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 School, the 4’10 Cody was voted Class of ’87 Princess and served as Senior Class secretary, but truly made her mark in performances with the Roth Royal Players.

^{Roth High school class of 87 Princess, Cody and classmate. From: Roth High School yearbook, 1986.}

After graduating in 1987, Cody pursued a theatre degree at State University College at Fredonia. The following year, she was selected from hundreds of students around the world to perform in the 1988 Disney World Christmas parade; she would spend a semester at the Magic Kingdom honing her dance skills before completing college.  

^{Jennifer Cody (left) and fellow local, Jennifer Jacobs, were selected to perform in the Disney World Christmas parade of 1988. From: Democrat & Chronicle, December 11, 1988.}

After stints in summer stock and off Broadway, Cody’s small stature led to her big break. When the national touring company of Cats needed a tiny performer to play Rumpleteazer in 1993, Cody proved to be the purr-fect (sorry) fit.

A string of Broadway hits followed, including roles in Grease, A Christmas Story, Shrek, and Beauty and the Beast. She also branched out into voice work, appearing on popular animated television shows and movies like American Dad and Wreck-it-Ralph, and ultimately earning an Arnie–the voice over Oscar for best actor in animated film–for her portrayal of Charlotte La Boeuff in Disney’s The Princess and the Frog.

In between such successes, she has graced hometown GEVA audiences in plays including The Odd Couple and Spamalot, in which she starred opposite her husband, fellow Broadway actor, Hunter Foster.

^{Jennifer Cody and castmates featured in the GEVA Spamalot program from 2015. From: the Collection of the Rochester Public Library’s Local History & Genealogy Division}

Cody has also “represented” the Flower City over the years in venues across the country with her one-woman show, From Rochester to Broadway.

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While you may not have heard the name Scott Mayo before, it is highly likely that you’ve heard his saxophone work.

^{Scott Mayo circa 2016. From: 13WHAM.com}

Raised in Henrietta, Mayo came to his primary instrument indirectly. When he was eight, he expressed a desire to join the school band. His mother nixed his first choice of instrument–drums—deeming them too loud. His second and third choices—trumpet and guitar—were rejected for the same reason.

Mayo eventually landed on the clarinet, since both his brothers had played the instrument and there was already one in the house. His parents then bought him a book of songs from television and movies, which inspired him to play along with cartoons and commercials while watching tv.  

Within a few years, Mayo added the saxophone and flute to his musical quiver. His father helped encourage his creative development by exposing him to jazz–which he deemed to be “real music”–and taking him to jam sessions on Sunday nights.

^{Scott Mayo, age 12. From: yamaha.com}

Mayo’s musical interest deepened at Rush-Henrietta High School, where he excelled in the wind ensemble, jazz ensemble, concert band, and marching band on top of being a varsity athlete. Thanks to a teacher who recognized the young saxophonist’s potential, Mayo cut his athletic career short in order to pursue music full time.

^{Senior saxophone player, Scott Mayo. From: Monarch (Rush-Henrietta Senior High School yearbook), 1980.}

While studying music at the University of Michigan in 1983, Mayo became one of 20 musicians selected to join the All-American College Marching Band at Disneyland, where he met and made connections with a number of L.A.-area performers.

Following graduation, Mayo relocated to Los Angeles, where he embarked on a prolific career as a session musician and touring artist, backing an impressive and astoundingly wide variety of acts including Earth, Wind and Fire, Neil Young, Sergio Mendes, Sir Paul McCartney, Tim McGraw, Dr. Dre, and Beyonce, appearing on her latest album, Renaissance.

Mayo also earned a gig as the sole woodwind player on Dancing With the Stars, a role which has required him to write and perform in a range of styles from classical to klezmer. His songwriting has not only led to three solo albums, but also soundtrack work for tv shows like Better Call Saul and animated films such as Happy Feet.

^{Scott Mayo’s third album, Meu Brasil.}

Mayo acknowledges the significant impact his formative experiences had on his career, crediting both his parents and his high school for his success, noting that the latter “literally prepared me for what I’m doing right now…A lot of the habits that I have as an adult started in high school band.”

***

^{Fairport native Rick Beato. From: https://www.youtube.com/@RickBeato}

Youtube star Rick Beato hails from a musical family with “great ears.” He grew up in Fairport, where weekly dinners at his grandparents’ house were habitually followed by performances by relatives in the living room.

After he achieved a high score on a musical aptitude test in third grade, Beato took up the cello. He didn’t much care for it. A class visit from trumpeter/flugelhornist Chuck Mangione the following year—1973–didn’t sway him towards the brass section either.

When Beato’s sixth grade orchestra teacher, Ken Brown, suggested he switch to the bass, Beato happily complied, largely because it meant he wouldn’t have to schlep the instrument on the bus every day as he had the cello.  

Per Brown’s instructions, Beato went to the Fairport Public Library to pick up and study Bach’s Brandenburg Concertos. The third concerto blew Beato’s mind and prompted him to make many return trips to the library to take out piles and piles of classical records.

^{Fairport Public Library, which helped young Rick Beato deepen his classical music education. The library left this building in 1979. From: Town of Perinton.}

Though Beato’s ventures into the classical realm deepened his musical education, it wasn’t until he broke his ankle at age 14 and discovered the guitar that his music obsession blossomed.

^{14-year-old Rick Beato in 1976, the year he discovered the guitar. From: Minerva Deland High School yearbook, 1976.}

^{Beato on bass in the Minerva Deland orchestra. From: Minerva Deland High School yearbook, 1976.}

His time at Fairport High School in the late 1970s was largely spent playing his new favorite instrument, dutifully learning the riffs and solos of his favorite guitarists like Brian May and Peter Frampton.

He returned to his classical roots at Ithaca College, where he majored in musical education before earning a master’s in jazz studies from the New England Conservatory. Following graduation, he played in a number of bands representing various genres, including the Rick Beato Quartet (jazz), Rival Suns (alternative rock), and Billionaire (heavy metal), and became an established producer based in Atlanta.

^{Rick Beato (at right) in his Philadelphia-based band, Rival Suns. From: Democrat & Chronicle, November 18, 1993.}

In 2016, Beato launched his highly popular Youtube channel, on which he features interviews with musicians and engaging educational videos that help explain (sometimes complicated) musical concepts to the lay listener, a feat perhaps best exemplified in his video series, “What Makes this Song Great?”

Beato has gone on record (well, video) saying that he started the channel as a way to give something back to future generations of music listeners and performers because he feels incredibly fortunate to have grown up with a musically rich family and an excellent school system in Fairport that supported and prioritized the arts.  

-Emily Morry

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 & Chronicle, January 25, 1925.}

While frequent overcast days in January (and April!) remain a constant in Rochester, the city has changed considerably since our last total solar eclipse. Think you know what the city was like in 1925? Try testing your knowledge with the following 1925 trivia quiz!

^{Boys reading the newspaper in 1925. From: the Albert R. Stone Negative Collection, Rochester Museum & Science center, Rochester, N.Y.}

1. What was the population of Rochester in 1925?[i]
2. What was the last section of the subway constructed in the fall of 1925?[ii]
3. What new job title did George Eastman assume that year?[iii]
4. What dance craze was sweeping Rochester and the rest of the country in 1925?[iv]
5. How many wards was the city divided into?[v]
6. How many high schools were in the city?[vi]
7. Where was the Rochester Athenaeum & Mechanics Institute (RIT’s predecessor) located?[vii]
8. How many hospitals took care of the sick in Rochester circa 1925?[viii]
9. Where were the administration offices of the Rochester Public Library located?[ix] 
10. How many women officers were in the Rochester Police Department?[x]
11. Clarissa Street had a different name in 1925. What was it?[xi]
12. What was the name of Rochester’s baseball team in 1925?[xii]   
13. Where was the newly opened National Clothing store located?[xiii] 
14. Who was the mayor of Rochester in 1925?[xiv] 
15. What 14-floor church building opened in downtown Rochester on September 7, 1925?[xv]  
16. Who was the only African American physician in Rochester in 1925?[xvi]
17. What was the name of Rochester’s NFL team in 1925?[xvii] 
18. What was the price of gasoline on Eclipse Day, 1925?[xviii]
19. What was the price of a share of Eastman Kodak stock on Eclipse Day?[xix] 
20. Where was the University of Rochester located in 1925?[xx] 
21. How many breweries were active in Rochester in 1925?[xxi]
22. Which ethnic group comprised Rochester’s largest foreign-born population in 1925?[xxii]
23. In 1925, social reformer Helen B. Montgomery penned a letter to the D&C calling for local women’s societies to purchase what Rochester residence?[xxiii]
24. What Rochester-born musician graduated from Frederick Douglass High School (in another city) in 1925?[xxiv]
25. What U of R history professor, who taught at the university for 52 years and served as the namesake of one of its buildings, was laid to rest the same day as the total solar eclipse on January 24, 1925?[xxv]

-Daniel Cody (and Emily Morry)

^{A bugler at the Four Corners in November 1925. From: the Collection of the Rochester Public Library’s Local History & Genealogy Division}

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[i] 295,750 people. Rochester was larger than Syracuse but smaller than Buffalo.

[ii] The section from Oak Street to Mt. Read Blvd. 

[iii] Chairman of the Board. The position was created specifically for Eastman.

[iv] The Charleston

[v] 24. Wards were political divisions of the City.

[vi] Four: East High, West High, Kodak High, and Charlotte High.

[vii] 55 Plymouth Ave South. It stood where the Rochester City School District office parking lot is located in 2024.

[viii]  Six: Highland Hospital, Homeopathic (Genesee) Hospital, Rochester General Hospital, St. Mary’s Hospital, Municipal Hospital, and the Infant’s Summer Hospital in Charlotte.

[ix] 9 Edgerton Park. The Rundel Building wasn’t constructed until the mid-1930s.

[x] Two: Nellie L. McElroy and Rose C. Knobles. They made $2,000 per year.

[xi] Caledonia Avenue

[xii] The Rochester Tribe

[xiii] The corner of Stone Street and East Main Street. The building houses the Hilton Garden Inn in 2024.

[xiv] C.D. Van Zandt

[xv] The Baptist Temple Church. Today’s Temple Building.

[xvi] Dr. Charles T. Lunsford

[xvii] The Rochester Jeffersons

[xviii] 23 cents per gallon

[xix] $115

[xx] On University Avenue between Prince and Goodman Streets.

[xxi] None! The country was in the midst of Prohibition in 1925. Some breweries did manufacture other products during this period, however. Bartholomay Brewery, for instance, switched to dairy products.

[xxii] Italians. Newark, New Jersey and Providence, Rhode Island were the only American cities that boasted larger percentages of Italian-born residents at the time.

[xxiii] Susan B. Anthony’s former house at 17 Madison Street

[xxiv] Cab Calloway

[xxv] William Carey Morey

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 Voices.}

Born in 1927, Irene Conole grew up on Glenwood Avenue and after graduating from Nazareth Academy, gained employment with Bausch + Lomb and later, the New York Telephone Company. Then, in September 1952, diverging from the traditional path many women took in the 1950s, Conole joined the WAVES.

The United States Naval Reserve (Women’s Reserve), better known as the WAVES (Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service), was initially launched in 1942 as a temporary women’s branch of the Navy in order to free up men in shore stations for sea duty during WWII. Six years later, women were granted permission to serve in the Navy and Army on a permanent basis.

^{A ca. 1949 illustrated booklet depicting WAVES in various stages of training. From: the Irene M. Conole Collection, Rochester Voices.}

Conole underwent training at Bainbridge, Maryland before being stationed at the Patuxent Naval Base in the same state.

^{Irene Conole’s graduating class at Bainbridge, MD, ca. December 1952. Conole is second from the left in the second top row. From: the Irene M. Conole Collection, Rochester Voices.}

The collection includes several letters that Conole penned to her parents and relatives, which provide insight into the unique experience of being a member of the WAVES in the 1950s.

^{A letter Conole penned during training in Bainbridge, Maryland, on October 5, 1952. From: the Irene M. Conole Collection, Rochester Voices.}

On October 19, 1952, Conole informed her parents, “We get what they call a pelvic. That’s to find out if our insides are OK and if we are pregnant. Isn’t that cute of them? Oh well that’s life.”

Work on the base was certainly demanding but Conole seemingly faced it with a positive attitude. As she noted to her parents in November 1952: “I’m on service week and I’m in charge of twenty-five girls and we have a cleaning detail. We have to have this certain barracks in A-1 condition and it is filthy…Monday I go on galley and I dish out the food to the Waves and then we clean up afterwards. Oh it’s a great life if you don’t weaken.”

^{Conole in uniform ca. 1952. From: the Irene M. Conole collection, Rochester Voices.}

In January 1953, Conole passed her Seamen test and was permanently assigned to be the WAVES Master-At-Arms at the Enlisted Men’s Club, a position she greatly relished, noting in one letter home that “if anyone tries to take my job at the E club away from me is going to have a fight on their hands.”

Given that the Enlisted Men’s Club was the main social gathering place on the base and it offered very reasonably priced beverages, Conole witnessed her share of hijinx whilst on the job.

In late May 1953, some of the enlisted men decided to bring a new companion to the club—a baby bird. As Conole described to her parents:

“The fellows took some bread and soaked it in some beer. They wanted to get the bird loaded. What a bunch of characters. Every time we put the bird outside it would hop back in. So finally we put it on top of the Jukebox. What a bird. Every time the record would stop playing he would squawk but when there was music he would close his eyes and never make a sound.”

^{A letter Conole penned to her parents on May 28, 1953. From: the Irene M. Conole Collection, Rochester Voices.}

Although such frivolity was not uncommon at Patuxent, the base also witnessed its share of tragedy. In early 1953, Conole wrote that security had discovered a WAVE lying by the side of the road following an assault.

Sadly, Conole would also become the victim of violence the following year.

As the articles in the collection reveal[i], on Friday, May 28, 1954, Conole left the base on a weekend pass. She had been socializing at a bar late that evening when an acquaintance in the Navy, 21-year-old Charles Willis Strickland, offered her a ride back to the base. The following morning, her lifeless body was discovered by a fisherman in the waters of an isolated beach near Chesapeake Bay.

^{The front page of the May 29, 1954, issue of the Rochester Times-Union. From: the Irene M. Conole Collection, Rochester Voices.}

Though drowning was ruled the official cause of death, Conole’s body showed evidence of having been battered prior to being thrown in the water.

Charles Strickland claimed that Conole had insisted on picking up a hitchhiker on the way back to the base, and that he had dropped the pair off at a supposed “beach party.” Strickland said that upon realizing that Conole had left her purse in his car, he returned to the beach where he found a blood-stained blanket. He later informed police that his clothes became bloodied after sitting on the blanket, which is why he abandoned them in the nearby woods.

The police did not buy Strickland’s story, nor did the members of his jury, who deliberated for less than 40 minutes before Strickland was given the maximum sentence for second degree murder.

^{Inventory List of Irene Conole’s belongings, sent to her parents on June 2, 1954. From: the Irene M. Conole Collection, Rochester Voices.}

Irene Conole’s tragic death devastated the WAVES community, her family back in Rochester, and her fiancée in San Diego, whom she was to marry that August.

Offering sympathy to the Conole family in a letter, the Chief of Naval Personnel for Women expressed, “You should be forever proud of the fine example your daughter set for the hundreds of young women serving their country and we shall always be grateful for her contribution to the Navy.”

 -Emily Morry

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[i] For potential viewers of the collection, please be aware that these articles include graphic content.

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 Gershwin debuted “Rhapsody in Blue” at Convention Hall (now Geva Theater) in 1924—but it wasn’t until the Community War Memorial opened in the mid-1950s that Rochester had a venue that continuously attracted popular music acts.

^{The new Community War Memorial in September 1955. From: City of Rochester}

Many of the biggest names in rock music played the arena in the 1960s and 1970s.

British Invasion band, The Rolling Stones, performed here on November 1, 1965. The show represented a new type of concert for Rochester; fans no longer not sat quietly but instead screamed, shouted, and crammed the stage. This excitement was too much for the Rochester Police Department, who cut the concert short after only seven of the Stones’ scheduled 14 songs.

^{From: Democrat & Chronicle, November 2, 1965.}

The British reinvaded the arena when the Who took the stage on August 30, 1967. They would return in 1971 to a sold-out crowd. Though they were known for smashing their guitars and equipment at the end of their concerts, this blogger only witnessed lead guitarist Pete Townsend kick over a stack of amplifiers.

The great Jimi Hendrix brought his guitar genius for Rochester to “experience” on March 21,1968. Foreigner frontman Lou Gramm has said that this performance was the inspiration for his band’s song, “Juke Box Hero.”

This blogger was present when a very loud Led Zeppelin packed the arena in September 1971, the same year that the War Memorial welcomed Emerson, Lake & Palmer, who used their classical music training to develop a new sound.

^{From: Democrat & Chronicle, September 5, 1971.}

ELP returned in 1972, the same year that Flint, Michigan band, Grand Funk Railroad, came to Rochester. “Mean Mistreater” and “Heartbreaker” were a couple of the hits that this writer and a few thousand other fans enjoyed on October 21, 1972.

^{The Community War Memorial arena’s spacious interior circa December 1955. From: City of Rochester}

Though the arena was seemingly custom made for such hard-driving rock bands, it also showcased a wide variety of pop, folk, soul, and blues acts over the years. 

Teeny-boppers had their share of excitement at the venue on July 27, 1967, when the made-for-TV phenom band, the Monkees, performed in front of a very enthusiastic crowd.

^{Singer Davy Jones and his adoring fans. From: Democrat & Chronicle, July 28, 1967.}

The following year on October 5, 1968, a Simon and Garfunkel performance pleased 8,000 fans. Just six days later, the Queen of Soul, Aretha Franklin, was center stage on Exchange Street.

^{From: Democrat & Chronicle, October 11, 1968.}

In March 1971, James Taylor, known for his melodic voice and easy listening ballads, performed with Carole King, who played songs from her newly released Tapestry album. That September, Elton John brought his musical genius and showmanship to the stage; he returned in October 1972.

^{From: Democrat & Chronicle, September 24, 1972.}

Another musical genius, Bob Dylan, performed an iconic set for Rochester fans in September 1978.

^{From: Democrat & Chronicle, September 27, 1978.}

The following year, in April 1979, Diana Ross thrilled the audience with her sweet yet powerful voice. Just one month later, two blues legends took the stage at the same time, Eric Clapton and the great Muddy Waters.

^{From: Democrat & Chronicle, April 13, 1979.}

Fellow blues legend, B.B. King, was among several artists that made the War Memorial a stop on several tours (I saw him in 1973). Jethro Tull, a rock band featuring flutist Ian Anderson, played the venue no less than six times in the 1970s. (I saw them in 1975).

^{From: Democrat & Chronicle, June 17, 1972.}

The greatest concert held at the War Memorial, in this blogger’s humble opinion, was when the King of Rock and Roll, Elvis Presley, graced the stage. Elvis performed here on July 26, 1976, and then again in May of 1977.

I went to the latter concert with my new wife as well as my mother and mother-in-law, both of whom had been teenagers when Elvis first burst onto the musical scene. It was amazing to witness the crowd full of awestruck fans. Elvis held such command over the audience that he could have sung the phone book and nobody would have cared. The King was on stage and Rochester loved him.

^{Concert program from Elvis Presley’s 1977 concert at the War Memorial. Photo by: Dan Cody}

The Community War Memorial was rebranded the Blue Cross Arena in 1998; the historic venue continues to present concerts representing a range of genres, helping ensure that music remains a vital fabric in the tapestry of the Rochester community.

^{The former Community War Memorial in 1998, the year it was rebranded the Blue Cross Arena. From: City of Rochester.}

-Daniel Cody

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 will last for generations to come.

^{A portrait of Carolyne Scott Blount (1943-2024) that James Blount commissioned while he was stationed overseas. From: Blount family’s personal collection.}

Born on March 21st, 1943, in Richmond, Virginia, Carolyne Scott Blount earned a bachelor’s degree from Virginia State University and a master’s from Drexel University. She worked as a librarian and instructor at Morgan State University, then gained employment with the Systems Development and Federal Systems divisions of IBM before transitioning to the journalism industry.

Carolyne was a longtime member of the Delta Nu Omega Chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority and over the course of her career, presented workshops on both local and national African American history and was involved in several Black history research projects.

^{James “Jim” Blount (1943-2023). From:} https://melatimerfuneralhome.com/tribute/details/910/James-Blount/obituary.html

James “Jim” Morris Blount was born June 5^th, 1943, in Smithfield, Virginia. Raised in the Emmanuel Baptist Church, he was the oldest of four children and graduated from the Isle of Wight Training School. During this time, he developed a passion for learning and social justice. James earned his bachelor’s degree in business from Virginia State University in 1965, where he met his future wife, Carolyne.

James honorably served in the United States Navy Reserve from 1965 to 1971 and fulfilled his duty on two tours to the Middle East and the Mediterranean. He also served on the Rush-Henrietta Central School District Board of Education for six years and was a member of the Rochester Association of Black Journalists.

Together, Carolyne and James Blount assumed ownership of ABOUT…TIME in 1972; they would publish, edit and disseminate the magazine for more than fifty years.

Founded in 1970, ABOUT…TIME focused on issues reflecting African American life and culture in Rochester and beyond. The stories in the groundbreaking publication highlighted Black history in the making and celebrated the lives of unsung everyday heroes. Notably, ABOUT…TIME produced an award-winning, six-part, 95-page history series on Rochester Roots (Routes) during the city’s sesquicentennial celebration in 1984.

^{A collage of some of ABOUT…TIME’s impressive covers. From: Carolyne Blount}

ABOUT…TIME  also helped produce additional noteworthy works relating to the Black community. The company designed and printed Mount Olivet Baptist Church:100th Anniversary History, 1910 -2010, and undertook the editing and design work for Decades of Timeless Service and Divine Sisterhood: Delta Nu Omega Chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated.

In 2018, ABOUT…TIME produced two significant volumes: 150 Ancestors Commemoration, a booklet which highlights more than 200 African American ancestors whose pioneering works contributed to the overall growth and development of the greater Rochester area, and Beyond These Gates: Mountains of Hope in Rochester’s African American History, a walking tour guidebook of Black historical figures buried in Rochester’s Mount Hope Cemetery.

In recognition of the magazine’s accomplishments, ABOUT…TIME received the Charles Lunsford Lifetime Achievement Award from the Urban League of Rochester. Carolyne Blount noted that the magazine’s success was “a result of its strong lines of communication between the publication and Rochester’s African American community,” and maintained that the couple’s “survival in the publishing business…as a part of the Black Press all comes down to one thing — faith”.

During the past year, Carolyne Blount served on the Community Advisory Board of the Rochester Public Library’s Archive of Black History and Culture. James accompanied her from her initial interview to the onboarding orientation and well into the board’s monthly meetings, frequently offering up his own perspective and additional context to Carolyne’s already impressive and informative tidbits of Rochester’s Black history. The Blounts were actively engaged in the affairs of the advisory board and provided an unparalleled level of insight for the archive.

The Local History and Genealogy Division is currently working with the Blount family to develop a preservation plan to ensure that the entire catalog of ABOUT…TIME can be made publicly available. The future work of the archive was directly influenced by Carolyne’s counsel as an advisory board member. She aided in the archives’ journey to create a framework for future collection development, and now one of the first collections to be developed by the archive, will be her own.

^{Some of the bound volumes of ABOUT…TIME in the Local History & Genealogy Division’s collection. Photo: Morry, 2024.}

-Antoine Ajani McDonald

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 Way, Price Lane, and Lunsford Lane. From: Googlemaps, 2024.}

Older residents may remember the northernmost street in this section as Bronson Avenue, but since 2001 it has been named Dr. Samuel McCree Way.

The son of ministers from Mobile, Alabama, Samuel Wilbert McCree Jr. relocated to Rochester in 1969 to attend the Colgate Rochester Crozer Divinity School. Following his graduation in 1971, McCree found employment with the Rochester City School District, where he would work as a teacher and administrator for 20 years.

^{Dr. Samuel McCree in 1994. From: Democrat & Chronicle, October 11, 1994.}

He was perhaps better known for his ministry work. Reverend McCree established the Zion Hill Missionary Baptist Church in 1982. Beginning with a humble congregation of eight people in a home on Ellicott Street, Zion Hill then moved to a new house on worship on Bronson Avenue where its membership would grow to include more than 5,000 people.

^{Zion Hill Missionary Baptist Church at 250 Dr. Samuel McCree Way. From: Googlemaps, 2024.}

Both a spiritual and community leader, McCree founded a range of outreach organizations serving southwest Rochester including Project Faith, to assist those with HIV and AIDS, Project Spirit, to help those struggling with addiction, and Esther House, for mothers and children escaping domestic violence. He also launched a scholarship program offering financial aid to students in need.

Following Reverend McCree’s untimely death from cancer at the age of 52, the city voted to rename the street on which his pioneering ministry stood, to Dr. Samuel McCree Way.

One block south of Dr. Samuel McCree Way lies Price Lane, named after former police officer, Charles “Charlie” Price. Born in 1923, Price grew up on Adams Street, not far from his namesake lane. Price’s maternal side of the family had been living in the Corn Hill area since 1883 and his grandfather ran one of Clarissa Street’s earliest black-owned businesses, Jesse Stevens’ Progressive Grocery, from 1909 until 1932.  

^{A circa 1926 ad for Jesse Stevens’ grocery store before Caledonia Avenue was renamed Clarissa Street. From: Directory : published by the Negro Business League of Rochester, N.Y., 1926}

After graduating from Madison High School, Price served as a military intelligence officer for the Tuskegee Airmen during WWII.

^{Charles Price appears at bottom right in this Madison High School photo. From: The Madisonian, 1942.}

He then worked at Kodak until he had a fortuitous encounter with publisher Howard Coles in 1947 at a local bar, during which the latter complained of the lack of black policemen in the city.

That year, Price switched careers and became the first African American policeman in Rochester’s history.

^{Charles Price and cohorts preparing for the police officer’s exam in 1947. From: The Clarissa Street Legacy Collection, Rochester Public Library}

He was sworn in privately due to the racial animosity then present on the force. His promotion in 1965 also took place in a private ceremony.

Over the course of his dedicated career with RPD, from which he retired as a Captain in 1985, Price provided security for major historical figures including Civil Rights leader Malcolm X in 1965 and presidential candidate, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. in 1968. Both men were assassinated the same year as their respective Rochester visits.

^{Charles Price and colleague at work. From: The Clarissa Street Legacy Collection, Rochester Public Library}.

Price also protected Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. on January 8, 1958, when the renowned activist gave talks to both the City Club and the Colgate Rochester Crozer Divinity School. That evening, Price accompanied Dr. King to a private gathering at the home of Dr. Charles T. Lunsford, namesake of Lunsford Lane.

^{Dr. Charles T. Lunsford and a young patient in 1972. From: Democrat & Chronicle, February 27, 1972.}

The first Black licensed physician in Rochester, Charles Terrell Lunsford was born in Macon, Georgia, in 1891. Lunsford studied at Howard University before moving to Rochester and opening a medical practice at 574 Clarissa Street in 1921. He soon amassed a full roster of clients, and was known to make house calls and offer services for free or reduced rates for patients in need.

^{The location of Dr. Lunsford’s office at 574 Clarissa Street is highlighted on these maps from 1935 and 2024. The ca. 2024 map misspells Lunsford’s name. From: City of Rochester Plat Map, 1935 and City of Rochester, 2024.}

The seemingly indefatigable doctor was also a committed champion of civil rights. In 1939, Dr. Lunsford headed a citizen’s committee to address the University of Rochester Medical School and Nursing School’s policy of excluding black students. Thanks to their efforts, the following year Edwin Robinson became the first African American student admitted to the institution.

Lunsford also protested the nationwide Red Cross policy of not accepting blood from African American donors. In the early 1940s, he sent 50 of his patients that were able to pass as white to the local blood bank. Following their donations, Lunsford divulged the tactic in a letter to the D&C editor, who passed it on to the Red Cross national headquarters. His efforts helped overturn the organization’s prejudicial policy.

^{The tireless doctor at work in 1972. From: Democrat & Chronicle, February 27, 1972.}

Lunsford remained a vocal critic of racial discrimination and residential segregation while continuing to work as a physician until his retirement in 1978. He served as the president of the local chapter of the NAACP for many years and worked to end discriminatory practices in local institutions and businesses including the YMCA and Kodak.

Dr. Lunsford’s legacy now lives on via three Rochester locales, the Dr. Charles Lunsford Academy School no. 19 on Seward Street, Lunsford Park in Corn Hill, and the short street in the same neighborhood that City Council branded Lunsford Lane in December 2006.

^{Lunsford’s namesake school circa 1990. From: City of Rochester.}

-Emily Morry

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 revolution. In 1821, Greek rebels launched a battle for their independence against the Ottoman Empire, earning the support of many Americans in the process, including residents of the Flour City.

At a mass meeting to raise money for the Greek revolutionaries in 1823, Col. Ashbel W. Riley and Josiah Bissell Jr. offered to sell a sizeable tract they owned on the city’s east side for $200, which they would then donate to the cause.  

To honor the rebel forces, the City named one of the boundaries of the property Scio Street. A Greek-inhabited island in the Aegean Sea, Scio (Chios in Greek), witnessed a massive massacre by Ottoman troops in 1822, during which 100,000 people were killed or enslaved. Twenty thousand additional Greeks fled the island.

^{An early depiction of Scio Street. From: Plan of the City of Rochester, 1851 by Marcus Smith.}

Rochester’s place-based street names more often reflect points of pride rather than tributes to tragedies, however.

In the early nineteenth century, a good portion of what we now call Corn Hill was known as the Caledonia Tract. Purchased by Scottish settlers, the tract, and a major north-south street within it, were named after the ancient Roman term for Scotland.

To further honor their homeland, the neighborhood’s denizens successfully campaigned in 1828 to have Hill and Ely Streets changed to Edinburgh and Glasgow Streets. These monikers remain in place today. Caledonia Street was renamed after resident John Greig’s wife, Clarissa.

^{Caledonia, Glasgow, and Edinburgh Streets ca. 1910. From: City of Rochester Plat Map, 1910.}

^{The same area in 2024. From: City of Rochester, 2024.}

Other ethnic enclaves led to similar street brandings. In the mid-nineteenth century, the city witnessed an influx of thousands of German immigrants. By 1865, Germans constituted the most populous foreign-born group in the city.

^{German settlers began arriving to Rochester as early as 1815. Greater numbers of German immigrants relocated to Rochester in the mid-nineteenth century. Courtesy of: Morry}

Many of these emigres settled in the northeast neighborhood once known as Butterhole, a.k.a. Butter Bowl (now part of Group 14621). But they also helped shape a section of what is now the Upper Falls area by petitioning for roads named after the German cities of Baden and Hanover, the Rhine river, and the erstwhile cultural capital of Europe, Vienna.

^{Several German-inspired street names in the area just south of what is now Upper Falls Boulevard. From: City of Rochester, 1935.}

^{The same area in 2024. From: City of Rochester, 2024.}

In the late nineteenth century, northeast Rochester began welcoming scores of Eastern and Southern Europeans, including thousands of Poles, who formed a community in an as of yet undeveloped section of the city along Hudson Avenue between Avenue D and Norton Street.

^{The area of Hudson Avenue just south of Norton Street was largely undeveloped in 1888. From: City of Rochester Plat Map, 1888.}

The streets they laid out were named after Polish figures like the revolutionary Casimir Pulaski, military leader Tadeusz Kosciusko, and King John III Sobieski.

^{The same area in 1910 reflects the development of the local Polish community. From: City of Rochester Plat Map, 1910.}

Significantly, the residents of Hiram Street, a road between Hudson and Baumann, petitioned to have it renamed Warsaw Street in February 1922. The previous year marked the end of the Polish-Soviet War, during which the Battle of Warsaw witnessed Polish forces successfully defending their capital city and defeating the Bolshevik Red Army.

^{Warsaw Street appears at the bottom left of this 1935 map. From: City of Rochester Plat Map, 1935.}

^{The Polish-American residents of the newly renamed Warsaw Street in 1922. From: Rochester City Directory, 1922.}

Seemingly not all of Rochester’s residents in the early twentieth century were supportive of the multicultural monikers of the city’s streets.

When the City annexed sections of Gates and Greece in 1919, a number of streets had to be renamed to avoid duplicates. One proposed switch was to change Virginia Avenue—a former Gates street which ran between Bergen and Emerson—to Kossuth Street, as that was the name of the city section of the same road.

The street’s namesake, Lajos Kossuth, was a Hungarian political reformer who led his country’s battle for independence from Austria in the Revolution of 1848-1849.

^{This 1935 map depicts the original names of streets in what is now the Lyell-Otis neighborhood. The street on the right side of the map was originally called Virginia Avenue north of Bergen Street (Beacon Park) and Kossuth Street south of Bergen Street (Beacon Park). From: City of Rochester Plat Map, 1935.}

At a heated public hearing of the Common Council’s streets committee in August 1920, a number of neighborhood residents voiced their preference for American street names.

^{A heated headline. From: Democrat & Chronicle, August 11, 1920.}

One protester remarked, “We who live here don’t care for these foreign names. The foreigners living in that neighborhood are very estimable citizens and an asset to the community, but at the same time we would rather that this committee keep the old name of Virginia Avenue for us.”

The fact that the potential name change led to an Americanism-fueled debate isn’t surprising given the historical context. Hungarians were among the Central Powers forces that the United States had just battled in WWI and the war was followed by a “Red Scare” period during which anti-foreigner sentiment was commonplace.

In the end, neither the American state nor the Hungarian statesman won out. The following month, Virginia Avenue and Kossuth Street were united under a new name: Glide Street.

^{From: Googlemaps, 2024.}

-Emily Morry

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 & Genealogy Division for January 2024. Photo by: Christansen, 2024.}

In addition to depicting how Rochester’s trains, trolleys, and subway looked, these works chronicle the fascinating histories of these transportation systems and the communities they served.

^{Some of the trains and trolleys featured in the Rochester Images collection. Photo: Christansen, 2024.}

Early train tracks in New York State followed the waterways of commerce–the Hudson River, the Mohawk River, and the Erie Canal. In the 1850s, Rochester was a hub of manufacturing and the surrounding area was rich in agricultural produce. Consequently, the city became a destination for several railroads including the New York Central, the Erie, the Lehigh Valley, and the Buffalo, Rochester, & Pittsburgh (BR&P).  

With these railroads came a series of handsome, sturdy train stations built in small towns like Newark, medium towns like Fairport, and larger cities such as Rochester. Rochester’s third New York Central station, which opened in 1914, was designed by famed architect, Claude Bragdon. It had great curving windows inspired by the wheels of a steam train.

For a glimpse of its pure grandeur, browse Richard “Dick” Chait’s book, Rochester’s Famed Bragdon Station, Its Architect, History and Legacy. The magnificent station is no longer standing, but a few of the smaller area stations still exist as restaurants (Dinosaur BBQ and Nick Tahou’s) or as mini-museums and historical sites (Rochester & Genesee Valley Railroad Museum).   

^{Postcards and photos of train stations from our Rochester Images collection. Note the stations which now house Dinosaur BBQ (top left) and Nick Tahou’s (bottom right). Photo: Christansen, 2024.}

Dick Chait also wrote about what is perhaps our most famous local line in The Hojack Line Remembered, Oswego to Lewiston. From the late 1800s to the mid-1900s, this line carried both passengers and farm produce while its branch lines hauled coal to the Russell, Beebee, and Kodak power plants. Like many railroads and trolley lines, the Hojack resulted from the consolidation of smaller lines that weren’t financially viable.  

^{Three of the many rail-related books in our collection. Photo: Morry, 2024.}

The trajectory of one such smaller rail line is detailed in A Railroad for Lima, An Account of New York State’s Unique Shortline – A Steam Railroad Turned Interurban Trolley by Paul S. Worboys. The author discusses the 4.5-mile Lima to Honeoye Falls line’s struggle to exist and survive from 1892 to 1916 as investors came and went. The book serves as something of a microcosm of the story of mass transit’s conversion from steam power to electric cable. 

^{Photo: Christansen, 2024.}

In the late nineteenth century, a series of excursion and holiday trolley lines opened up in the Rochester area. As described in Manitou Beach Trolley Days, 1891-1925 by William R. Gordon, the Grand View Beach Railroad operated four-wheel open street cars for 8 miles from Charlotte to Manitou Beach. For 30 years, thousands of passengers rode the ten bench open trolleys to hotels and cottages along the lake shore.

^{Passengers waiting at the Manitou Station of the Grand View Beach Railroad ca. 1891-1895. From: the Collection of the Rochester Public Library’s Local History & Genealogy Division.}

Gordon also wrote Rochester & Sodus Bay Railroad Co., 1889 to 1929: The Royal Blue Line. In the month of May, the Royal Blue Line was dubbed “The Apple Blossom Line,” as it transported passengers along the Ridge Road to sniff apple blossoms in the area.

Another trolley called “The Orange Blossom,” or “Route of the Orange Limited” of the Rochester and Eastern to Canandaigua and Geneva, gave holiday seekers access to the Finger Lakes.

As the local trolley system began to wane in the late 1920s, another form of transportation gained prominence in the city. Officially known as the Rochester Industrial and Rapid Transit Railway, the subway ran from December 1927 to June 1956 along a two-mile route constructed in the former Erie Canal bed.

Contrary to its name, most of the subway actually ran above ground, though its trains did once bustle below Rundel Memorial Library and the former City Hall building on Broad Street.

^{A circa 1928 map of the Rochester Industrial and Rapid Transit Railway (a.k.a. the Subway). From: the Collection of the Rochester Public Library’s Local History & Genealogy Division.}

This is only a taste of the considerable texts and images of Rochester’s local rail history available in our collection. Hungry for more? Come by the Local History & Genealogy Division or check out our Rochester Images database online.

-Hope Christansen

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 (along Culver Road and Densmore Creek) course through the Town of Irondequoit. From: City of Rochester, 2023.}

The early twentieth century was rife with land annexations. Each time the City sought to carry one out, the City’s charter had to be revised, which required approval from the New York State Assembly and Senate along with the Governor’s signature.

One such charter revision occurred when Dr. Henry Durand gifted his 484-acre lakeside estate to the City for use as a public park. Durand, with his friend George Eastman, first offered the property in 1906; City Council officially accepted the donation the following February.

^{Henry S. Durand’s expansive property appears in yellow on this 1902 map. From: Plat Book of Monroe County, 1902.}

As Durand’s land was in the town of Irondequoit, the property’s formal annexation to the City would be necessary. Quietly, the City also determined that it wanted to control a route connecting the new park to the City proper. Thus, the 1907 revised charter rolled all of the City’s desired annexations from the Town of Irondequoit into a single package – today’s Durand-Eastman Park and Woodman Road (i.e., Culver Road north of the City line), along with Densmore Creek (which served as the outlet for the Eastern Trunk Sewer).

It is evident from newspaper accounts that annexing the Woodman/Culver Road strip was ancillary to the annexation of Durand-Eastman Park. The road was to be annexed simply to ensure that the City controlled a route to this large new park property.

^{This 1910 map depicts Woodman/Culver Road connecting the City to Durand-Eastman Park. From: City of Rochester Plat map, 1910.}

Why the City decided to also annex Densmore Creek is less clear.

By the time of the annexation, the City had been using Densmore Creek as an “overflow sewer” for the east side sewer system for over a decade. The resulting occasional but noxious dumping of sewage into the creek created a nuisance for the Irondequoit residents through whose properties it flowed on the way to Irondequoit Bay.

^{The Densmore Creek watershed. From: https://www.monroecounty.gov/files/DES/Stormwater/Densmore%20Creek%20Rapid%20Assessment%20-%20Final.pdf}

While the available information regarding the City’s decision to seek the annexation of Densmore Creek is limited, it is highly likely that the City saw taking control of the creek (and a 100 foot wide strip of land around it) as a way to avoid the cost of paying for the abatement of the nuisance–$100,000 for an enclosed sewer to replace the creek.

News of the proposed annexations broke in March of 1907. While Irondequoit residents supported the City annexing Durand’s estate and making it a park, they were infuriated by the plans for Woodman Road and Densmore Creek.

^{From; Democrat & Chronicle, March 14, 1907.}

One amusing comment from a March 13, 1907, public meeting on the matter made light of the fact that the city had failed to properly maintain roads previously annexed from Irondequoit: “If the city does not take better care of the Woodman Road than it does of Norton Street then a man will soon be able to row a boat down the new road to the park.”

In addition to pointing out the City’s poor upkeep of annexed roads, critics cited the loss of $37,000 in taxable property along Densmore Creek.

Irondequoit’s concerns were amplified a month later in the State Senate, where the City’s plan was condemned because it only sought to claim a 20-foot strip down the middle of Woodman Road, leaving the rest of the right of way for Irondequoit to maintain. Irondequoit farmers feared the road would be declared a “park boulevard,” from which their wagons would be banned. The Densmore Creek annexation was openly assailed as a manner by which the City would sidestep paying for the pollution it caused along the waterway.  

Despite these objections, the State Senate passed the new charter on May 10, and, following review by the Mayor and City Council, it was signed into law by Governor Charles Evans Hughes on July 25, 1907.

^{From Democrat & Chronicle, July 26, 1907.}

-Brandon Fess

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 arose in the 1960s or 1970s, but it actually came about in the late nineteenth century; the Rochester Gymnnosophy League, for its part, was founded in 1932.

^{The League’s logo as featured on its stationary. From: the Collection of the Rochester Public Library’s Local History & Genealogy Division.}

The club’s roots lie with William W. Newcomb. Born in Indiana in 1904 and raised in various midwestern states by a somewhat itinerant Baptist preacher, Newcomb moved to Rochester in the late 1920s and obtained a job as a film librarian for Eastman Educational films.

^{Gymnosophist William W. Newcomb. From: Ancestry.com}

After learning about gymnosophy and the related German “Nacktkultur” movement, Newcomb became inspired to devote all his time and money to establishing a widespread movement—or, “cult,” to use his terminology—dedicated to the philosophy here in Rochester.

^{From: Rochester Daily Record, May 6, 1932.}

Newcomb believed that the habitual concealment of the body “hampers the rearing of the young, gives rise to unhealthy complexes, and creates abnormal relations between the sexes.” Exposing one’s full body to sun, light, and air on a regular basis, he maintained, was good for one’s physical and mental health.

As such, he sought out a secluded lot where he and like-minded people could gather for sun bathing, swimming, games, and other exercises away from the prying eyes of those who scoffed at the cause. He settled on an expansive property with a private lake surrounded by woods and hills in Bushnell’s Basin.

^{The league’s camp was allegedly located on the west shore of Bullhead Pond in Bushnell’s Basin. From: Plat Book of Monroe County, 1924.}

^{The same area in 2023. The body of water at the bottom of the map has alternately been called Bullhead Pond and Lake Lacoma throughout its existence. From: Googlemaps, 2023.}

The club also boasted a lodge somewhat north of the camp where club members could stay at a reasonable rate for stays as short as a day and as long as the full summer.

^{Rochester Gymnosophy League’s charter membership rates. The camp officially opened on June 4, 1932. From: the Rochester Public Library’s Local History & Genealogy Division}

The lodge was housed in the former Exchange Hotel. It is now better known as the Richardson Canal House.

^{A Rochester Gymnosophy League-produced map indicating the location of the club’s lodge. From: the Collection of the Rochester Public Library’s Local History & Genealogy Division.}

^{A circa 1904 photo of the Rochester Gymnosophy League lodge building, when it was known as the Exchange Hotel. It was constructed in 1818 and became Richardson’s Canal House in 1979. From: Perinton Town Historian collection.}

All those seeking to become members of the Rochester Gymnosophy League were required to fill out an extensive application form in which they vowed to keep secret all locations, procedures, and methods of the club. New recruits were then inspected by the club physician and prescibed custom sunning and exercise regimens.

^{Questionnaire for applicants to the Rochester Gymnosophy League. From: the Rochester Public Library’s Local History & Genealogy Division.}

In addition to the doctor in question, the league also allegedly included engineers, teachers, college students, dancers, and office workers among its forty-odd members.

The collective reached the consensus that they would sport loin cloths rather than their birthday suits, but even this sartorial concession proved too risqué for the residents of Bushnell’s Basin, who, once they learned of the club, began to protest its presence in their hamlet. 

In 1935, William Newcomb attempted to establish another nudist camp near Scottsville Road; over the course of the decade, two more seemingly short-lived naturalist clubs, the Rochester Outdoor League and the Rochester Sunbathers cropped up in the county.

^{A headline about the formation of the Rochester Sunbathers. From: Democrat and Chronicle, February 15, 1937.}

Newcomb would go on to become a freelance writer, publishing several pieces on gymnosophy and a book entitled “The Story of Nudism.” He was also a prolific writer of letters to the editor, and had this to say about the Rundel Memorial Library to the D&C’s editor in 1937:  

“I really believe that our Library represents the most complete essence of true democracy in the city. I don’t believe you can go anywhere and find such cordial uncomplaining service as the attendants give in this institution; and what difficult requests they get! . . . we Rochesterians are pretty lucky to have a building like Rundel.”

Ten years after penning this love letter to Rundel, Newcomb moved to the more sunbathing-friendly state of Florida, where he became a real estate broker. Whether or not any of this real estate was devoted to naturalist practices remains a mystery.

-Emily Morry