Who knew that Henry W. Johnson, the first Black attorney in Canandaigua, would move on from the Finger Lakes and start a coffee farm in the country of Liberia in West Africa?
Did you know Eunice Foote, a 19th-century scientist, women’s rights campaigner and inventor who grew up in Bloomfield and settled in Seneca Falls, was a published climate researcher way back when but wasn’t allowed to present her findings on scientific matters because she was a woman?
Here’s something else you may not have known: Alice M. Dubler, a nurse born in Manchester who helped start the Manchester Health Center in 1923 and led the center for 50 years, for a time actually made house calls?
Those are some of the local history tidbits visitors to the Ontario County Historical Society Museum’s just-opened “America 250: Changemakers of Ontario County” exhibit will be able to learn about the people who made history in local communities. The exhibit runs through December.
The exhibit presents the stories of individuals, each suggested by the local historians or historical societies of their towns, who have made significant contributions to their communities and beyond. Some go back to a community’s earlier days. Others, as in the case of William Vierhile, who owned Vierhile’s Appliances in Naples before it closed in 2014 and devoted local history advocate for years, are more recent community treasures.
Museum Curator Wilma Townsend said these people had different skills and abilities but each gave back to their communities either here or elsewhere in their own ways.
“It’s always surprising to me that these little towns have these people who have done a lot or they have gone someplace else and done a lot,” Townsend said.
Ontario County history exhibit opens
The Chamgemakers exhibit opening coincides with the Historical Society’s “Door to Western New York: A General History of Ontario County,” which opened May 29 and will run indefinitely.
Executive Director Ulana Fuller said the exhibit can be refreshed with new feature panels and artifacts and is designed to appeal to visitors of all ages, especially families. The exhibit reflects the work of staff, volunteers and donors over six months, in addition to the day-to-day operations and programs.
“First, we wanted to create an exhibit that would answer the questions so many of our out-of-town visitors have,” Fuller said. “We also wanted to create an exhibit that our area residents could come back to again and again.”
More about the Ontario County Historical Society
The not-for-profit Ontario County Historical Society was established in 1902. It owns and operates the community history museum at 55 N. Main St., Canandaigua. The member-supported organization operates on public donations, membership dollars and limited public and private grants.
For more information, please visit www.ochs.org.
Mike Murphy covers Canandaigua and other communities in Ontario County and writes the Eat, Drink and Be Murphy food and drink column. He can be reached at mmurphy@messengerpostmedia.com. Follow him on X at @MPN_MikeMurphy.
This article originally appeared on Rochester Democrat and Chronicle: Discover the hidden history of Ontario County locals
Reporting by Mike Murphy, Rochester Democrat and Chronicle / Rochester Democrat and Chronicle
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