2021 By Number
Though we continued to be impacted by the pandemic, we still found ways to tell Geneva’s stories in 2021. Below is a unique view of last year.
1 name change – A different name, same mission – Historic Geneva.
4 new trustees – We welcomed Ron Eveland, Eric Lewis, Melanie Sage, and Windsor Wage to the Board of Trustees.
6 videos – Our Curator John Marks continued to create episodes for our short video series “Geneva’s Stories.” Episodes included St. Patrick’s Cemetery, music, and local innovators.
7 employees – Our activities included collections care, developing programs and digital content, grant writing, holding meetings in-person and virtually, and caring for three properties. In April, we welcomed Mel Oles as the Visitor Services and Programs Manager at Rose Hill and Johnston House.
8 “Looking Back” articles were written for the Finger Lakes Times. Among the topics covered were optical companies, Geneva’s water supply, Nester Malt House, Geneva Carriage Company, and local patent holders.
Dr. Howard Elon Easton’s binoculars and two small oil lamps.
12 exhibits were hosted – Along with the long term exhibit Geneva’s Changing Landscapes, our exhibits were An Educated Citizenry: Education in Geneva, My Geneva Is, Geneva City School District Art Show, Geneva Innovators, We Stayed At Home: A Record of Geneva in the Covid-19 Pandemic, My Geneva Is (Home Edition). We continued the “Community Curators” series where local collectors can display a portion of their collection at the museum. One House, Many People: Workers at Rose Hill, which chronicles the various people who have worked at Rose Hill over 200 years, opened in the East Tenant Cottage at Rose Hill. At the Geneva Public Library our short-term exhibits were our name change, Geneva City Hospital and local churches.
52 blog articles were written by staff.
55 donations were received for our collections – Donations ranged from a single item to several files and papers including the collection of a former Geneva City School District board member, a clock from Cosie’s, Kashong ledger books, clothing from different schools, and photos from the Boys and Girls Club and Jan Regan.
During the summer of 2021 four HWS Theatre students conducted archival research on the history of African-Americans in Geneva. They then translated the stories into a series of monologues and short scenes, which were performed outdoors in downtown Geneva by HWS and community actors in September.
61 partners – Whether it was funders, collaborators, or supporters, we relied on a variety of partners to help us tell Geneva’s stories. Our partners were the American Digital Memories, Antiques Club of the Finger Lakes, Barbara Tepa Lupak, Bob Hobday, Chris Davis, City and Town of Geneva, City of Geneva Historian Karen Osburn, Chris Woodworth with the cast and crew of From Beyond, Delavan Foundation, Edible Finger Lakes, Empire Archival Discovery Cooperative, ESL Charitable Foundation, Farash Foundation, Finger Lakes Times, Geneva City School District, Geneva Public Library, Hobart and William Smith Colleges, Humanities NY, Lake Drum Brewing, Merrill Lynch – Eidlin-Kilmer Associates, Karen Colizzi Noonan, Key Private Bank, Kirk House, Liz Carty and Beth Reiners, Marty Schlabach, New York Heritage, New York State Council on the Arts, Pat Keefe, Preston Pierce, Ronnie Frishman, Smith Center for the Arts, Suzanne Schnittman, Tricia Noel and Wyckoff Family Foundation.
251 research requests were received in-person, over the phone, via e-mail or through social media. In addition to genealogy questions, topics included houses, Geneva Cutlery, the Underground Railroad, cemeteries, and Sampson.
571 (and counting) followers on Twitter
1,397 (and counting) followers on Instagram
Over 2,000 hours were spent by volunteers attending committee meetings, running the Carriage House Gift Shop at Rose Hill, transcribing diaries, and oral histories, tending the garden at the Geneva History Museum, and helping with the Holiday Market and other projects. This is just a rough estimate of volunteer hours, and the number could be easily doubled or even tripled.
4,305 people attended one of our 35 programs, visited the Geneva History Museum and Rose Hill Mansion, or participated in one of our 16 outreach activities.
4,704 (and counting) followers on Facebook.
78,272 visitors to our website – People visited historicgeneva.org to purchase items from our online gift shop, read our weekly blog, check out our calendar of event, watch recorded programs or our short video series “Geneva Stories,” and view past exhibits.
When you add up all our activities, over 88,000 people in some way had an experience with Historic Geneva in 2021. And we could not have done it without the support of our board, volunteers, supporters, partners, and community. For that and so much more we cannot say thank you enough.
Yet more work remains. By contributing to our Spring Support Campaign, we can accomplish it together. Will you please continue your support of Historic Geneva by making a gift to our Spring Support Campaign Under our restructured membership program, two support campaigns are held each year. You can give to one campaign or to both. Any individual, business, or organization who contributes to a support campaign will be considered a member of Historic Geneva. Along with multiple fixed levels of support, there are options to choose your own donation amount or to give monthly.
To contribute to the Spring Support Campaign, take a moment and submit this form.
We appreciate each and every contribution, because, when combined, they ensure that we can continue to share Geneva’s stories with audiences today and for years to come.