty, generally considered the first magazine published by a Black American in the United States. Ruggles had also organized the New York Committee of Vigilance in 1835, which helped over 600 freedom-seekers in its first year alone, including Douglass, whose escape Ruggles personally arranged.