Born free in New York, George T. Ruby moved south to Louisiana as a schoolteacher and settled in Texas after joining the Freedmen’s Bureau at Galveston. As a senator in Texas’s Twelfth Legislature, Ruby advocated for workers’ rights, particularly for marginalized Black workers, and educational opportunities. As Democrats achieved majority in the Texas Legislature and pushed Republicans out, Ruby chose not to seek reelection in 1873 and returned to Louisiana where he continued political and activist work.