Rochester Sesquicentennial Public Relations Packet

Rochester, New York, was incorporated as a city in 1834. To celebrate the sesquicentennial of this event, Rochester Sesquicentennial Inc. was established in September of 1982 to plan and coordinate commemorative events. Led by Rosalie C. Hanson, the organization was given a $450,000 budget, with $200,000 coming from the City, $100,000 from Monroe County, and a planned $150,000 from private and corporate donors. The organization planned a series of major events across the course of 1984, the largest of which were the Dinner and Gala Ball on April 28, the Downtown Festival June 8-10 (in cooperation with the Women’s Coalition for Downtown), the canal and Genesee River festival July 6-8, and the Lake Ontario festival July 13-15.

This collection consists primarily of a body of ephemera mailed by Rochester Sesquicentennial Inc. to a staff member at the Monroe County Board of Cooperative Educational Services. The most likely interpretation of the mailing is that it served as a public relations packet. As a few later items were found mixed into the envelope, it was likely used by that staffer as their file for Rochester promotional materials.