Friends of Mt. Hope

FRIENDS OF MOUNT HOPE CEMETERY -- NEWS

JUNE 2020

POP UP HISTORIANS
WELCOME JUNETEENTH VISITORS TO MOUNT HOPE

Dennis Carr with visitors at Douglass gravesite

On Friday, June 12th, and Saturday, June 13th, visitors to the Douglass gravesite heard stories of Mr. Frederick Douglass' life and times.

Many people had come from out of town, and they joined our local history enthusiasts in commemorating Juneteenth as well as Rochester's rich abolitionist tradition.

Pop up historians were Eric Birken, Dennis Carr (pictured), and Pat Corcoran.

Juneteenth, the "19th of June," 1865, African-American Independence Day, America's 2nd Independence Day, recognized the end of enslavement. However, it did not occur until more than 88 years after the first Fourth of July.

The words of our own Frederick Douglass, brilliantly written in "What to the American Slave is Your 4th of July?", continue as the best historic reminder of why the "4th of July" should never be celebrated without remembering the significance of the "19th of June" in America. This iconic speech was delivered here in Rochester.

Emancipation Announcement Galveston Newspaper

In 1865, a full two years after President Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation, the approximate 250,000 enslaved people in Texas had no idea that they had been emancipated. On June 19th of that year, the Union troops that delivered the news of slave emancipation and the end of the Civil War to this most remote of the former Confederate states were met with shock and jubilation.

sculpture of people celebrating emancipation

Even with nowhere to go, many felt that leaving the plantation would be their first grasp of freedom. North was a logical destination...while the desire to reach family members in neighboring states drove some into Louisiana, Arkansas and Oklahoma. Settling into these new areas as free men and women brought on new realities and the challenges of establishing a heretofore non-existent status for Black people in America. Juneteenth is considered the oldest celebration of the end of slavery in the United States commemorated with speeches, performances, and family gatherings. Rochester has many activities planned for this weekend.

Today, 47 states and the District of Columbia recognize Juneteenth as a state holiday or special day of observance and recognition. New York State will be officially celebrating Juneteenth this year, and hopefully it will become a permanent holiday next year.

For more information about the history of this holiday, consult Henry Louis Gates, Jr's article.

Mourning in the Morning: Speaker Series at the Central Library of Rochester and Monroe County

portrait photo of Harriet Bentley

"The Death of Harriet Bentley in the 1918 Spanish Influenza Pandemic -- A Family Grieves."

Presented by Patricia Corcoran (Streamed Live via ZOOM)

Saturday, June 13, 2020

10:30 p.m. - 12:00 Noon

In this presentation we visit a Rochester family and learn how family members dealt with the tragedy of losing a beloved mother and daughter in the 1918 Spanish Influenza Pandemic. We also are able to compare and contrast life in Rochester during the 1918 Spanish Influenza pandemic with our lives today living through the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic.

Patricia Corcoran has been in love with Mount Hope Cemetery and its history since she moved to Linden Street in 1975. Currently serving as president of the Friends of Mount Hope, she has been a FOMH volunteer and trustee for years, serving as a tour guide, speaker, and chair of many committees. Her writing and research focus on interesting women in Mount Hope Cemetery, epidemics, orphanages, and poor lots. She was an ESOL teacher for 30 years in the Rochester City School District and served as an adjunct instructor at SUNY Geneseo, Nazareth College and St. John Fisher College. When not involved at Mount Hope Cemetery, Pat continues her love of history as a transcriber at the Seward Family Digital Project at the University of Rochester.

The Mourning in the Morning series is a joint program of the Friends of Mount Hope and the Central Library of Rochester & Monroe County Local History & Genealogy Division.

KUDOS TO OUR STONE CLEANING COMMITTEE!

Devoted volunteers on this committee meet on some Sunday mornings to clean gravestones. Currently they are working on Section A.

Committee chairs are Valerie O'Hara and Robbie Dreeson. Loyal stone cleaners are Henry McCartney, Pat Curran, Chris Grooms, Pat Sorce, Deb Coffey, Mary Jo Meteyer, Chris Petote, and Dennis Carr.

MAY 2020

A MESSAGE FROM FRIENDS PRESIDENT PATRICIA CORCORAN

Saturday, May 9, 2020

Dear Friends,

On Wednesday, May 6, our Board met and passed a resolution to cancel our 2020 Tour Season, including the Torch Light Tours.

While this was a traumatic decision for us, it was our only socially responsible route during this difficult time.

We had planned an amazing tour season, which we were all looking forward to. Our plan is to postpone this tour lineup until 2021. Hopefully we will be able to return to some normalcy by that time.

In the meantime, we have organized a committee to explore digital opportunities to distribute on our YouTube channel as well as general outreach to our members within state and local guidelines for social distancing. We will continue to communicate with you via this website.

Many thanks for your loyalty to the FOMH. While our tour program is the heart of our organization, we are flexible and will continue to fulfill our mission in new and creative ways.

COVID 19 has not slowed down our restoration activities, which are funded with membership dues and grants. As you stroll through the cemetery, you will see evidence of our many restoration projects.

This year your membership renewal is more important than ever to keep our restoration program alive. We appreciate your ongoing financial support through your membership dues.

We will stay in touch...Each of you is important to us and to our mission.

Sincerely,
Pat

Patricia Corcoran, President
Friends of Mount Hope Cemetery

"Innovation and inspiration are the cure for despair."
-- Rachel Maddow

MEMORIAL DAY AT MOUNT HOPE

On Thursday, May 21, General Electric employees and veterans Tyler Ekwell (US Marine Corps), Ron Kerst (US Air Force), Kris Dytche (US Marine Corps), Steve Nichols (US Army, and Bret Robison (US Navy) placed over 500 flags on the graves of the Spanish-American War and WW1 veterans at Mount Hope Cemetery. The GE MDS GE Veterans Network (GEVN) group has done this for several years, and we are grateful.

Tom Jones, Dennis Carr, and I from the FOMH had the opportunity to interview these men and hear about their military history. We were in awe of their service all over the world, their patriotism, and appreciation for how military service had given them the skills which are so valued in their current work in General Electric.

While these men came to Mount Hope to honor veterans of yesteryear, we at the FOMH pay tribute to each of them and their service to our country. They made us proud to be American.

Pat Corcoran FOMH

Mourning in the Morning: Speaker Series at the Central Library of Rochester and Monroe County

"Mount Hope Cemetery: An Artistic Legacy" (Streamed Live via ZOOM)
Presented by Christopher C. Conway

Saturday, May 9, 2020
10:30 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.

REGISTRATION REQUIRED. Registrants received a link to the ZOOM meeting in an email an hour before the program start. Sign Language interpreters were provided.

The public was invited to join the Monroe County Library System, the Friends of Mount Hope Cemetery, and Christopher C. Conway to explore a selection of artistic works found throughout the cemetery, and an introduction to the artists responsible for them.

The program highlighted works of architecture, sculpture, and decorative design that make Mount Hope an unexpected, exceptional and serendipitous public, open-air museum.

Viewers also learned about the lives and work of a number of artists, and of local patrons and supporters of Rochester's arts community, who have found final rest amid the natural splendor of America's oldest municipal, rural, Victorian cemetery.

Christopher C. Conway, a native of rural East Texas, grew up in the greater Houston area. He traded the Gulf Coast for the Pacific Northwest and, for the whole of the 1990s, called Seattle, WA home. He happily made his way to Rochester in 2017 -- and has yet to try a Garbage Plate.

Chris holds a BA in art history from the University of Houston and is currently employed as an Exhibitions Assistant at the Memorial Art Gallery. He looks constantly to indulge a life-long love of travel and theater. You may well catch, if you've not already caught, an occasional glimpse of him on Rochester's local stages.

The Mourning in the Morning series is a joint program of the Friends of Mount Hope and the Central Library of Rochester & Monroe County Local History & Genealogy Division.

APRIL 2020

Mourning in the Morning: Speaker Series at the Central Library of Rochester and Monroe County

"Tales from the Crypts: The Mausoleums of Mount Hope Cemetery" (streamed live via ZOOM)
Presented by Chris Grooms

Saturday, April 11, 10:30 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.
REGISTRATION REQUIRED. Registrants received a link to the ZOOM meeting in an email an hour before the program start. Sign Language interpretation was provided.

Hylan Mausoleum

The mausoleums in Rochester's Mount Hope Cemetery are a unique and integral aspect of the cemetery's physical, historical and cultural landscape, offering examples of different structural types and employing a diverse array of architectural styles. Each of the cemetery's 85 mausoleums has its own story. In this presentation, Chris Grooms explores a selection of these structures and highlights their significance. Philanthropists, artists, inventors, mayors, entrepreneurs, and everyday Rochesterians commissioned mausoleums to help secure their legacies.

Chris Grooms portrait image

Chris Grooms joined the Friends of Mount Hope Cemetery after relocating to Rochester in the summer of 2017. In the summer of 2018 he became a volunteer for the Friends, serving primarily as a tour guide. He has since joined the board of trustees and has focused his efforts on revitalizing the North Entrance Gatehouse as well as researching and advocating for the preservation and maintenance of the cemetery's mausoleums and 1862 chapel. Chris is a Nationally Certified Sign Language Interpreter who loves history and enjoys traveling, reading, and meandering walks in historic cemeteries.

The Mourning in the Morning series is a joint program of the Friends of Mount Hope and the Central Library of Rochester & Monroe County Local History & Genealogy Division.

LAST CALL FOR CRADLE GRAVE GARDENERS!

We invite our friends to adopt a cradle grave at Mount Hope. This is a great time to select a grave and start working on getting it prepared for the planting season.

cradle graves planted with flowers

Small rectangular beds attached to gravestones, cradle graves were popular in the 1800s among families who had come from Germany. Families with cradle graves would gather at Mount Hope on the weekends and plant and care for their families' graves with great dedication. It was a source of pride for descendants to tend to their family plots. As times changed, however, family members moved away, and cradle graves were deserted and fell into neglect.

Last year we started the cradle grave program, and we attracted many enthusiastic, dedicated volunteers -- some novice gardeners and others lifetime master gardeners. It was wonderful to see colorful flower beds come alive throughout the cemetery.

To volunteer, click on "Contact Us" above.We will make a date with you to show you what cradle graves are available, so that you can choose one that interests you. At this time of the year we are preparing for the planting season -- weeding, cleaning, raking. Then you can design your garden and be as creative as you would like. Your only guideline is to be aware of the plants that our deer residents will devour -- like hostas. We have lists that might be helpful.

Cradle Grave with bare soil

When you adopt a cradle grave, you feel like you are a surrogate part of the deceased person's family. You can research this person and learn about his life and times. These connections are what enrich our lives as Mount Hope historians and gardeners.

planted cradle grave garden

Your commitment is to purchase whatever flowers you use and promise to weed and water throughout the season. If you are planning to be away for a short time, other cradle grave gardeners will volunteer to water your beds.

It is great fun, and you can tend to your own personal cradle grave garden without worrying about social distancing. It is a solitary but satisfying and fun activity, and you will get many compliments for your work. There is nothing more peaceful than gardening at Mount Hope.

Come join us!

The Mahar Family from McQuaid Jesuit High School volunteer with Bill and Mykel Whitney at the Whitney Kettle Project near Sylvan Waters.

This hard-working family worked many hours on April 25th, dragging tons of leaves from the bottom of the kettle.

Family volunteers are so appreciated at Mount Hope.
Visit "Contact Us" on our Home Page if you can help.

Filling tarp with raked leaves

MARCH 2020

Congratulations to Sally Millick for her fascinating presentation at the Mourning in the Morning lecture series on March 14th. Sally's research on the women who voted with Susan B. Anthony and those who supported her during her suffrage activities was the product of much original research and analysis of primary documents. Her enthusiastic audience, which included many fellow SBA researchers, resulted in a wonderful exchange of information.

We at the FOMH are interested in video-taping Sally's power point presentation so that it will be available to the whole community of Susan B. Anthony aficionados.

Sally, one of our most respected researchers, will be leading two tours during our summer season, one on the Underground Railroad on May 23rd, and the second entitled "The Quest for Women's Suffrage and Equality" on June 11th and July 25th.

Thank you, Sally! And thanks to all the audience members who participated with such spirit.

FEBRUARY 2020

THE FRIENDS OF MOUNT HOPE SEND BEST WISHES TO ANNA JANNES

Patricia Corcoran, Anna Jannes, Valerie O'Hara

Longtime volunteer, past leader of receptionists, chair of stone cleaning committee, and genealogist Anna Jannes has moved to St. Augustine, Florida. Our gratitude to Anna and her family as well: her husband Kevin and her daughters, who worked side by side with Anna on her many projects over the years.

Anna's enthusiasm, dedication, and knowledge of Mount Hope Cemetery history were an inspiration to all of us.

We will miss you, Anna!

L to R: FOMH President Patricia Corcoran,
Anna Jannes, and Trustee Valerie O'Hara

Mourning in the Morning: Winter Speaker Series at the Central Library of Rochester and Monroe County

Programs are presented on the second Saturday of each month, January through June. All are free and open to the public, accompanied by sign language interpretation. The February program is:

African Americans in Mount Hope Cemetery -- Presented by Rose O'Keefe

Saturday, February 8, 10:30 a.m. to Noon
Kusler-Cox Auditorium
3rd Floor of the Central Library's Rundel Building
115 South Avenue, Rochester

Dr. Charles Lunsford gravestone

Based on a walking tour in the southeast quadrant of the cemetery,the program highlights African Americans in that section, including such 19th-century notables as Rev. Thomas James, Dr. Charles Lunsford, Willie Lightfoot, James McCuller, the Douglass Family, and the Dinkle and Bunton families.

Rose O'Keefe portrait image

Rose O'Keefe is the author of five history books on Rochester and Western New York and has been a fan of Mount Hope Cemetery for decades.

A JOYOUS MOMENT OF DEDICATION
Congratulations, Dennis!

Last summer, the antique Empire Sofa in the gatehouse was reupholstered and restored with a gift from Dennis Carr. In April 2019, the University of Rochester (UR) had awarded Dennis their prestigious "Staff Community Service Award," which included a check that he could donate to his favorite charity. The restoration was completed, thanks to the work of our Restoration Committee, and led by Chris Grooms.

The restored sofa was dedicated at our Board Meeting on February 5, 2020. A plaque above it reads:

This Empire Sofa is Dedicated to
DENNIS CARR
In Honor Of
His 40 Years of Exemplary Service
And Inspirational Leadership
The Friends Of Mount Hope Cemetery
2020

*******

The University of Rochester issued the following statement concerning their award to Dennis Carr:

Staff Community Service Award – University of Rochester
The Staff Community Service Award honors a nonmanagement staff member whose commitment best exemplifies service to the University and the Greater Rochester community.

DENNIS CARR

Answer Desk and ILL Specialist, Institute for Innovative Education: Miner Library

Dennis Carr is being recognized for his dedication to the Mount Hope Cemetery as a volunteer for more than 40 years.

Carr started his affiliation with Mount Hope Cemetery in the 1970s as a tour guide. In 1980, he co-founded the Friends of Mount Hope Cemetery, a nonprofit organization that promotes the cemetery as a cultural and educational resource and assists with the physical preservation and restoration of the historic site. Throughout the years, Carr has held many roles with the organization—president, vice president, and treasurer of the Board of Trustees; tour director; and tour committee chair.

Carr's greatest passion in his work with Mount Hope Cemetery—and what he's most known for—is giving tours. "It is impossible to be in the presence of Dennis without learning a fascinating story that will become an indelible part of our repertoire as tour guides, and enrich our lives as well," wrote Patricia Corcoran, vice president of the Friends of Mount Hope Cemetery, in a letter supporting Carr's nomination. "His curiosity is insatiable, and his creativity enriches our organization and the hundreds of people who come on our tours every season."

Carr has been involved in countless projects with Mount Hope Cemetery including the restoration of the 1872 gazebo, acquiring grant funding in support of the cemetery's landscape preservation, and establishing unique and well-attended theme tours.

"Dennis's long-standing devotion to the Friends of Mount Hope Cemetery and scale of his achievements are commendable. His exceptional personal commitment has directly elevated the profile and perception of the cemetery above and beyond fulfilling the mission of the organization he has co-founded," wrote nominators and Miner Library colleagues Susan Atkins, answer desk manager, and Jennifer Raynor, director. "Dennis is a role model, an inspiration, and truly exemplifies the essence of community service."

VISIT TO CANANDAIGUA

On Saturday, February 1st, members of our Restoration Committee visited Woodlawn Cemetery in Canandaigua to meet with Doug Stone, the cemetery superintendent. Doug and his wife have restored a historic chapel on the grounds of this cemetery, and we were able to see the amazing transformation of this chapel, which is finally finished.

chapel interior

We look forward to hosting Doug and his wife in the spring at Mount Hope. Will they have any ideas for our 1863 Old Chapel?

As we gather research on our old chapel, once again we ask our members to search their family photo albums. We cannot find a single photo of the interior of our chapel. We have many of the exterior. Considering the number of families who used this chapel, it is strange that we cannot find any photographs.

Can you help us?

JANUARY 2020

Mourning in the Morning: Winter Speaker Series at the Central Library of Rochester and Monroe County

Programs will be presented on the second Saturday of each month from January to June. All are free and open to the public, accompanied by sign language interpretation. Our first program is:

Susan B Anthony in profile

The Arrest and Trial of Susan B. Anthony: Strategy, Tactics, and the Struggle for the Vote -- Presented by Dennis Darr

Saturday, January 11, 10:30 a.m. to Noon
Kusler-Cox Auditorium
3rd floor of the Central Library's Rundel Building
115 South Avenue, Rochester

With the passage of the Fourteenth Amendment in 1868, and its plain language implication that women, as citizens, had the right to vote, master strategist Susan B. Anthony decided to test the Constitution. She, her sister Mary, and fourteen other Rochester women registered, and then voted in the 1872 federal election, resulting in Anthony's arrest, trial, and conviction. The registrars and elections inspectors, the women who supported her by voting, the judge who issued the warrant, the arresting deputy U.S. marshal, and Anthony's attorneys are all permanent residents of Mount Hope Cemetery. Front page news across the country, this real-life Rochester drama gave Susan B. Anthony the deserved reputatioin as the most effective advocate and leader of the woman suffrage movement.

Dennis Carr portrait image

Dennis Carr is a founding member, past president, and current trustee of the Friends of Mount Hope Cemetery. He is the Senior Tour Guide at Mount Hope, with 2019 marking his 41st year leading tours of the cemetery. Dennis is also on staff at the Edward G. Miner Library at the University of Rochester Medical Center, assisting students, researchers, clinical staff and faculty. He is a life-long scholar of the American cemetery.