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 […]
“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 […]
People of Ontario County: Henry W. Johnson
Excerpt from Preston E Pierce’s A Tour Guide to Black History Sites in Canandaigua, NY. A self-educated man of affairs, Henry Johnson was born in Ferrisburg, Vermont. His hometown was a center of abolitionist sentiment and an important junction on the Underground Railroad. When his father died, Johnson moved to Canandaigua about 1836 and got […]
People of Ontario County: Helen Stewart
Helen, along with her sister Peggy were well known portrait photographers in Canandaigua and beyond. In 1932, Peggy was named “Child Photographer in America,” and had her portraits hung in exhibitions throughout the U.S., Canada, England, France, and Japan. She photographed Franklin Roosevelt, King George, and Queen Elizabeth, among others. Helen worked with her sister […]
Canandaigua Health Home
Dr. George Washington Gregg, son of Canandaigua’s oldest resident George Gregg, was born in 1876. He built and founded the Canandaigua Health Home at 6 Gorham St. in the city. The Canandaigua Health Home focused on the care of chronic and acute illnesses, though an advertising booklet for the home lists specifically what illnesses were […]
People of Ontario County: George Gregg
In 1942, George Gregg was Canandaigua’s oldest citizen after turning 100 on May 24th. An avid hunter, Gregg was also the oldest state resident to take out a fishing permit when he was 98. Born in Bristol in 1842, he was the son of John and Lucy Case Gregg. His grandfather, a British officer left […]
