Tues – Fri 10:00 AM – 4:30 PM, Sat 11:00 AM – 3:00 PM

People of Ontario County: Erma B. Hewitt

Excerpted from Wilma Townsend’s Sept. 2011, “What’s in the Collection” article.   While researching some of the artifacts in the current exhibit “So Where’s All the Old Stuff?”, we ran across some very interesting people. One of these is Erma B. Hewitt, a fine jewelry designer who grew up in West Bloomfield and taught at […]

Segregated Schools in Canandaigua

Excerpt from Preston E Pierce’s A Tour Guide to Black History Sites in Canandaigua, NY. A mark of the turmoil brought by increasing debates about abolition, anti-abolition, and racism in Northern states in the 1840s-50s was the drive to allow the rise of political “nativism” and the establishment of the American, or “Know-Nothing” party. Supporters […]

Bijou Dream Theatre

The Bijou Dream Theatre was located on the corner of S. Main St. and Chapin St. in Canandaigua. The theater originally opened in 1907 as an early silent film house, and one of the first motion picture theaters in Canandaigua, but eventually closed in 1940. The name “Bijou Dream Theatre” was a popular name for […]

African Methodist Meeting Places in Canandaigua

Excerpt from Preston E Pierce’s A Tour Guide to Black History Sites in Canandaigua, NY. Five times in the 19th Century, African Methodists tried to sustain congregations in Canandaigua. In 1832, they were meeting on Chapel Street, probably in the Methodist Chapel there. One congregation met here, for a while, in the former Saladin monument […]

“1st of August” Emancipation Day Celebrations

Excerpt from Preston E Pierce’s A Tour Guide to Black History Sites in Canandaigua, NY. Some years, “1st of August” Emancipation Day celebrations were hosted by Black residents of the Canandaigua area. They included picnics with baseball and other games held on the county fairgrounds, at the end of Fort Hill Avenue and at earlier […]

Dudley Tavern

Excerpt from Preston E Pierce’s A Tour Guide to Black History Sites in Canandaigua, NY. The Dudley Tavern, once located on the corner of Foster and South Main Streets in Canandaigua, burned in 1911. At that time, it was located well out of the business district on South Main Street. The area between Saltonstall Street […]

People of Ontario County: Richard Valentine

Excerpt from Preston E Pierce’s A Tour Guide to Black History Sites in Canandaigua, NY. Known for many years as a voice of conscience, Richard Valentine frequently made the Canandaigua community uncomfortable with his lectures on the subject of prejudice. Formerly enslaved, he was almost certainly a local conductor on the Underground Railroad. Valentine was […]

People of Ontario County: Daniel Prue & John Hite

Excerpt from Preston E Pierce’s A Tour Guide to Black History Sites in Canandaigua, NY. When Daniel Prue died in 1895, he was quietly buried in the first row of graves in the old soldier (GAR) plot in Woodlawn Cemetery. Each year, his tombstone literally overlooks the Memorial Day ceremonies. In 1857, Daniel Prue was […]

People of Ontario County: Lloyd Colbert

Excerpt from Preston E Pierce’s A Tour Guide to Black History Sites in Canandaigua, NY. The family of Lloyd Colbert was one of the longest established Black families in Canandaigua. Daniel Dorsey, who settled around Lyons, brought the Colberts to Ontario County as slaves from Maryland. Among them was Lloyd Colbert, oldest son of Phoebe […]