The Rochester Reform Trail: Women's Rights, Religion and Abolition on the Genesee River and the Erie Canal: The College at Brockport

Women's Rights, Religion and Abolition on the Genesee River and the Erie Canal.

Rochester Aqueduct

Dates: July 20th-August 2nd.

Director: Jose R. Torre, Associate Professor of History, The College at Brockport, State University of New York

Perrine Greetings from Rochester, New York! The Rochester Reform Trail is a National Endowment for the Humanities Landmarks of American History and Culture Workshop for School Teachers. In the summer of 2014 this NEH Landmarks workshop will bring together schoolteachers, public historians, and scholarly experts for two weeklong programs focusing on Rochester's iconic 19th century technological, economic and reform landmarks.

Fredrick Douglass Through field trips, scholarly presentations, and seminar-style discussions, participants will examine the complex nature of historical change as expressed in landmarks such as the Erie Canal, the Broad Street Aqueduct, the Susan B. Anthony House, the nearby Seneca Falls Women's Rights National Historical Park, and others. Teachers will visit these sites while studying the writings of the men and women who made Rochester a center for reform culture in antebellum America.

Charles Finney By combining site visits with scholarly sessions on Rochester reformers, the workshop hopes to illuminate several broader themes: the economic and technological changes that shaped the mindset, worldviews, and everyday experiences of 19th century American reformers; the role that religion played in expanding reform movements; and the impact of African Americans and women on reform culture both before and after the Civil War.

Rochester has an unrivalled collection of 19th century technological and reform landmarks; this workshop hopes to highlight their importance to American society as a whole.

Look for more information on this site soon!

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