Editing Rochester, New York (section)

==History==
{{Main|History of Rochester, New York}}

===Eighteenth century===
The [[Seneca people|Seneca]] tribe of the [[Iroquois Confederacy]] lived around Rochester prior to the [[American Revolution]], and used the area as a hunting ground.<ref>{{cite book |last1=McKelvey |first1=Blake |title=ROCHESTER THE WATER - POWER CITY 1812-1854 |date=1945 |publisher=Harvard University Press |location=Cambridge |page=9 |url=https://archive.org/details/rochesterthewate000355mbp/page/n115/mode/2up |access-date=13 January 2024}}</ref> Allied with the British, the Seneca were forced to cede or sell most of their land in New York after the war. The area now occupied by Rochester was ceded in the [[Phelps and Gorham Purchase]] of 1788. As a reward for their loyalty to the British crown, the Iroquois were given a large [[Haldimand Proclamation|land grant]] on the [[Grand River (Ontario)|Grand River]] in Canada.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Sam |first=Bleiweis |url=http://history.emory.edu/home/documents/endeavors/volume5/gunpowder-age-v-bleiweis.pdf |title=The Downfall of the Iroquois |publisher=[[Emory University]] |year=2013 |access-date=February 28, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200806170336/http://history.emory.edu/home/documents/endeavors/volume5/gunpowder-age-v-bleiweis.pdf |archive-date=August 6, 2020 |url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last=Catapano|first=Andrea Lucielle|url=https://dspace.sunyconnect.suny.edu/bitstream/handle/1951/44779/000000159.sbu.pdf?sequence=3|title=The Rising of the Ongwehònwe: Sovereignty, Identity, and Representation on the Six Nations Reserve|publisher=[[Stony Brook University]]|year=2007|access-date=February 28, 2020|archive-date=June 2, 2017|archive-url=https://wayback.archive-it.org/all/20170602062444/https://dspace.sunyconnect.suny.edu/bitstream/handle/1951/44779/000000159.sbu.pdf?sequence%3D3|url-status=live}}</ref>

=== Nineteenth century ===
Rochester was founded shortly after by a wave of English-Puritan-descended immigrants from [[New England]], who were looking for new agricultural land. They were the dominant cultural group in Rochester for over a century.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Peck |first=William F. |url=https://www.libraryweb.org/~digitized/books/History_of_Rochester_and_Monroe_County_volume_I.pdf |title=History of Rochester and Monroe County, New York, From the Earliest Historic Times to the Beginning of 1907 |publisher=The Pioneer Publishing Company |year=1908 |volume=I |location=New York and Chicago |pages=181}}</ref> On November 8, 1803, three men from [[Hagerstown, Maryland]], purchased a 100-acre (40-[[hectare|ha]]) tract from [[The Pulteney Association|the Pulteney Estate]] along the Genesee River: Major Charles Carroll, Colonel William Fitzhugh Jr, and Colonel [[Nathaniel Rochester]], the namesake of the city. They chose the site because its three [[Waterfall#Types of waterfalls|cataracts]] on the Genesee offered great potential for water power. Beginning in 1811, and with a population of 15, the three founders surveyed the land and laid out streets and tracts.<ref>Peck, pp. 32–35</ref> In 1817, the Brown brothers and other landowners joined their lands with the Hundred Acre Tract to form the village of Rochesterville. This name was unpopular, and in 1822 it was shortened to Rochester.<ref>Peck, p. 51</ref>

By 1821, Rochesterville became the seat of Monroe County.<ref>Peck, p. 59</ref> In 1823, the [[Erie Canal]] aqueduct over the Genesee River was completed, connecting the city to the [[Hudson River]] to the east.<ref>Peck, p. 60</ref> New commerce from the canal turned the village into America's first [[boomtown]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=McKelvey |first1=Blake |title=ROCHESTER THE WATER - POWER CITY 1812-1854 |date=1945 |publisher=Harvard University Press |location=Cambridge |page=99 |url=https://archive.org/details/rochesterthewate000355mbp/page/n115/mode/2up |access-date=13 January 2024}}</ref> By 1830, Rochester's population had grown to 9,200,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www2.census.gov/prod2/decennial/documents/1850a-02.pdf|title=Census|publisher=United States Census|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100808210104/http://www2.census.gov/prod2/decennial/documents/1850a-02.pdf|archive-date=August 8, 2010}} page 36</ref> and in 1834, it was rechartered as a city.<ref>Peck, p. 68</ref> Rochester was first known as "the Young Lion of the West", and then as the "Flour City". By 1838, it was the largest flour-producing city in the United States.<ref name=":1">{{Cite book|last1=Desrochers|first1=Pierre|url=https://archive.org/details/locavoresdilemma0000desr|url-access=registration|quote=flour producing cities 1838.|title=The Locavore's Dilemma: In Praise of the 10,000-mile Diet|last2=Shimizu|first2=Hiroko|date=June 5, 2012|publisher=PublicAffairs|isbn=978-1-58648-940-3|pages=[https://archive.org/details/locavoresdilemma0000desr/page/68 68]|language=en}}</ref> A series of religious revivals occurred in the as part of the [[Second Great Awakening]], including a particularly notable revival led by [[Charles Grandison Finney]] which inspired local social reform movements.<ref>{{cite book |last1=McKelvey |first1=Blake |title=ROCHESTER THE WATER - POWER CITY 1812-1854 |date=1945 |publisher=Harvard University Press |location=Cambridge |pages=190–193 |url=https://archive.org/details/rochesterthewate000355mbp/page/n115/mode/2up |access-date=13 January 2024}}</ref>

During the mid-19th century, as the center of the wheat-processing industry moved west with population and agriculture, the city became home to an expanding [[Plant nursery|nursery]] business, giving rise to the city's second nickname, the Flower City. Nurseries ringed the city, the most famous of which was started in 1840 by immigrants [[George Ellwanger]] from Germany and [[Patrick Barry (horticulturist)|Patrick Barry]] from Ireland.<ref>Blake McKelvey, [http://www.rochester.lib.ny.us/%7Erochhist/v20_1958/v20i1.pdf "The Germans of Rochester: Their Traditions and Contributions"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110608184254/http://www.rochester.lib.ny.us/%7Erochhist/v20_1958/v20i1.pdf |date=June 8, 2011 }}, ''Rochester History'', Vol. 20, No. 1 (January 1958), pp. 7–8.</ref> [[Shoemaking]] also became a major local industry as the city began to industrialize.<ref name="industry">{{cite journal |last1=Rosenberg-Naparsteck |first1=Ruth |title=Two Centuries of Industry and Trade in Rochester |journal=Rochester History |date=Fall 1989 |volume=LI |issue=4 |url=https://www.libraryweb.org/~rochhist/v51_1989/v51i4.pdf |access-date=14 January 2024}}</ref>

In 1847, [[Frederick Douglass]] founded ''[[The North Star (anti-slavery newspaper)|The North Star]]'', an [[Abolitionism in the United States|abolitionist]] newspaper, in Rochester. A former slave and an antislavery speaker and writer, he gained a circulation of over 4,000 subscribers in the United States, Europe, and the Caribbean.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Schmitt |first1=Victoria Sandwick |title=Rochester's Frederick Douglass: Part One |journal=Rochester History |date=Summer 2005 |volume=LXVII |issue=3 |page=18 |url=https://www.libraryweb.org/~rochhist/v67_2005/v67i3.pdf |access-date=14 January 2024}}</ref> Douglass lived in Rochester until his home was destroyed in a fire in 1872, and a historical marker was erected at the site on South Avenue.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Schmitt |first1=Victoria Sandwick |title=Rochester's Frederick Douglass: Part Two |journal=Rochester History |date=Fall 2005 |volume=LXVII |issue=4 |page=3 |url=https://www.libraryweb.org/~rochhist/v67_2005/v67i4.pdf |access-date=14 January 2024}}</ref> Many other prominent abolitionists operated in the area and operated on the [[Underground Railroad]], such as [[Thomas James (minister)|Thomas James]] and [[Austin Steward]].<ref>{{cite web|url = https://www.syracuse.com/living/2021/02/upstates-forgotten-abolitionists-the-former-slave-who-wrote-his-autobiography.html|title = Upstate's forgotten abolitionists: The former slave who wrote his autobiography|date = February 22, 2021|access-date = May 19, 2021|archive-date = May 19, 2021|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20210519155948/https://www.syracuse.com/living/2021/02/upstates-forgotten-abolitionists-the-former-slave-who-wrote-his-autobiography.html|url-status = live}}</ref>

Around the same time, the nearby Finger Lakes region was the birthplace of the [[Women's suffrage in the United States|women's suffrage movement]]. A [[Seneca Falls Convention|critical suffragettes' convention]] was held in 1848 in nearby Seneca Falls, and Rochester was the home of [[Susan B. Anthony]] along with other notable Suffragettes such as [[Abigail Bush]] and [[Amy Post]]. The city itself played host to the [[Rochester Women's Rights Convention of 1848]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=McKelvey |first1=Blake |title=ROCHESTER THE WATER - POWER CITY 1812-1854 |date=1945 |publisher=Harvard University Press |location=Cambridge |page=287 |url=https://archive.org/details/rochesterthewate000355mbp/page/n115/mode/2up |access-date=13 January 2024}}</ref> The [[Nineteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution]], in 1920, which guaranteed the right of women to vote, was known as the Susan B. Anthony Amendment because of her work toward its passage, which she did not live to see.<ref>{{cite news|title=Senators to Vote on Suffrage Today; Fate of Susan B. Anthony Amendment Hangs in Balance on Eve of Final Test|newspaper=New York Times|date=September 26, 1918|url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F60F17F63E5511738DDDAF0A94D1405B888DF1D3|access-date=February 12, 2017|archive-date=December 25, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211225181245/https://www.nytimes.com/1918/09/26/archives/senators-to-vote-on-suffrage-today-fate-of-susan-b-anthony.html|url-status=live}}</ref> Anthony's home is a [[National Historic Landmark]] known as the [[Susan B. Anthony House|National Susan B. Anthony Museum and House]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nps.gov/nhl/find/statelists/ny/NY.pdf|title=Listing of National Historic Landmarks by State: New York|publisher=National Park Service|access-date=September 10, 2016|archive-date=November 17, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161117072134/https://www.nps.gov/nhl/find/statelists/ny/NY.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref>

===Twentieth century===

Rochester saw an expansion of new industries in the late 19th century and early 20th century. Irish immigrant James Cunningham founded the [[carriagemaker]] [[James Cunningham, Son and Company]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://carriagemuseumlibrary.org/home/library-archives/carriage-manufacturers/james-cunningham-son-co/|title=James Cunningham Son & Co|website=carriagemuseumlibrary.org|publisher=[[Carriage Museum of America]]|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160917205345/http://carriagemuseumlibrary.org/home/library-archives/carriage-manufacturers/james-cunningham-son-co/|archive-date=September 17, 2016|access-date=February 28, 2020}}</ref> James Cunningham and Sons later founded the [[Cunningham Car Company]], a pioneer automobile maker.<ref>Like many early companies, its production was small, about 400 a year including [[hearse]]s, designed by [[Volney Lacey]]. [[G.N. Georgano]] ''Cars: Early and Vintage, 1886–1930''. (London: Grange-Universal, 1985)</ref> German immigrants [[John Jacob Bausch]] and [[Henry Lomb]] launched [[Bausch & Lomb]] in 1861 and inventor and entrepreneur [[George Eastman]] founded [[Eastman Kodak]] in 1892. [[Xerox]] was founded in Rochester in 1906 as the Haloid Company.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.xerox.com/go/xrx/template/019d.jsp?view=Factbook&id=XAG&Xcntry=USA&Xlang=en_US |title=Xerox Corporation Fact Book: Company facts, history, information |publisher=Xerox.com |access-date=December 28, 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090805182953/http://www.xerox.com/go/xrx/template/019d.jsp?view=Factbook&id=XAG&Xcntry=USA&Xlang=en_US |archive-date=August 5, 2009  }}</ref> In the early 20th century, Rochester became a center of the garment industry, particularly men's fashions. It was the base of [[Bond Clothing Stores]], [[Fashion Park Clothes]], [[Hickey Freeman]], and Stein-Bloch and Co.<ref name="industry" /> The Erie Canal was rerouted south of Rochester by 1918 to allow widening as part of the [[New York State Barge Canal|Barge Canal]]'s construction.<ref>{{cite web |title=Erie Canal Time Machine - 1918: The Barge Canal |url=http://www.archives.nysed.gov/education/primary-source-sets-erie-canal-1918 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200228214742/http://www.archives.nysed.gov/education/primary-source-sets-erie-canal-1918 |archive-date=February 28, 2020 |access-date=February 28, 2020 |website=New York State Archives |language=en}}</ref> The short-lived [[Rochester subway]] was constructed in the abandoned canal bed and operated from 1927 to 1956.<ref name="subway">{{Cite journal |last=Lipman |first=Andrew David |date=April 1974 |title=The Rochester Subway: Experiment in Municipal Rapid Transit |url=https://www.libraryweb.org/~rochhist/v36_1974/v36i2.pdf |journal=Rochester History |volume=XXXVI |issue=2 |pages=}}</ref>

The dawn of the 20th century in Rochester saw rapid growth, driven by waves of immigrants arriving from Germany, Italy, Poland, and elsewhere.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=McvKelvey |first1=Blake |title=Rochester's Ethnic Transformations |journal=Rochester History |date=July 1963 |volume=XXV |issue=3 |url=https://www.libraryweb.org/~rochhist/v25_1963/v25i3.pdf |access-date=14 January 2024}}</ref> The city also grew in area, annexing suburban neighborhoods from the surrounding towns to arrive at its present borders.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Barnes |first=Joseph W. |url=http://libraryweb.org/~digitized/books/Rochesters_era_of_annexations_1901-1926.pdf |title=Rochester's Era of Annexations, 1901–1926 |publisher=PhD Diss., State University of New York at Buffalo |date=January 1974 |pages=167–176}}</ref> The population reached 62,386 in 1870, 162,608 in 1900, and 295,750 in 1920. By 1950, the population had reached a high of 332,488.<ref name="census1">{{cite web|title=New York – Race and Hispanic Origin for Selected Cities and Other Places: Earliest Census to 1990|publisher=U.S. Census Bureau|url=https://www.census.gov/population/www/documentation/twps0076/twps0076.html|access-date=May 4, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120812191959/http://www.census.gov/population/www/documentation/twps0076/twps0076.html|archive-date=August 12, 2012|url-status=dead}}</ref> The surge in new arrivals, along with increased [[industrialization]], resulted in the city becoming a hotbed of labor activism.<ref>{{cite web|last=Donahue |first=Linda H.|url=https://www.democratandchronicle.com/story/opinion/guest-column/2016/09/03/rochesters-long-history-organized-labor/89841542/|title=Rochester's long history of organized labor|date=September 3, 2016|access-date=May 19, 2021|website=Democrat and Chronicle |archive-date=May 19, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210519155946/https://amp.democratandchronicle.com/amp/89841542|url-status=live}}</ref> From the 1920s and continuing into the post-war era Rochester grew into a power center for newly formed industrial unions.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://rochesterlabor.org/laborhistory.html|title=Labor History|access-date=May 19, 2021|archive-date=January 29, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210129051121/http://www.rochesterlabor.org/laborhistory.html|url-status=live}}</ref> It was one of the very few American cities where the labor movement was powerful enough to mount a successful [[general strike]] when in 1946 an estimated 50,000 workers across multiple sectors walked off in support of hundreds of city employees who had been fired for attempting to unionize.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.rochesterlabor.org/strike/|title=The 1946 General Strike of Rochester New York|access-date=May 19, 2021|archive-date=May 7, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210507190508/http://www.rochesterlabor.org/strike/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Moscow |first1=Warren |title=THOUSANDS RETURN TO ROCHESTER JOBS |url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1946/05/30/88365808.pdf?pdf_redirect=true&ip=0 |access-date=14 January 2024 |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=May 30, 1946 |page=2}}</ref>

[[File:Rochester Downtown - Late 1930s.jpg|thumb|Rochester in the late 1930s]]

During [[World War II]], Rochester factories produced a variety of goods for the war effort, including fuel tanker ships, optical equipment, and radio proximity fuses, amounting to {{Currency|1.2 Billion|USD}} of military orders.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Marcotte |first1=Bob |title=Arsenal of Freedom: Part One Rochester Products that Helped Win World War II |journal=Rochester History |date=Winter 2004 |volume=LXVI |issue=1 |url=https://www.libraryweb.org/~rochhist/v66_2004/v66i1.pdf |access-date=14 January 2024}}</ref> Following the war, the city began engaging in [[urban renewal]] projects to revitalize downtown, including the construction of [[Midtown Plaza (Rochester, New York)|Midtown Plaza]] and freeways like the [[Inner Loop (Rochester)|Inner Loop]], and the demolition of the Front Street neighborhood.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Morrell |first1=Alan |title=Whatever Happened To ... Front Street? |url=https://www.democratandchronicle.com/story/news/2014/03/22/whatever-happened-front-street/6702515/ |access-date=14 January 2024 |work=[[Democrat and Chronicle]] |date=22 March 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201030202411/https://www.democratandchronicle.com/story/news/2014/03/22/whatever-happened-front-street/6702515/ |archive-date=30 October 2020}}</ref> By the 1970s, the city experienced highway revolts against new projects,<ref>{{cite news |last1=Riley |first1=David |title=Swillburg to celebrate highway project's defeat |url=https://www.democratandchronicle.com/story/news/2015/10/08/swillburg-celebrate-highway-projects-defeat/73519192/ |access-date=14 January 2024 |work=[[Democrat and Chronicle]] |date=7 October 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231111101336/https://www.democratandchronicle.com/story/news/2015/10/08/swillburg-celebrate-highway-projects-defeat/73519192/ |archive-date=11 November 2023}}</ref> and in the 2010s, the city began filling in the Inner Loop to restore older neighborhoods.<ref>{{cite news |author1=Nadja Popovich |author2=Josh Williams |author3=Denise Lu |title=Can Removing Highways Fix America's Cities? |url=https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2021/05/27/climate/us-cities-highway-removal.html |access-date=14 January 2024 |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=27 May 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231211005916/https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2021/05/27/climate/us-cities-highway-removal.html |archive-date=11 December 2023}}</ref>

In 1950, the Census Bureau reported Rochester's population as 97.6% White and 2.3% Black.<ref name="census1" /> Rochester's black population tripled to more than 25,000 during the 1950s. Casually employed by the city's major industries, most African Americans in the city held low-pay and low-skill jobs, and lived in substandard housing. Discontent exploded in the three-day [[1964 Rochester race riot]], which resulted in five deaths, 350 injuries, nearly a thousand arrests, and 204 stores looted or damaged.<ref name="Goodman 2014">{{cite web | last=Goodman | first=James | title=Riots revisited: 3 days that shook Rochester | website=Rochester Democrat and Chronicle | date=July 20, 2014 | url=https://www.democratandchronicle.com/story/news/2014/07/19/roberta-abbott-buckle-rochester-riots/12855941/ | access-date=April 11, 2021 | archive-date=January 24, 2021 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210124230646/https://www.democratandchronicle.com/story/news/2014/07/19/roberta-abbott-buckle-rochester-riots/12855941/ | url-status=live }}</ref><ref>Hosmer, Howard C. ''A Panoramic History of Rochester and Monroe County, New York'', 1979. Windsor Publishers.</ref> In the wake of the riot, the Rochester Area Churches, together with black civil rights leaders, invited [[Saul Alinsky]] of the [[Industrial Areas Foundation]] to help the community organize. With the Reverend [[Franklin Florence]], they established FIGHT (Freedom, Integration, God, Honor, Today), which successfully brought pressure to bear on Eastman Kodak to help open up employment and city governance.<ref>{{cite web |first1=James |last1=Goodman |first2=Brian |last2=Sharp |title=Riots spawned FIGHT, other community efforts |newspaper=[[Democrat and Chronicle]] |date=July 20, 2014 |url=https://eu.democratandchronicle.com/story/news/2014/07/19/franklin-florence-dorothy-hall-kodak-fight/12853477/ |access-date=November 20, 2019 |archive-date=March 8, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210308174408/https://eu.democratandchronicle.com/story/news/2014/07/19/franklin-florence-dorothy-hall-kodak-fight/12853477/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>R. D. G. Wadhwani. "Kodak, FIGHT, and the Definition of Civil Rights in Rochester, New York: 1966-1967". ''The Historian''. Vol. 60, No. 1 (FALL), pp. 59-75</ref>

With industrial restructuring in the later 20th century, Rochester's manufacturing workforce shrank.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Owens |first1=Cassie |title=Can the City of Kodak and Xerox Rebuild Its Workforce for the Digital Age? |url=https://nextcity.org/features/can-the-city-of-kodak-and-xerox-rebuild-its-workforce-for-the-digital-age |access-date=14 January 2024 |work=Next City |date=15 January 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220118195853/https://nextcity.org/features/can-the-city-of-kodak-and-xerox-rebuild-its-workforce-for-the-digital-age |archive-date=18 January 2022}}</ref> Kodak, long the city's largest employer, conducted massive layoffs prior to a 2012 bankruptcy. Demographic changes also occurred, including thousands of Puerto Ricans moving to the city after World War II.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=McCally |first1=Karen |title=Building the Barrio: A Story of Rochester's Puerto Rican Pioneers |journal=Rochester History |date=Fall 2007 |volume=LXX |issue=2 |url=https://www.libraryweb.org/~rochhist/v70_2007/v70i2.pdf |access-date=14 January 2024}}</ref> 

===Twenty-first century===
By 2022, the city's population had declined to 209,352 (although the metropolitan area was considerably larger) with 45.1% recorded as White and 38.4% as Black or African American.<ref name="census2018">{{cite web |title=United States Census Bureau Quick Facts Rochester, NY |url=https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/rochestercitynewyork |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230309103954/https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/rochestercitynewyork |archive-date=March 9, 2023 |access-date=October 24, 2023 |publisher=U.S. Census Bureau}}</ref> Although the total population declined, new arrivals continued to move to the city and change its demographic profile. The city became a major destination for refugees in the 21st century.<ref>{{cite news |last1=SCHERMERHORN |first1=JACOB |title=A haven for refugees |url=https://rochesterbeacon.com/2021/07/22/a-haven-for-refugees/ |access-date=14 January 2024 |work=Rochester Beacon |date=22 July 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210727021815/https://rochesterbeacon.com/2021/07/22/a-haven-for-refugees/ |archive-date=27 July 2021}}</ref> In 2017, Rochester affirmed its status as a [[sanctuary city]] and in 2025 was sued by the [[second Trump administration]] for immigration issues.<ref>https://news.bloomberglaw.com/litigation/trump-administration-sues-rochester-over-sanctuary-city-policy</ref>