But, apparently Susan B. Anthony would be proud of my independent journey. Her house was my next stop. I walked in to the welcome area and found five docents sitting around waiting for visitors. When the Bills are playing, there is not a big rush on tours. Rochester has it's priorities set. To their questions about my visit I explained that I am driving cross country and, knowing a bit about the suffragette, decided to visit their museum (but mostly because Let's Go told me to). Once again I got to say my catchphrase, "No, just me." They loved it! "Susan B. (that was what they all called her, 'Susan B.') would be so proud! What independence, what an adventure!" I must say, I felt like quite the accidental trailblazer. I had a nice private tour around the house, which unfortunately unmasked my lack of knowledge about the suffrage movement. These ladies really liked to ask a lot of questions ("Can you name some of the things that women were not allowed to do in the 19th century?" "Ummm...") I think my feminist credentials really took a hit when I admitted that I had not stopped at Seneca Falls en route to Rochester. "Oh, well that's all right," my tour guide said with a hint of disappointment. We got back on track when I asked about Frederick Douglass. I knew that he had lived in Rochester for the later part of his life and that he was good friends with Susan B. Thank you, Gilder Lehrman Institute for that little factoid!
The bad part about being the only person on a tour is that you can't extract yourself or skip ahead if you are in a hurry (or getting bored). We spent a good hour in the house looking at the different parlors, her sister's bedroom, etc. It was interesting, and I am temped to read a biography about Susan B. Anthony, but I really needed to leave if I was going to squeeze in the cemetery, the George Eastman House and the Jello Museum before driving to Buffalo.
Frederick Douglass does not have any museum or the like dedicated to him in Rochester so, knowing that he is buried there, I decided to visit the cemetery. I skipped the offered tour (I really didn't need to see the grave site of the past mayor of Rochester) and went straight to FD's grave. Walking the short distance from the small, twisty road where I left my car, I saw a small gravestone that just said "Baby." It was just a little, white, marble marker low to the ground. Depressing. I also saw a headstone that said simply "My Wife." I like how he included the possessive pronoun instead of going with something equally un-identifying but at least nice like "Beloved Wife." Maybe it was the newly discovered feminist in me, but I was offended for this poor unnamed women.
I learned at my next stop that George Eastman was kinda nuts. Unfortunately, that's about all the information I got about him. The museum is in his mansion and has added galleries with photography exhibits, but tells you very little about how he got his start or the business. (There was a loooong video bio looping, but who can bother?) I did learn a couple of other things. Previously, I had always thought that Kodak was Eastman's partner (as in the 'Eastman Kodak Company'). Nope. Kodak is a made-up word that Eastman used as his brand name. Also, Eastman liked to go on safari and hunt big game. There is taxidermy all over the house, including an enormous elephant head hanging over the music conservatory. There are also ashtrays and a vase made of animal feet. It was truly disturbing. I thought it ironic that when I went on safari we spent all of our time taking pictures of the animals, yet the man who popularized the personal camera went on safari and killed the animals.
Eastman also lobbied extensively to have the U.S. adopt a 13-month calendar. He thought that each month should be exactly 28 days with four weeks each. Obviously he was unsuccessful but the Kodak Co. follow this calendar system until 1989.
At 77, Eastman committed suicide by shooting himself in the head. With no family (there is speculation that he was gay) he left the following suicide note: "To my friends, My work is done. Why wait?" Kinda nuts, right?
Sadly, the Jello museum closed before I left the Eastman House. I guess now I have a reason to return to the Rochester area.
Tonight I'm staying with Rachel's parents in Buffalo and, despite the one-hour notice that they had before I arrived, the Cloughs have mapped out a big day of sightseeing for the three of us tomorrow! What fabulous and amenable hosts. I'm already excited to order my "10, medium" for lunch.
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