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Time Passages -the Rochester Roots of a Trio of Hall of Famers

Seven new performers will be inducted into the Rochester Music Hall of Fame on May 5th. Here’s a look at the local roots of three of these talented artists… Jennifer Cody has made a home for herself on Broadway, but her love for musical theatre began just down the road in West Henrietta, New York. Jennifer Cody as a wee lass. From: Roth High School yearbook, 1987. While attending Roth High…

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Total Eclipse of the Trivia

The last time Rochester witnessed a total solar eclipse was 99 years ago on January 24, 1925. Perhaps not surprisingly, the weather was not ideal. Though the chilly day started out with some sun, the skies clouded over by the time of the eclipse, leaving many photographers greatly disappointed. The front page of the Democrat & Chronicle reporting on the previous day’s eclipse. From: Democrat &…

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Wave Goodbye: The All Too Brief Life of Irene Conole

Women’s history month offers an opportunity to reflect on some of Rochester’s most celebrated residents as well as some of its lesser-known figures. The life of one such woman is chronicled in the Irene M. Conole Collection on the library’s Rochester Voices website. Irene Conole in a white dress, likely from a set of wedding shower photos in 1954. From: the Irene M. Conole Collection, Rochester…

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Music Haven: War Memorial Memories

If you grew up in Rochester in the 1960s and 1970s, chances are that you or someone you know, attended at least one concert at the Community War Memorial (now Blue Cross Arena). And chances are, it was a very memorable experience. Rochester has long been a destination for major touring artists—Corinthian Hall hosted Swedish opera singing phenom, Jenny Lind, in 1851, and jazz composer George…

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It's About...Time: Honoring Carolyne & James Blount

Carolyne and James “Jim” Blount. From: Blount family’s personal collection. Carolyne and James Blount, Executive Editor and Publisher of the historic ABOUT…TIME magazine, have both transitioned on after a lifetime of service to the Black community. The Blounts’ unwavering commitment to documenting and preserving the history of African Americans in the greater Rochester area leaves a legacy that…

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Street Stories: Carrying on the Legacy of Three Local Leaders

As we saw in the previous post in this series, Rochester has an abundance of streets named after geographic places. The city is also graced with many roads named after notable people. One small section of Corn Hill pays tribute to three leading figures from the local African American community. This small three block section of Corn Hill includes three significant street names: Dr. Samuel McCree…

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Where are You From?: Rochester Street Names & the Places that Inspired Them

The corner of Edinburgh and Frederick Douglass Streets in Corn Hill. From: Googlemaps, 2024. If you happen to pay attention to the names of Rochester’s streets, you may have noticed that a number of them are named after cities, states, and countries. How and why did such streets come to be? One of the earliest place-based street names in Rochester was inspired by an early nineteenth century…

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Celebrating Rochester's Trains, Trolleys, and Subway

The Local History & Genealogy Division has more than 30 books on Rochester’s trains, trolleys, and subway system. Many of the volumes were written by local authors such as Paul S. Worboys, William R. Gordon, Richard “Dick” Chait, and Donovan Shilling. Our division’s January table display highlights these books and our Rochester Images collection.    The table display in the Local History &…

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You Belong to Me: How two slices of Irondequoit became part of Rochester

The City of Rochester’s boundaries are the result of numerous, sometimes contentious, annexations of land from the surrounding villages and towns. A patron recently asked us about the narrow, spidery corridors of land belonging to the City that follow Culver Road and Densmore Creek across Irondequoit. When and why were these odd strips of land transferred to the City? Two strips of the city…

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Naked Truth: Getting to the Bottom of a Bygone Rochester Club

Have you ever heard of gymnosophy? Me neither. At least not until I stumbled upon a curious file in our pamphlet collection devoted to the Rochester Gymnosophy League. And what I found inside came as a total shock… Photo by: Morry, 2023. Gymnosophy, as it turns out, was a movement and philosophy dedicated to promoting the benefits of nudity. Given that description, you would think the movement…

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Candy Man: Rochester's Role in one of Thanksgiving's most Divisive Dishes

From: Wikimedia Commons. Chances are a good number of Thanksgiving dinner tables this year will feature a culinary item with ties to Rochester history. Depending on which side of the candied yams debate you’re on—delicious dish or tortured tubers–it might please and surprise you to know that the marshmallow, yes, the humble marshmallow, bears a local connection. That isn’t to say that…

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What Are These?: Researching Relics from WWI

Earlier this year, the Office of the City Historian received a package containing three WWI-era artifacts. The donor indicated that the items hailed from his grandmother’s collection and had once belonged to his uncle, Alfred Schoenheit. I was tasked with identifying the three artifacts and uncovering what stories they might hold. I started off by researching Alfred Schoenheit himself. Using the…

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Johnny Has Gone for a Soldier: Researching New Yorkers’ Civil War Service

Those with deep roots in New York State likely have an ancestor who served in the Civil War. Family lore may include stories about him, but detailed knowledge may be lacking. If this describes your situation, the Local History & Genealogy Division’s Civil War Resource Center may be able to help fill in the blanks.       The Civil War Resource Center in the Local History & Genealogy Division of…

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Three Names at Two Locations for One Schiller Monument

As one walks or drives along Andrews Street in downtown Rochester, one cannot help noticing the large monument in Schiller Park. Its subject, Friedrich von Schiller, was a German poet, playwright, and philosopher. He is perhaps best known to contemporaries for his poem “An die Freude” (“Ode to Joy”), the lyrics of which are central to the fourth movement of Beethoven’s 9th Symphony. Schiller…

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A Mixology Mystery: Tracing the Origins of a Turn-of the-Century Cocktail

“It’s a silken and insidious drink,” declared the New York Morning Telegram. “Four of her Will Curl Your Hair,” cried the Mount Carmel Register. “It’s as effective as a thirteen-inch gun at close range,” claimed the Louisville Courier-Journal. These were just some of the warnings that American journalists issued readers in the summer of 1900 about the perils of a new potent potable that had made…

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What the Heck Is That?: An Architectural Mystery

If you’ve ever passed by the parking lot at the corner of Bausch Street and St. Paul Street, you may have noticed a strange looking structure and wondered “What the heck is that?” Is it the remains of an old canal lock? A former aqueduct? A bridge? A house? In fact, it is none of these things, but it does provide a clue as to the history of the other buildings on the parcel. What the heck is…

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Bad Medicine, Pt. 2: The Rise and Fall of H.H. Warner and the Warner Safe Cure

When last we saw Hulbert Harrington Warner in part one of this series, the so-called “Patent Medicine King” had just moved his tremendously successful operation to his namesake building on St Paul Street. The cover of a circa 1890 Warner’s Safe Cure Almanac, displaying the company’s headquarters at 72-82 St. Paul Street. From the Collection of the Local History & Genealogy Division. The…

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