George Gavin Ritchie. Image from Colgate University Special Collections and Archives.
George Gavin Ritchie was a student at Madison University from 1845 until his expulsion in 1847. During his time at Madison University, he started the first student newspaper amidst controversy with the faculty over its creation oversight. After writing an article called “Equal Suffrage and the Religious Press,” Ritchie was expelled from the university, but he continued his anti-slavery activism after leaving the university. He wrote editorials in his paper (“The Hamilton Student and Christian Reformer”), advocated abolitionism in his sermons, and spread anti-slavery literature in the Central NY region. He died in 1853 and was inducted into the National Abolitionist Hall of Fame in 2011.
Source
“Bio File: George Gavin Ritchie”, Colgate University Special Collections and Archives, Colgate University Library.
Bio: “George Gavin Ritchie.” National Abolition Hall of Fame and Museum website. 2014. http://www.nationalabolitionhalloffameandmuseum.org/gritchie.html
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