Monroe County

Rochester: 19th Amendment Festival August 20th

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A 19th Amendment Festival will be on Saturday, August 20, 2011 from noon to 5 p.m., in the Susan B. Anthony Park between Madison and King streets in Rochester, NY. The event celebrates the ratification of the 19th amendment in 1920, finally giving women the right to vote, after a campaign that lasted more than 70 years.

Music and entertainment in the park will be provided by the Hochstein School of Music and Dance as well as the Genesee Harmonic Society of the Genesee Country Village and Museum. Authentic nineteenth-century baseball demonstrations will be provided by Genesee Country Village’s women baseball team, in period costumes, following the rules and etiquette of the game as it was played in the 1800s.

Walking tours of the historic 19th century Historic Preservation District will also be offered. Tours of the Anthony House will be available beginning at 11 a.m. at the special admission price that day only of $5.00 for all ages. Food and craft vendors will be set up in the park.

Deborah Hughes, executive director of the Susan B. Anthony House, said, “We hold this event each year just before August 26, the date the 19th amendment was officially declared law by the Secretary of State after it was ratified by the required number of states. It’s a wonderful celebration of Susan B. Anthony’s life and work and of all the women and men who campaigned so long and so fervently to win voting rights for women.”

The event is presented by the Susan B. Anthony Neighborhood Association and the Susan B. Anthony House.

The National Susan B. Anthony House and Museum preserves the National Historic Landmark where the great reformer lived for 40 of her most politically active years, collects and exhibits artifacts related to her life and work, and offers programs through its learning center that challenge individuals to make a positive difference in their lives and communities.

Event: Spiritualist Fox Sisters in Petersboro

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Spiritualism was born in the spring of 1848 when Margaret and Kate Fox heard strange rappings in their Hydesville NY bedroom. Within two years the two “Rochester Rappers” with their sister Leah were touring the country communicating with spirits. The Free Church of Peterboro was one site for the rapping demonstrations. “Scraps of paper in the Gerrit Smith Papers showing questions posed to a spirit medium … revealed that the family attempted to communicate with their loved ones, including Fitzhugh and Peter, after they had died,” according to one historian.

At 2 pm on Sunday, July 24 the Gerrit Smith Estate National Historic Landmark in Peterboro will host programs on 19th Century spiritualism with particular attention to the Fox Sisters and Peterboro’s connections to the spiritualism movement. The program is open to the public and free.

The featured speaker Nancy Rubin Stuart (Osterville, Mass) will present Maggie Fox, Victorian America’s Reluctant Spiritualist. Upstate New York teenager Maggie Fox (1833-1893) rose to national fame as Victorian America’s &#8220reluctant spiritualist.&#8221 Young and beautiful, Maggie’s alleged ability to communicate with spirits in America’s first seances of 1848 astounded the press, and made Maggie and her sisters the darlings of Broadway. Maggie inspired hundreds of imitators, and fascinated the most prominent men and women of her era, among them Horace Greeley, James Fenimore Cooper, Harriet Beecher Stowe, Mary Todd Lincoln, William Lloyd Garrison, Nathaniel Hawthorne, and William James. After a passionate love affair and secret marriage to distinguished Arctic explorer Dr. Elisha Kent Kane in 1856, during which Maggie promised to give up mediumship, her life took surprising twists and turns, culminating with a startling confession in 1888 at the New York Academy of Music. The lecture is accompanied by slides of Maggie Fox and her era.

Rubin explains that her purpose is neither to prove nor disprove the veracity of spirit communication, but rather to illustrate how 150 years ago the Fox sisters’ introduction of that idea swept through America and why it continues to fascinate people today. Maggie’s story is important, Rubin believes, because of passion – the passionate longing that 19th C. Americans had to once again talk with their beloved dead, and the passionate romance between Fox and Kane.

This Speakers in the Humanities event, which is free and open to the public, is made possible through the support of the New York Council for the Humanities, a state affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities. The Speakers in the Humanities program has linked distinguished scholars with diverse audiences since its launch in 1983, bringing the best in humanities scholarship to thousands of people at hundreds of cultural organizations in virtually every corner of New York State. This program is just one of the ways the New York Council for the Humanities helps all New Yorkers to lead vibrant intellectual lives by strengthening traditions of cultural literacy, critical inquiry, and civic participation.

After Stuart’s presentation, popular local performers and sisters Darothy DeAngelo and Sue Greenhagen will provide a light-hearted look at early spiritualism with a vignette of the Fox Sisters during a rapping session enticing the spirits of some “dearly departed.” DeAngelo portrays Maggie, and Sue portrays Kate.

Beginning at 1 pm, Michael Keene will sell and sign his recently published book by The History Press: Folklore and Legends of Rochester: The Mystery of Hoodoo Corner & Other Tales. The book includes the story of the Fox Sisters, as well as the anti-Masonic hysteria of the early nineteenth century and the unexplained disappearance of former Mason, Captain Morgan. Keene worked for twenty-five years in the financial services industry as a financial planner. He is also the producer of an award-winning 2008 film Visions, True Stories of Spiritualism, Secret Societies & Murder, which, in part, inspired his new book.

Copies of Town of Smithfield historian Donna Burdick’s paper &#8220Spirited Women – and Men & Their Unpopular Causes&#8221 will be on sale at the Peterboro Mercantile for the benefit of the Peterboro Area Historical Society. Burdick’s document describes Spiritualism as it was introduced and “practiced” in Peterboro. Burdick refers to written accounts of medium sessions and spiritualism conferences.

The Gerrit Smith Estate and the National Abolition Hall of Fame and Museum in Peterboro are open from 1 – 5 p.m. on Saturdays and Sundays until October 23, 2011. Admission to each site is two dollars. Stewards and students are free. For more information:

Gerrit Smith Estate National Historic Landmark, 4543 Peterboro Road, Peterboro NY 13134-006- call 315-280-8828 or visit www.sca-peterboro.org

Rochester Honoring African-Am Civil War Soldiers

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Nazareth College is hosting the Rochester-Monroe County Freedom Trail Commission’s seventh annual tribute to the nearly 200,000 men of color and 7,000 white officers that constituted the United States Colored Troops (USCT) (USCT) on Tuesday, April 5, at noon in Nazareth’s Linehan Chapel of the Golisano Academic Center. On Behalf of Those Who Lie in Yonder Hallowed Ground is free and open to the public. For more information, contact Dr. David Anderson at [email protected] or (585) 389-5140.

The event will include dramatic readings of events that were tearing the nation apart during the Civil War, and will be posed against President Lincoln’s executive order that provided for arming men of color, and the eventual Union victory. Frederick and Anna Douglass, parents of two Union soldiers, will also be honored. Frederick’s advocacy was crucial to the Union’s belated decision to enlist men of color.

These commemorative events result from a collaboration of the Rochester-Monroe County Freedom Trail Commission and Nazareth College Service Learning Center, and support from several community organizations.

Founded in 1924, Nazareth College is located on a close-knit, suburban campus in the dynamic, metropolitan region of Rochester, N.Y. The College offers challenging academic programs in the liberal arts and sciences and professional programs in health and human services, education, and management. Nazareth’s strong cultures of service and community prepare students to be successful professionals and engaged citizens. The College enrolls approximately 2,000 undergraduate students and 1,000 graduate students.

April Fools Tour of Stone Tolan House Museum

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A rustic 19th century kitchen complete with an open hearth – and a plate of sushi?

A beautiful 19th century canopied bed, with a chamber pot peeking out from under the bed – next to a pair of flip flops?

On Saturday, April 2, visitors will enjoy a special event tour that has never before been offered in the 40 years that Stone-Tolan House Museum in Brighton (the oldest house in Monroe County) has been open to the public &#8211 an April Fools Tour. The “April Fools” have visited the Stone-Tolan House – and have really messed things up for the museum staff! There are all sorts of things in there that don’t belong – and they need the public’s help to figure it out.

Adults and kids will hunt for things that are out of place in the 200 year old rooms, including the tavern room, kitchen, parlor bedroom, hallway and pantry. Some may be obvious – like the sushi. Others will be a bit more challenging (hint: what is the date on that coin?) You’ll get a sheet to record their discoveries. After your hunt is done, take your completed sheet to the education center in the late 19th century Tolan barn. You’ll score your results, see how many you got right – and discover what you missed. There will be prizes!

The April Fools Tour will be open from 11 am to 3 pm. Admission is $5 per adult. For this event, children up to age 16 are welcome free of charge. The Stone Tolan House Museum is located at 2370 East Avenue, with free parking onsite.

The April Fools Tour will take place on this one day only. After all, we’ll need to get everything back to its appropriate, historically correct settings in time for the spring school tours!

The Stone-Tolan House Museum is owned and operated by The Landmark Society of Western New York. Through this site we encourage visitors to explore the formation of an early 19th century community and the lives of the Stone family, who operated a tavern and farm in the early 19th century. It is the oldest house in Monroe County, with the original wing constructed circa 1792.

The Landmark Society of Western New York, Inc. is one of the oldest and most active preservation organizations in America, serving nine Western New York counties. Now in its 74th year, The Landmark Society continues to protect the unique architectural heritage of our region and promote preservation and planning practices that foster healthy, livable, and sustainable communities. For additional information on preservation issues in the Rochester area and surrounding communities, contact Cindy Boyer or visit www.landmarksociety.org.

Susan B. Anthony House Presents Kate Gleason Talk

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As part of its annual celebration of the theme “What Happens in Rochester Changes the World,” the Susan B. Anthony House welcomes Jan Gleason for a special conversation and presentation on her recently released book, The Life and Letters of Kate Gleason. Kate Gleason was a groundbreaking Rochester pioneer (and friend of Susan B. Anthony) who changed the world for women in science and technology.

The 90-minute program will begin at noon, Monday, March 21, 2011 and includes a catered lunch. Cost is $25- reservations are required—call 585-279-7490, ext. 10- space is limited. The book is available for sale the day of the event in the Susan B. Anthony House museum shop.

The Susan B. Anthony House preserves the National Historic Landmark where the great reformer lived for 40 of her most politically active years, collects and exhibits artifacts related to her life and work, and offers programs through its Learning Center that challenge individuals to make a positive difference in their lives and communities.

Rochester Businessman Joins Boating Museum Board

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Rochester businessman Allyn E. Hetzke Sr. has joined the Board of Directors of the Finger Lakes Boating Museum. Hetzke, who is active in the Antique and Classic Boat Society in Clayton on the St. Lawrence River, is married with four children and 13 grandchildren and lives in Spencerport.

The boating museum reached agreement with the City of Geneva in the fall of 2009 to establish a permanent home on the Geneva waterfront in association with a Visitor Center. The building, which will be located on the current Geneva Chamber of Commerce site, is being enabled by a $2 million grant provided to the city by state Sen. Michael Nozzolio. Construction is expected to start this spring.

“I’m thrilled to be a part of this project,” said Hetzke. “If the site is correctly developed it should be a world class museum. It should be spectacular for the City of Geneva.”

Hetzke started his company, Unitrac, in 1974 as a metal brokerage company and in the mid-‘80s formed Unitrac Energy Management Systems specializing in energy efficient lighting applications. IlluminFx, a division of Unitrac, provided the color-changing LED system used to light the Cradle of Champions sculpture unveiled during Super Bowl Week near the site of the game. The unveiling was covered on ESPN.

The Rochester Business Journal recently reported that the steel statue in Fort Worth, Texas, weight seven tons and is 16 feet high. It is shaped like the state of Texas and honors the strength and legacy of high school football in the state and those who later played in the National Football League.

Before starting his own business, Hetzke worked for Eastman Kodak Co., Community Savings Bank and Home Life Insurance Co. He former First Rochester Co. in 1971 and incorporated the company into First Rochester Security Corp. in 1972.

Hetzke purchased Burke Steel Serviceenters, Inc. in 1973 and sold the company to Mallard Lakes in 1977. He formed Unitrac in 1974.

He is a 1960 graduate of SUNY at Delhi with an AAS degree in business management. His hobby is restoring old boats and he is a member of the Rochester Curling Club as well as the Rochester Business Alliance.

The boating museum has assembled a collection of more than 100 wooden boats built in the Finger Lakes over the past 100 years, as well as numerous related artifacts and extensive reference material. The collection is stored in the Geneva Enterprise Development Center on North Genesee Street arranged by the Geneva IDA and in Yates County.

Portions of the collection will be displayed on a rotating basis within the new facility, but President Bill Oben emphasized that there will be a lot more to the museum than viewing boats because education, restoration and preservation are the key elements of the museum’s mission.

Also featured will be boat rides on Seneca Lake, active on-water programs including sailing and small boat handling, interactive workshops and displays to engage visitors in the design and construction of boats and boating history materials and programs.

The boating museum is a 501c3 not-for-profit corporation and was chartered by the New York State Department of Education in 1997 to “research, document, preserve and share the boating history of the Finger Lakes region.”

Additional information about the boating museum may be found on its website.

Books: Silver Seasons of Rochester Baseball

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Taking us back to the early nineteenth century, when baseball was played in the meadows and streets of Rochester, New York, Silver Seasons and a New Frontier: The Story of the Rochester Red Wings retraces the careers of the players and managers who honed their skills at the city’s Silver Stadium and later at Frontier Field. The many greats who played for the Rochester Red Wings—Stan Musial, Cal Ripken, Jr. (who provides the book’s forward), Bob Gibson, Boog Powell, Jim Palmer, Eddie Murray, and Justin Morneau are among those brought to life in this story rich with quirky performances and poignant moments.

This updated version of Silver Seasons: The Story of the Rochester Red Wings, first published in 1996, includes three new chapters covering the team’s record-setting tenth International League championship, being named top minor league franchise by Baseball America, and their new affiliation with the Minnesota Twins.

Silver Stadium opened in 1929, as Red Wing Stadium, in the middle of a thriving urban residential neighborhood which later fell into decline. In late 1956, the St. Louis Cardinals, then the major league affiliate of the Rochester Red Wings considered abandoning the franchise. In response, Morrie Silver, a Rochester businessman, spearheaded an effort to purchase the team and the stadium was renamed Silver Stadium in 1968. Although renovated in the 1980s, the desire for corporate suites and better parking led to the construction of Frontier Field, a new stadium located in downtown Rochester, which opened in 1996- Silver Stadium was demolished the following year is now an industrial and office park.

Silver Seasons tracks the history of the two stadiums and the teams that played there and in the process recalls moments like the longest game in pro baseball history, a thirty-three-inning affair between the Red Wings and the Pawtucket Red Sox that stretched from April to June. Highlights also include one of the greatest teams in minor league history, the 1971 Junior World Series champion Red Wings, homers hit by Estel Crabtree in 1939 and Jim Finigan in 1961 and the unlikely Red Wings championship in the first season at their new park in 1997.

About the Authors
Jim Mandelaro has covered the Rochester Red Wings for the Democrat and Chronicle since 1991. He has twice been honored as Sportswriter of the Year by the Rochester Press-Radio Club. He was inducted into the Frontier Field Walk of Fame in 2007.

Scott Pitoniak is the author of ten books, including Memories of Yankee Stadium. He was inducted into the Frontier Field Walk of Fame in 1999 and the Newhouse School of Public Communications Hall of Fame in 2000.

Note: Books noticed on this site have been provided by the publishers. Purchases made through this Amazon link help support this site.

CFP: Historians Of The Early American Republic

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“Contested Terrain and the Early Republic,” the 32nd annual meeting of the Society for Historians of the Early American Republic, will be hosted by the Rochester Institute of Technology, July 22-25, 2010. The Program Committee invites proposals for sessions and papers exploring all aspects of the history and culture of the early American republic, together with its northern and southern borderlands and international connections, c. 1776-1860.

Proposals that reflect the application of new methodologies or perspectives, or that explore new approaches to teaching and to public history are welcome. Given the conference’s location, we particularly encourage papers and panels that address such themes as the emergence of markets and communications- Native American history- Canada and the Great Lakes region- the 1812 War- religious awakenings- slavery, abolition, the underground railroad, and reform movements- women’s rights- urbanization- consumption- visual culture and the origins of photography. Participants from outside the traditional boundaries of the field are welcomed.

The Program Committee will consider proposals for individual papers and for full sessions- panels with no more than two papers and two commentators are preferred. We also welcome workshops with pre-circulated papers, or sessions in which panelists assess the state of debate on a topic. Each proposal should include a brief abstract of the session, together with a one-page abstract of each paper and a short C.V. for each participant, including the chair and commentator(s). It should also specify any special requirements, such as audio-visual equipment, outlets, or facilities for disability. Any scholar interested in acting as a session chair or commentator should submit a short C.V. Please note that all program participants will be required to register for the conference. The deadline for submissions is December 1, 2009.

Submissions should be sent to the Program Committee Chair:
Christopher Clark
Department of History
University of Connecticut
Wood Hall, 241 Glenbrook Road, U-2103
Storrs, CT 06269-2103, U. S. A.
[email protected]

Program Committee:
Christopher Clark, University of Connecticut, Chair
Elizabeth J. Clapp, University of Leicester
Catherine Kelly, University of Oklahoma
John Lauritz Larson, Purdue University
Richard Newman, Rochester Institute of Technology
Stacey Robertson, Bradley University
Nikki Taylor, University of Cincinnati
Tamara Plakins Thornton, SUNY Buffalo
Jose Torre, The College at Brockport, SUNY

Cobblestone Quest – Road Tours of NYs Historic Buildings

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Cobblestone Quest &#8211 Road Tours of New York’s Historic Buildings is a great new resource of self-guided tours to visit and learn about cobblestone buildings that were built in Western New York State before the Civil War. Part of our pioneer history, cobblestone buildings are buildings built with stones that can be held in one hand (as opposed to pebbles, or boulders). According to the guide, which was written by Rich and Sue Freeman (Sue also runs one of favorite blogs &#8211 New York Outdoors), the word cobblestone comes from the Middle English cob meaning a rounded lump and ston, for small rock.

The Freemans have divided the cobblestone building period into three eras: The Early Period (1825-11835) which features crude irregular designs of stones of vary shapes and color. The Middle Period (1835-1845) is distinguished by the use of smaller stones set in more geometrical patterns. In the final period, designated by the Freemans as the Late Period (1845 to the Civil War), stones of uniform color and shape were used with almost machine-like precision. Although cobblestone building began on farms where the stones were plentiful after the clearing of fields, the building method did eventually move into villages in smaller numbers.

The book is filled with facts about cobblestone construction methods and the Freemans are quick to note that &#8220cobblestone is a construction method, not an architectural style.&#8221 Most of the buildings featured in the book are Greek Revival, although some are Federal, Gothic Revival, Italianate, Post Colonial and Victorian style.

Cobblestone Quest features 17 tours through western New York between Syracuse and Buffalo, plus lots of other resources, including cobblestone museums, bed & breakfasts, restaurants, antique shops and galleries, a guide for owners, an index and bibliography, and a more. It’s available from Footprint Press for $19.95.

Rochester: Boats and Boating in the Adirondacks

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The Adirondack Museum at Blue Mountain Lake, NY &#8211 known for its superb boat collection &#8211 will offer a special program entitled &#8220Boats and Boating in the Adirondacks&#8221 this Thursday, May 7, 2009. The illustrated talk by museum Curator Hallie E. Bond, will tell the unique Adirondack story of boats, drawing on the rich collections of artifacts, documents, and historic photographs at the Adirondack Museum.

The presentation will be held in the auditorium of The Harley School at 1981 Clover Street, Rochester, N.Y., and will begin at 7:30 p.m. The program will be offered at no charge to members of the Adirondack Museum- admission will be $5 for non-members. For additional information please call (518) 352-7311, ext. 129 or visit www.adirondackmuseum.org

The Adirondack Museum’s boat collection currently numbers more than 200, a reflection of the importance of waterways for transportation in the region. Seventy-two examples of the guideboat, the watercraft indigenous to the Adirondack
region, are represented.

The Adirondack region has 2,300 lakes and ponds and 1,200 miles of rivers fed by more than 30,000 miles of brooks and streams. Waterways were once not only the preferred paths from place to place, they were often the only way to get about. The guideboat was &#8220the pickup truck&#8221 of the Adirondacks.

From birch barks and dugouts to canoes, guideboats, steamboats, and gasoline powered racing boats, Bond will describe regional craft in the context of the people who made and used them.

Hallie E. Bond has been Curator at the Adirondack Museum since 1987. She has written extensively on regional history and material culture including Boats and Boating in the Adirondacks, published by Syracuse University Press in 1995 and &#8220A Paradise for Boys and Girls&#8221 Children’s Camps in the Adirondacks, Syracuse University Press, 2005.