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Downtown in Rochester in Monroe County, New York — The American Northeast (Mid-Atlantic)
 

Rochester: Center of Freedom

Isaac and Amy Post home - stop on the Underground Railroad

 
 
Rochester: Center of Freedom Marker image. Click for full size.
Photographed By Yugoboy, September 13, 2012
1. Rochester: Center of Freedom Marker
Inscription. This site later became the home of the Hochstein School of Music
Amy and Isaac Post personified the dedication to temperance, abolition of slavery and women's rights that distinguished Rochester as a center of freedom in America.
Hicksite Quakers Amy (1802-1889) and Isaac (1798-1872) Post lived on this site from the 1840s to 1889 when Amy died. As conductors on the Underground Railroad, they personally assisted scored of fugitives from slavery including as many as 15 on one occasion. Isaac Post's apothecary was on Exchange Street near Buffalo Street (Main) in the midst of Abolitionist activity in the city. Impatient with the hesitant involvement of the Quaker Church in the Abolitionist movement, Isaac resigned from the Quaker Church in 1845 and became converted to Spiritualism by Margaret Fox in 1848.
"Amy your family was always dear--very dear to me, you love me and treated me as a brother before the world knew me as it 'now' does."
Frederick Douglass to Amy Post April 28, 1846
Frederick Douglass stayed in the Post home before he was encouraged by them to move to Rochester in 1847 to publish his abolitionist newspaper The North Star, later Frederick Douglass' paper. His funeral, held in the Central Presbyterian Church at this site in 1895, brought him full circle to the place he first
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stayed. He is buried at Mt. Hope Cemetery. A statue of him stands at Highland Park no far from one of his homes.
Susan B. Anthony was a close friend of the Posts and attended the second 1848 Women's Rights Convention in Rochester that Amy Post helped to organize. The Central Presbyterian Church erected their building next door to the Posts in 1858 and added on to the church on the Post's lot a year after Amy's death in 1889. The church reached out to the poor and undereducated families on the nearby Erie and Genesee Valley canals whose transient lifestyle created a distinct culture. Anthony's funeral was held in this Central Presbyterian Church in 1906.
In the mid-1970s the Central Presbyterian Church merged with the Brick and First Presbyterian Churches to become Downtown United Presbyterian Church. Continuing its historic mission to the community, the Church donated their building and land to the Hochstein School of Music which was founded in 1920 as a musical school for underprivileged students. David Hochstein, for whom the school was named, was the nephew of "Red Emma," radical social activist, Emma Goldman (1869-1940). An accomplished violinist, Hochstein enlisted in the U.S. Army Air Corps to fight in "the Great War." He was killed October 15, 1918. The Armistice was signed on November 11.
 
Erected by City of Rochester,
Rochester: Center of Freedom Marker as seen facing South image. Click for full size.
Photographed By Yugoboy, September 13, 2012
2. Rochester: Center of Freedom Marker as seen facing South
NY, The Community Foundation, Rochester-Monroe County Freedom Trail Commission.
 
Topics and series. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: Abolition & Underground RRCivil Rights. In addition, it is included in the Quakerism series list. A significant historical month for this entry is April 1891.
 
Location. 43° 9.341′ N, 77° 36.96′ W. Marker is in Rochester, New York, in Monroe County. It is in Downtown. Marker is on Plymouth Avenue near Church Street. Marker is located in front of Hochstein Music Hall which is the current iteration of the Post Home location. Touch for map. Marker is in this post office area: Rochester NY 14614, United States of America. Touch for directions.
 
Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within walking distance of this marker. Post House (a few steps from this marker); The Underground Railroad (within shouting distance of this marker); Monroe County (about 500 feet away, measured in a direct line); City of Rochester (about 500 feet away); Early Education (about 600 feet away); St. Luke's Episcopal Church (about 600 feet away); County of Monroe (about 600 feet away); Pioneer School (about 600 feet away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Rochester.
 
Rochester: Center of Freedom Marker as seen facing North image. Click for full size.
Photographed By Yugoboy, September 13, 2012
3. Rochester: Center of Freedom Marker as seen facing North
 
 
Credits. This page was last revised on February 16, 2023. It was originally submitted on March 29, 2013, by Yugoboy of Rochester, New York. This page has been viewed 663 times since then and 17 times this year. Last updated on March 17, 2021, by Carl Gordon Moore Jr. of North East, Maryland. Photos:   1, 2, 3. submitted on March 29, 2013, by Yugoboy of Rochester, New York. • Bill Pfingsten was the editor who published this page.

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Mar. 19, 2024