Riding with Frederick Douglass (Comments: 3)

It was gorgeous here on Saturday, so I went for a nice ride — about 15 miles, but never farther than 3 miles from my house. It was fun to explore so much ground so close to home.

I started on South Ave at School No. 12, which occupies the former site of one of Frederick Douglass’s homes. Douglass lived in Rochester and did much of his most important work here, including publishing his paper, The North Star, and giving his famous “The Meaning of July Fourth for the Negro” speech at Rochester’s Corinthian Hall in 1852. Here’s an excerpt from the speech:

Fellow-citizens, above your national, tumultuous joy, I hear the mournful wail of millions! whose chains, heavy and grievous yesterday, are, to-day, rendered more intolerable by the jubilee shouts that reach them. If I do forget, if I do not faithfully remember those bleeding children of sorrow this day, “may my right hand forget her cunning, and may my tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth!” To forget them, to pass lightly over their wrongs, and to chime in with the popular theme, would be treason most scandalous and shocking, and would make me a reproach before God and the world. My subject, then, fellow-citizens, is American slavery. I shall see this day and its popular characteristics from the slave’s point of view. Standing there identified with the American bondman, making his wrongs mine, I do not hesitate to declare, with all my soul, that the character and conduct of this nation never looked blacker to me than on this 4th of July! Whether we turn to the declarations of the past, or to the professions of the present, the conduct of the nation seems equally hideous and revolting. America.is false to the past, false to the present, and solemnly binds herself to be false to the future. Standing with God and the crushed and bleeding slave on this occasion, I will, in the name of humanity which is outraged, in the name of liberty which is fettered, in the name of the constitution and the Bible which are disregarded and trampled upon, dare to call in question and to denounce, with all the emphasis I can command, everything that serves to perpetuate slavery — the great sin and shame of America! “I will not equivocate; I will not excuse”; I will use the severest language I can command; and yet not one word shall escape me that any man, whose judgment is not blinded by prejudice, or who is not at heart a slaveholder, shall not confess to be right and just.

A detailed historical marker now stands in front of School No. 12, replacing this older marker:

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Douglass lived in several homes in Rochester, including one on this site on South Ave. That home burned down — arson was suspected, but never proven.

Next to the school is a lovely pond that was on the Douglass property. During the winter, this pond serves as the Highland Park Skating Rink:

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I rode up to Highland Bowl from the pond. It was actually a little tricky on the Packet Boat (Xtracycle) with no cargo, because the back wheel slipped a few times. The back wheel is about 18 inches behind the saddle on an Xtracycle, so very little of my weight is on the wheel. With more cargo or a passenger, I’ve never had any problems.

On one of the rims of Highland Bowl stands a statue of Frederick Douglass:

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This is believed to be the first statue erected in the United States to honor an African-American

Looking down into the Bowl from the statue, you can see the stage that has welcomed everything from jazz to Shakespeare.

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From Highland Bowl, I rode down Reservoir Street and crossed over Mt. Hope Avenue into the Mount Hope Cemetery, the first municipal Victorian cemetery in the United States. It’s incredibly beautiful — and a great place to ride if hills are your thing. Frederick Douglass is buried there, as are Susan B. Anthony and these other famous folks (as listed on the cemetery’s history page):

• Lewis Henry Morgan, internationally known father of the science of anthropology
• Hiram Sibley, founder of Western Union and instigator of the purchase of Alaska
• Dr. Hartwell Carver, father of the transcontinental railroad
• John Jacob Bausch and Henry Lomb, founders of the optical company Bausch & Lomb
• Adelaide Crapsey, the famous imagist poet
• Frank E. Gannett, newspaper publisher, (Jason says: He was also a notorious union-buster and coiner of the phrase “right to work”)
• Seth Green, inventor of the fish hatchery
• Myron Holley, instigator and builder of the Erie Canal
• Margaret Woodbury Strong, indefatigable collector of Victoriana and founder of the Strong Museum
• George B. Selden, inventor of the automobile (and don’t let Detroit tell you otherwise)
• Johnny Baker, Buffalo Bill’s foster son and sharpshooter in the Wild West Show
• Elizabeth Hollister Frost, the poet and novelist

Some of my distant Flanders cousins are also buried here.

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I exited the cemetery on the Elmwood Avenue side and rode down to the University of Rochester. After riding through the campus a bit, I hopped on the Genesee Riverway Trail, where I took these photos of the Rochester skyline:

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I rode the trail down the east side of the Genesee to Court Street, then down Court to the west side of the trail. From the Court Street entrance to the trail, you get a nice view of the new Frederick Douglass — Susan B. Anthony Bridge:

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An old station on the Lehigh Valley Railroad, now the Dinosaur BBQ. Behind it are the Bausch & Lomb building (left) and the Xerox building (right)

Then I rode back on the west side of the river to the new Corn Hill Landing:

I ran into my good friend Richard DeSarra at Corn Hill Creamery. I first met Richard when I was station manager and drive-time host at Jazz90.1, and we see each other every year at the Rochester International Jazz Festival. Richard is also the co-vice president and trail access coordinator for the Rochester Bicycling Club. He’s a lot more than that, though. I found out this weekend that Richard and a partner founded Freewheelers Bike Shop back in the 1970s. (The shop is still running under new management.) I also learned about his vital role in things like bike racks on our city buses and the creation of the boardwalk on the Genesee Riverway Trail. And, I learned some very exciting news about a big cycling event coming up in this area next year. I can’t tell you yet, but maybe I can convince the powers that be to let you hear it here first when they’re ready to make it public. And look for Richard on a future episode of The RocBike Review!

• The rest of my pictures from the ride are in the gallery.