Two Worlds: Rochester’s Anti-Apartheid Movement

^{Rev. John Walker speaking at an Anti-Apartheid march in 1985. From: Democrat & Chronicle, September 15, 1985.}

These days when South Africa appears in the local news, it is often in conjunction with the COVID-19 variant first discovered in that country. Thirty years ago, the nation made headlines locally and globally when Apartheid legislation was repealed. The decision to end the official system of racial segregation in South Africa was influenced in no small part by the sustained protests of Anti-Apartheid activists from all over the world. Rochester, for its part, witnessed Anti-Apartheid efforts ranging from demonstrations by grass roots organizations and student groups to economic boycotts launched by local industries.    

The local Anti-Apartheid movement took root in Rochester in the 1980s. United Church Ministries, an umbrella group for 85 Black churches, sponsored the first major protest in the city in 1985, a march that drew some 40 demonstrators. Rev. Raymond Graves, president of UCM, informed reporters, “Rochester has been very quiet on this issue. But this is a beginning. We will be coming here Sunday after Sunday until we wake up this city.”

^{Rev. Raymond Graves standing in front of New Bethel Christian Methodist Episcopal Church on Scio Street. From: Democrat & Chronicle, May 31, 1998.}

Many marchers likened the struggle abroad to the Jim Crow system that once defined the American South. As demonstrator Mary Harper noted, “It may have taken years to change things there, but it happened. It makes no difference that South Africa is so many miles away or I don’t know a single person there. The situation has to change there too.”

As local grass roots groups like the Coalition for Justice in Southern Africa continued to hold lectures, meetings, demonstrations, and fundraising events, the city’s leading industries faced mounting pressure to break any direct or indirect economic ties they had with South Africa.

Kodak instated an embargo on all shipments of its products to South Africa and sold the property it held there in 1986.

^{Headline announcing Kodak’s removal from South Africa. From: Democrat & Chronicle, November 20, 1986.}

The following year, Xerox, which had maintained a presence in South Africa since 1964, sold its business assets there. It continued, however, to permit sales of its products in the country. Bausch + Lomb did the same through a local distributor, but sold its South African properties in 1988.

Such economic entanglements fueled the Anti-Apartheid movement that unfurled at the University of Rochester in the late 1980s.

In 1987, UR expanded its stock portfolio to include several companies that had either direct investments or licensing agreements in South Africa. The decision, which was especially jarring since the university had not previously had holdings connected to the country, sparked outrage among many students and faculty.

To protest the move, a number of students—including Black Student Union members—and community groups joined forces to build a shantytown on the main quad of the university’s River Campus that October. The collection of makeshift wooden shacks, which students took turns sleeping in, was meant to resemble the impoverished settlements that many Black South Africans inhabited. It was hoped that the encampment would provide a constant visual reminder of the oppressive system to which the university was economically contributing.

^{UR students and Rochester community members erecting a shantytown on the River Campus in October 1987. From: Democrat & Chronicle, October 4, 1987.}

^{The shantytown in front of Rush Rhees Library. From: the Democrat & Chronicle, October 4, 1987.}

The symbolic protest proved effective. Five days after the shantytown was erected, the university’s trustees reversed the school’s policy of investing in companies that did business in South Africa and announced that UR would liquidate all pertinent stocks by June of the following year.

While the decision marked a step in the right direction, it did not prove satisfactory to the protestors. As Shelly Clements, president of UR’s Black Student Union explained, “The issue was and continues to be that people are dying in South Africa and will die before next June. This decision is a start but it’s nowhere near the finish.”

^{Shelly Clements, president of UR’s Black Student Union. From: Democrat & Chronicle, June 18, 1993.}

The shantytown inhabitants vowed to maintain their residency on the quad until the university’s divestment was complete. They eventually moved out in December 1987, after the university agreed to speed up the stock-selling process. By March 1988, the university had completely cut all its economic ties (worth some $20-25 million dollars) with South Africa.

^{Taking down the shantytown in the winter of 1987. From: Democrat & Chronicle, December 17, 1987.}

Three years later, South Africa began the process of formally ending the oppressive Apartheid system that had marked and marred the country for much of the twentieth century.

-Emily Morry

500 Norton Street, pt. 3: The Baltimore Years

^{A 1988 Red Wings Governor’s Cup Ring. Courtesy of: R.G. Stackman. Photo By: Emily Morry}

The honeymoon between Rochester Community Baseball (RCB) and the St. Louis Cardinals only lasted a few seasons. RCB owned the International League franchise while St. Louis provided the athletes for Rochester’s team. As such, St. Louis saw Rochester primarily as a place to develop their young players. RCB, of course, wanted to put a winning product on the field to satisfy their ticket-buying fans.

In 1959, Clyde King was manager of the Wings and he had his own thoughts on how to win: play the best players. At first, King followed the Cardinals’ approach, but the Wings weren’t winning, and attendance was falling. As King started to replace the young players with the older, more experienced players, wins increased as did attendance. RCB and the Rochester fans were happy, but St. Louis was not.

This difference of views came to a head in 1961. St. Louis decided to replace Clyde King with a manager who would make use of the available young talent, but RCB sided with King and stood up to the Cardinals’ management. St. Louis abruptly cancelled the relationship with Rochester. However, RCB management had already been in contact with the Baltimore Orioles as a potential replacement. Baltimore agreed to keep Clyde King as manager and to supply players for the Red Wings. This change in Major League affiliation was known in the press as the “Big Switch.”

^{Heavy hitter John “Boog” Powell. From: Rochester Democrat & Chronicle, July 19, 1961.}

The first big impact player of the Baltimore years was John “Boog” Powell. Known as the “Boy Mountain” by local sports writers, “Boog” put up big numbers for the Wings. Leading the International League, he batted .321, knocked in 92 RBIs, and smashed 32 homeruns.

1963 started the long relationship between Rochester and Joe Altobelli. The outfielder played three seasons with the Wings then returned to Rochester to manage the team for six years in the 1970s. He became the RCB general manger in the 1990s. Altobelli expanded his connection with the Wings when he served as the color commentator for Red Wings games from 1998 to 2008.

^{Red Wings mainstay, Joe Altobelli. From: Rochester Democrat & Chronicle, April 18, 1971.}

The same decade that Joe Altobelli first joined the Wings, 500 Norton Street received a new name. Known as Red Wing Stadium since 1929, the ballpark was renamed Silver Stadium on August 19, 1968, in honor of Morrie Silver, who led the 1957 stock drive that saved Rochester baseball.

The Baltimore connection was very fruitful during the 1970s. The Wings, under the leadership of Joe Altobelli, won the Governor’s Cup in 1971 and 1974. Baltimore was developing future MLB players such as Don Baylor and Bobby Grich, who earned the Minor League Player of the Year awards in 1970 and 1971. Slugger Jim Fuller smashed 91 home runs between 1972 and 1976.

^{Don Baylor. From: Rochester Democrat & Chronicle, April 24, 1970.}

^{Bobby Grich. From: Rochester Democrat & Chronicle, June 12, 1971.}

The 1980s represented a unique era at 500 Norton Street. By this time, the circa 1929 ballpark was starting to show its age. After much deliberation, negotiations, and plain hard work, a $4.5 million renovation was completed in 1987, the same year that the city celebrated a century of professional baseball in Rochester. Seats were replaced, rusting girders were removed, new concrete was poured, locker rooms were renovated, public facilities were updated, and the whole stadium received a beautiful new coat of paint.

^{Renovating the aging Silver Stadium. From: Rochester Democrat & Chronicle, March 17, 1987.}

Baseball history played out at 500 Norton Street in 1981. A young third baseman with enormous talent and potential played in just 114 games as a Red Wing that year, but hit .288 with 23 homers and 75 RBIs. He was quickly elevated to the Orioles where he would go on to set the MLB record for consecutive games played. That player was Cal Ripkin Jr.

Another International League Championship was celebrated in 1988 when Manager Johnny Oates led the Wings to the Governors’ Cup. The team captured the cup again two years later in 1990.

The 1990s continued to see Baltimore supply quality players to the Wings. In May of 1994, Baltimore acquired Jeff Manto and sent him to Rochester. The 1994 season was not a great year for the Wings–they finished 7^th–but it was a great year for Manto and the fans who came to see him play. In his only year at 500 Norton Street, Manto hit .297, smashed 31 homers, and had 100 RBIs. Rochester fans witnessed Manto lead the IL in homers, RBIs extra-base hits, total bases, and on-base percentage. He truly earned the award for the IL MVP of 1994.

^{1994 International League MVP Jeff Manto. From: Rochester Democrat & Chronicle, September 15, 1994.}

By the mid-1990s, there was concern in the air about 500 Norton Street. Though an extensive renovation had recently been undertaken, reality started to settle in. Silver Stadium was a circa 1929 ballpark with a new coat of paint.

^{A Red Wings game at Silver Stadium circa 1991. From: Rochester Democrat & Chronicle, August 23, 1996.}

The old stadium just could not compete with the newer facilities in the International League. Other cities at the time were in the market for a professional baseball team and promised to build a new stadium if promised a franchise. Officials from the International League and the Baltimore Orioles started to question the future of Silver Stadium and the Rochester Red Wings. The question that needed to be answered in Rochester was how to respond to the threat to 500 Norton Street—a large question indeed.

^{A lifetime pass to Silver Stadium from the late 1980s. Courtesy of R.G. Stackman. Photo by: Emily Morry.}

-Daniel Cody