Friends of Mt. Hope

FRIENDS OF MOUNT HOPE CEMETERY -- NEWS

April 4, 2018

CANANDAIGUA NATIONAL BANK AWARDS GRANT TO FRIENDS OF MOUNT HOPE

Canandaigua National Bank has selected FOMH, through its Canandaigua National Community Foundation, for one of its 2018 philanthropic awards. In accepting this award of $500, Henry McCartney stated that "As FOMH's very new executive director, I am delighted to thank Canandaigua Bank for this support, which is very appreciated and will further our efforts to preserve and promote Mount Hope Cemetery as one of Rochester's most important cultural resources."

March, 2018

A MAJOR NEW BOOK FROM THE FRIENDS OF MOUNT HOPE CEMETERY

The Friends of Mount Hope announce the publication of a new, expanded edition of author Richard O. Reisem's fascinating and highly informative pictorial field guide, Buried Treasures in Mount Hope Cemetery.

The new 230-page field guide to historic Mount Hope helps cemetery visitors locate more than 650 burial sites of remarkable people -- some well known, others more obscure – and provides a biographical sketch for each one. The text is complemented by some 210 color photographs of cemetery "residents," important monuments, and the evocative landscape of America's first municipal Victorian cemetery. Useful, easily read maps of each cemetery quadrant as well as a larger map of the whole cemetery will help visitors explore Mr. Hope.

For more information about the book and how to obtain a copy, visit our Gift Shop page.

January, 2018

FRIENDS OF MOUNT HOPE CEMETERY ANNOUNCE LEADERSHIP CHANGES

MARILYN NOLTE recently resigned from her position as president of the Friends of Mount Hope Cemetery in order to accept a position working directly with Mt. Hope Cemetery management. She will remain as a member of the board until her term expires in April, 2018.

Marilyn's dedication to the Friends is well known. Under her leadership the Friends has expanded its focus in such areas as programming, restoration and community involvement.

Marilyn stated she is looking forward to new challenges while at the same time being part of the close relationship that has existed for more than 35 years between the City-owned Mount Hope Cemetery and the Friends of Mount Hope Cemetery.

HENRY MC CARTNEY, former Landmark Society Executive Director and local civic activist, began his new duties as Executive Director of the Friends of Mount Hope Cemetery on January 1st. In this newly created position, Henry joins the FOMH Board currently led by President Richard Reisem.

Henry McCartney brings to The Friends of Mount Hope Cemetery 27 years of experience in directing historic preservation organizations. In Rochester, from 1984 to 2005, he was executive director of the Landmark Society of Western New York, where he oversaw creation of additional National Register Historic Districts, such as the Susan B Anthony district; started a publication program; transformed the derelict 1840 Hoyt-Potter House into Landmark's headquarters; and built the Landmark Society into one of the country's most notable preservation organizations.

In Buffalo, he planned the merger of two small preservation organizations into Preservation Buffalo Niagara and oversaw PBNs effort to host the 2011 National Preservation Conference, now viewed as a seminal event spurring Buffalo's current revival. Before coming to upstate New York, Henry led an initiative of the National Trust for Historic Preservation to support neighborhood organizations across the country. In the 1970s, he helped organized and then served as the only staff person for a neighborhood preservation organization in Jacksonville, Florida. In 2012, Henry retired and relocated back to Rochester.

Henry assumes this new leadership role with enthusiasm. "Even though I really enjoy my Rochester retirement, I could not pass up this opportunity to become an Executive Director again, albeit as a volunteer. The Friends of Mount Hope Cemetery does great work with a dedicated group of tour guides, researchers, writers, monument restorers and more. I'm hoping that what I've learned over these many years about operating citizen organizations will enable me to reinforce the work of these volunteers and make the Friends even stronger."

Friends' Vice President Patricia Corcoran welcomes Henry to the Board. "The mission of the Friends of Mount Hope Cemetery is vital to this community, and we are thrilled to have Henry McCartney as our Executive Director."