Brookline's Florida Ruffin Ridley School To Mark Renaming

BROOKLINE, MA — Although students have been calling the school the Ridley School since the town approved its renaming, the town will be hosting a virtual ceremony to celebrate the renaming of the Florida Ruffin Ridley School Jan. 29, the 160th anniversary of her birth.

“Thank you to all who have worked so hard over the last few years to help make this a reality,” Interim Superintendent Jim Marini said. “We are proud to celebrate the official renaming of the Florida Ruffin Ridley School and honor such an important person in our community’s history. We hope you will join us for the virtual ceremony next week."

Those closely involved with the renaming process, including school and town officials, the Bee-lievers in Change student committee, and the petitioners behind the original Town Meeting Warrant Article proposing the name change from the Edward Devotion School, named for a Brookline landowner philanthropist and slave owner, will be speaking at the ceremony.

Ridley, whose birthday is the same day as the ceremony, was a local Black activist, suffragist, teacher, writer and editor. She was one of the first Black teachers in the state and taught at the Grant School in Boston. She and her husband, Ulysses Ridley, were longtime members of the Brookline community, living in their home on Kent Street from 1896 to the early 1920s. Both of their children attended Brookline schools and her son Ulysses A. Ridley Jr., graduated as valedictorian of Brookline High School in 1918.

Brookline residents voted at Town Meeting to rename the school following an engaging and thorough public process, after historic research revealed that Edward Devotion, the school’s former namesake, had been a slave-holder.

At 3:30 p.m. Jan. 29, Brookline Interactive Group will stream the online event. A recording of the event will be posted on BIG's YouTube channel after the event.