July 2023 Rochester Day Adventure

So….I’ve wanted for a long time to go to the George Eastman House and the Susan B. Anthony House – both located in downtown Rochester, NY. Well, on July 19th I did just that! I met up with a friend who is visiting in the area from NC for the summer and we made a day of it.

First, we went to the George Eastman House – very nice museum and AMAZING mansion and gardens! We did a self-guided walk through and really enjoyed what we saw.

George Eastman was born on July 12, 1854 in Waterville, NY. He died at aged 77 on March 14, 1932 in Rochester, NY – his ashes are interned under a monument in Kodak Park in Rochester. He was a major philanthropist starting and supporting numerous organizations across the country, but in particular in the Rochester, NY area. He developed an interest in photography and photographic processes, cameras, film, and equipment, which resulted in his founding the Eastman Kodak Company. He had a huge influence on the photography and film industries. In his final two years of life, he became increasingly depressed due to infirmity caused by severe spinal pain and degenerative disease. He committed suicide by a singe gun shot to the heart. His final note read: “To my friends, My work is done. Why wait? GE”.

Here are some photos I took at the George Eastman House:

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I was so fascinated by this huge elephant head on the wall that I took several photos of it from different angles and views from both the first and second floors of the mansion!!!

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There was a statue of Philip Seymour Hoffman, who is also a hometown Rochester native — you know we had to get some photos!!!

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From there, we drove a short distance to the Susan B. Anthony House – a much more modest home than the mansion that George Eastman lived in. Susan B. Anthony is famous for her work for the Women’s Right to vote and other Women’s Rights — she was a fascinating woman who was relentless in her fight to gain equality for women. She was born in Massachusetts on February 15, 1820 and moved to a farm in Rochester with her family in 1845. She lived in Rochester the rest of her life, however, she traveled extensively across the country and abroad in her work as a suffragette. She died in Rochester at the age of 86 on March 13, 1906 and is buried at Mount Hope Cemetery. Her home – the home where she was famously arrested in 1872 for successfully casting an illegal vote in the Presidential race between Ulysses S. Grant and Horace Greeley – and the home next door owned by her sister are now the location of the National Susan B. Anthony Museum and House. They only do guided tours, so we signed up and were ready for the next tour. Our docent was AWESOME — she was very knowledgeable and made made the whole experience interesting and fun.

Here are some photos from the Susan B. Anthony House:

Susan’s Home – the museum

Her sister, Mary’s home – located next door is the Welcome Center and Gift Shop

All of the fireplaces are original to the house – they have the most incredible tile work!!! Most of the furnishings and decorations are “from the period” – mainly because the home left the hands of the family for a number of years as private residences and a boarding house for some time. So, many of the original belongings were lost. However, several of Susan B. Anthony’s personal things have been recovered by family members and returned to the house to be included in the museum.

The attic was added after the family purchased the home and it is where Susan B. Anthony conducted her writing and work and held suffragette meetings.

It is hard to tell from this photo, but the notes on the note pad next to this typewriter is written in Gregg shorthand! I took shorthand in high school, but don’t remember much of it, so I couldn’t read what the notes said!!!

Many of the photos on the walls in the bedrooms are of famous women who were known to have stayed in the home as Susan’s guests over the years.

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I loved these spectacles on the tuft on the bureau – I knew it’d make an awesome photo!!!

Just down the block in a little park is a wonderful statue of Susan B. Anthony and Fredrick Douglass having tea. They were friends for many years and worked together often. While they did have their differences on some points, they were both united in the desire to see equality and civil rights for all human beings and remained friends throughout their adult life. Fredrick Douglass is also buried in Mount Hope Cemetery in Rochester, NY.

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We ended the day with dinner at the Old Stone Tavern located at 758 South Ave in Rochester. It was a great little place with good atmosphere and GREAT food!!! I had the onion smash burger with pub fries and my friend had the crab rangoon pizza….we were both happy with our choices and it was WAY more than we could eat in one sitting!

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BTW – yes, there were tables and booths with lower seating for shorties like me!!! hahaha

It was a wonderful day….nice weather….interesting things to see and learn about…..great food….and amazing company with my dear friend!!! So glad we took the time to do it together!