Rochester played a pivotal role in the abolitionist movement. It housed multiple active stops in the Underground Railroad and key figures lived here while making long-lasting change in our country. Learning about the brave people who voiced this movement and risked their lives for equality provides the context for one aspect of Black history.
The Legacy of Frederick Douglass
Frederick Douglas escaped slavery in 1831 and became a national leader for the anti-slavery movement in New York as a writer and orator. He lived in Rochester for the largest period of his remarkable life. On July 5, 1852 in Rochester, Frederick Douglass gave a keynote address now known as “What to the Slave is the Fourth of July?” He started his abolitionist newspaper in Rochester and struck up a friendship with Susan B. Anthony. Places you can visit to honor his legacy include Highland Park, Susan B. Anthony Square Park, and Mt. Hope Cemetery. Rochester renamed its airport after him in 2021, and there are plans to create a Frederick Douglass Museum in downtown Rochester.
“I would unite with anybody to do right and with nobody to do wrong.”
― Frederick Douglass
The Underground Railroad
Thousands of enslaved people used the Underground Railroad to reach Canada and escape slavery. As one of the final stops before their ultimate destination, ordinary houses and underground tunnels in Rochester kept people safe until they could move again. Historical photographs display average-looking Rochester homes which provided invaluable safety. An interactive and engaging exhibit titled “Flight to Freedom at The RMSC Museum & Science Center explains Rochester’s relationship with the Underground Railroad. The exhibit highlights meaningful people and places and their incredible part of our history.
Historical Publications
Rochester residents Issac and Amy Post, local Quakers and abolitionists, impacted national women’s rights and anti-slavery movements. A historic plaque marks where the house stood, now the site of Hochstein School of Music. Harriet Jacobs lived with them and eventually wrote Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl to highlight her own experience (read it for free here). This remains the only first-person narrative written by a formerly enslaved Black American woman. Read the Posts’ correspondences with other activists through the University of Rochester’s Rare Books and Special Collections.
Rochester History Magazine publishes deeply researched and engaging articles. Read back issues through the Rochester City Library. Available articles include “Racial Segregation in Rochester Schools: 1818–1856“, “Rochester: A Transnational Community for Blacks Prior to the Civil War“, and “Susan B. Anthony and John Brown” and provide wider context of Rochester’s role in Black history. Each branch of Monroe County’s Library System and the universities’ libraries boast a wide collection of historical and contemporary texts that highlight local and national Black history.
Why Learn About This Legacy
Learning history allows us to learn from the past, gain insights into the present, and build an understanding of different cultures, perspectives, and experiences. The bonus of learning as a family means that you are actively involved in your children’s education. This shapes what kind of adult they will become and supplements what they learn in school with local history. Recognizing Rochester’s significant people and places in the US’s history with the abolitionist movement is a good place to start. Interested in learning more? Try How The Word is Passed (Clint Smith, 2021) or The Warmth of Other Suns (Isabel Wilkerson, 2010) for grown-ups and Stamped from the Beginning for young people.
