Celebrate Black History Month with a drive through the life of Rochester's most famous African American: Frederick Douglass.
Douglass was an escaped slave, activist, editor, educator, writer, lecturer, abolitionist and friend of Susan B. Anthony.
He was one of the top 10 Americans (in history) as far as his influence went, says Vicki Schmitt, a historian at the Rochester Museum & Science Center.
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At five miles, the drive won't take long, and it won't use up a lot of gas. But it should open your eyes to the area's rich civil-rights history.
1 Highland Park Start your tour at Highland Park. That's Douglass atop the column looking down on Highland Bowl (and the kids on sleds).
The statue was dedicated in 1898 with Gov. Theodore Roosevelt on hand. It originally stood in a traffic island at the corner of St. Paul Street and Central Avenue, right outside Rochester's railroad depot.
The statue was moved to Highland Park in 1943.
2 999 South Ave. Travel a block or so north on South Avenue. This will take you to School No. 12 across from Highland Hospital.
Douglass was born into slavery on a Maryland plantation in 1818 (although some sources put the year at 1817), the child of a black woman and an unknown white man. He escaped in 1838 and fled north, coming to Rochester in 1847.
Douglass' home was where School 12 now stands. He lived in Rochester until 1872, when he moved to Washington, D.C.
3 Mt. Hope Cemetery Head back to Highland Park and drive west one block to Mt. Hope Avenue. Cross Mt. Hope, and go into Mt. Hope Cemetery.
After his death on Feb. 20, 1895, Douglass was returned to Rochester. His body is buried at Mt. Hope Cemetery in Section T, Lot 26, not far from Mt. Hope Avenue.
4 Susan B. Anthony House Leave the cemetery and head north on Mt. Hope Avenue. Cross the Ford Street bridge, turn right onto Exchange Boulevard, then turn left onto Broad Street. Take that to Main Street and turn left. Look for Madison Street on the right.
No. 17 was Susan B. Anthony's house, where Douglass was a frequent visitor. A fervent supporter of women's rights, he attended the first Women's Rights Convention in Seneca Falls in 1848.
5 Susan B. Anthony Square Continue a short distance down Madison Street, and you'll come to Susan B. Anthony Square, where you can see a statue of Susan B. and Douglass talking over a cup of tea. It was placed there in 2001 by Pepsy Kettavong, a 1995 graduate of the Rochester Institute of Technology.
I relate to him, says Kettavong, 32, a Laotian refugee who now resides in Rochester.
He came here with nothing and tried to make the world a better place. That's a good goal for anyone.
Kettavong, who sculpted the bronze statue, explains: The whole premise of the statue is that Fred Douglass and Susan B. Anthony were human beings.
They just believed in something.
6 Talman Building Circle the square, return up Madison and turn left on Main Street. When you pass the intersection of Main and State look for 25 East Main on the right the Talman Building on the corner of Aqueduct Street. (Key Bank is on the ground floor.)
The Talman Building once housed the office of the North Star newspaper, which Douglass launched in 1849.
It was known after 1851 as Frederick Douglass' Paper , and it was the leading black newspaper in the country. It continued publishing until 1863.
7 Rochester Museum & Science Center Continue east on Main and turn right on East Avenue. Follow East to Goodman Street to get to the Rochester Museum & Science Center, 657 East Ave., which is holding a Douglass exhibit that will run through the next year.
The exhibit includes documents, photographs and other objects that are connected with Douglass' early life and his 25 years in Rochester.
It's a good place to end the tour.
