Events

The Society has many events throughout the year; History Presentations and Author Appearances, Special Exhibits, Historical Tours of various types, and Board of Trustee and Committee Meetings. Please see the calendar and below for more information.

History Presentations and Author Appearances

We sponsor lectures and presentations featuring stimulating local and regional speakers. These programs are monthly during the year starting in September and running through May and usually take place on the third Tuesday of the month at 7:00 p.m. Lectures are held in the lower level of the Museum. Museum hours can be viewed on the Calendar.

Membership dues and donations allow for the continuation of exhibits, monthly programs and historic tours.

The Fairport Museum highlights the history of the town of Perinton and the village of Fairport from its early days.

Events and Programs for 2022: 

Program: Cemetery Tour Celebrating the Erie Canal Bicentennial 
Presenters: Suzanne Lee and Vicki Masters ProfittDate: Tuesday, May 17, 2022
Time: 7 p.m.
Location: Fairport Museum
Registration: NOT required

This year, in honor of the 200th anniversary of the completion of the Erie Canal through Fairport, our cemetery tour will highlight Fairport residents who have a connection to the canal.

It's hard to imagine life in Fairport without the Canal; even today, it influences how we live and play. Come learn about the Erie Canal's history in Fairport through the stories of packet boat captains, inn owners, canal superintendents, the Calico Canaler, the Cherry King, the country's oldest muskrat trapper, and other fascinating locals.

It's just another beautiful day at the Oxbow as a group of family and friends hang out and fish.

These eternal residents are buried in numerous local cemeteries, but all of them lived or worked in Fairport and had close ties to the canal. This presentation will feature early maps of the canal and the town, numerous photographs, artifacts from the Museum's collection, and several first-person accounts of life on the Erie Canal throughout the past two centuries.

Registration is NOT required.

 

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Program: Underground Railroad, A Secret Crusade to Set People Free
Presenter: Wendy Murray
Date: Sunday, May 29, 2022
Time: 2:30 p.m.
Location: Fairport Museum
Registration: NOT required

The Underground Railroad, a secret conspiracy enacted through the efforts of thousands of American women and men in the early to mid - 19th century, will be presented by Wendy Murray, a member of the Perinton Historical Society.

This expansive collection of photographs and drawings will feature gut-rendering original stories about Black fugitives, as they traveled on the Underground Railroad, seeking personal safety and freedom from the evils of slavery. Escorted along many forgotten trails, this narrative explores the sacrifice and bravery that white and black "Abolitionists’ endured as they extended a hand to create new lives.

Wendy Murray is a wife, a mother and a grandmother of five. She was raised in a family of 12 children, being the third eldest. After spending twenty years in Asheville, North Carolina, Wendy worked as a campus minister on two university campuses for the Diocese of Charlotte, and later became a Volunteer Coordinator for Catholic Charities. Upon returning to New York State, she and her husband bought a house in the village of Fairport and promptly joined the Perinton Historical Society. She also serves on the House Tour Committee. 

Registration is NOT required.

 

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Program: Member Open House
Presenters: TBD
Date: Tuesday,  June 21, 2022
Time: 6 - 8 p.m.
Location: Fairport Museum
Registration: NOT required

In 2021, the Board of Trustees hosted a members-only open house in lieu of the annual meeting and picnic. This allowed us to gather together in a different way during the pandemic. The wonderful comments we received about this new event, from many of the 125+ attendees, have prompted us to offer it again in 2022. 

Society members can drop by the Fairport Historical Museum on Tuesday, June 21 any time between the hours of 6 and 8: p.m. for the this years open house. We will have gift bags, snacks, author appearances, music, games and prizes. 

Members will have the opportunity to stroll the beautiful museum gardens, which have been maintained by the Greenbrier Garden Club for more than forty years. Displays will feature photos and information about the fall House Tour and volunteer opportunities. Ballots for the budget and board of trustees will be accepted on this evening, as will membership renewals. 

The Society has flourished since its founding in 1935 thanks to your support. We hope you can join us for this special event celebrating our members.

 

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Fundraiser: Colonial Belle Boat Trip
Presenters: Bill Poray & Vicki Profitt
Date: Saturday, July 16, 2022
Time: 2:30 - 5:30 p.m.
Location: Erie Canal
Tickets: $50 

Celebrate on the Colonial Belle. This summer, the Society will celebrate the bicentennial of the Erie Canal with an afternoon boat trip on the Colonial Belle. On Saturday, July 16 from 2:30 to 5:30 p.m., Bill Poray and Vicki Profitt will narrate as we cruise along this historic waterway from Fairport to Pittsford’s Lock 32 and back. We will learn about the people and places that made the canal such an integral part of our community.

Ice cream sundaes will be served and passengers will receive tickets for an on-board raffle. There also will be a cash bar.

Tickets are $50 per person and will be sold at the museum during operating hours. We will be selling tickets to Society members only from June 2 to 7 prior to being offered to the public. Tickets will also be available at the member open house at the museum on June 21st. There are a limited number of tickets and we want to give Society members first chance.

Please plan to join us for this special bicentennial event. Contact me at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. if you have questions.

 

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Program: Historic House Tour - South Main
Presenters: Various
Date: Sunday, October 2, 2022
Time: 1 - 5 p.m.
Location: Various
Registration: Members Only Event

On Sunday, October 2, you’ll have the opportunity to visit six lovely homes on South Main Street in the village.

The in-person Society House Tour is back. Mark your calendar today!

Special Exhibits

Admission to the Fairport Historical Museum is FREE and open to the public.

Membership dues and donations allow for the continuation of exhibits, monthly programs and historic tours. Museum hours can be viewed on the calendar.

Exhibits:

New exhibits for 2022 will include: Valentine's Day, WWII Soldier, Perinton Native: Lester Conover, Erie Canal Surveyor's Transits, DeLano Family Photos and Perinton's Mushroom House.

Valentine's Day

An estimated 145 million Valentine’s Day cards are sent each year, according to the Greeting Card Association. Valentine’s Day is celebrated in several other countries, including Australia, Canada, France, Mexico and the United Kingdom and is second only to Christmas for the sending of cards. Though the earliest valentines were sent in the seventeenth century, it became more commonplace to send notes and small gifts by the mid-eighteenth century.

Soon after graduating from Mount Holyoke College, Esther Allen Howland (1828-1904) began designing Valentine’s Day cards out of her home in Worcester, Massachusetts. She employed workers to create and box the beautiful cards and she inspected them all herself. Esther’s business acumen paid off, with sales ultimately grossing $100,000 annually ($2.7 million in 2022). The “Mother of the American Valentine”, who is credited with commercializing Valentine’s Day cards in the United States, sold the business in the early 1880s so more time could be spent caring for her elderly father. Esther Allen Howland died in 1904 and was buried in Quincy, Massachusetts. 

By 1900, mass-produced valentines became even more popular. However, not all cards showed a smiling cherub and simpering poems. Some, known as “vinegar valentines”, featured harsh pre-printed messages from jilted lovers or derided hen-pecked husbands and women who wore too much makeup.

Most of the cards in this collection date to the early 1900s, when valentine postcards became popular due to the less expensive postage. Some have been in the Museum's collection for decades. Others were recently donated by the Hutchinson family. It’s amazing to see all the vibrant and colorful Valentine designs that are now over a century old. Which are your favorites?

Erie Canal Surveyor's Transits, Lester Conover and DeLano Family Photos Exhibits

Local members of the Engineering Corps pose in an unknown location with their surveyor transits.	Our transit display in the atrium of the Museum.
Lester Conover display.	DeLano family photo exhibit.

Stop by to see our ongoing exhibits on agriculture, A Centennial of Perinton Town Historians and Perinton in the Pandemic.

Agriculture

Our newly remodeled agriculture exhibit features information about the 11 century farms and sections on blacksmiths, coopers and tinsmiths.

A Centennial of Perinton Town Historians

2021 is the centennial of Perinton Town Historians. Learn about the six historians that have held the position in the last 100 years.

Perinton in the Pandemic

Our Capturing Today's History for Tomorrow committee has been gathering photos and information about life in the pandemic. Send your contributions to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. 

House Tour - 2022
South Main in the village of Fairport

The House Tour Committee is planning a tour for 2022. Save the date of Sunday, October 2, 2022. Time will be from 1 to 5 p.m.

This is a members only event.

Virtual House Tour - 2021 
A View of Perinton’s Homes and Gardens 

The House Tour Committee has produced a virtual tour of six homes and gardens located throughout Perinton. Videographer Noah Lucia of Sidekick Films helped the committee showcase these homes by recording the exteriors, some gardens, and a few interiors. 

A graceful arch welcomes guests to a Loud Road home.

The committee worked with Noah to integrate information on the architecture and history of the homes. The result wasl a tour  members could enjoy on their computer in the comfort and safety of their home.

The Virtual House Tour 2021 was the first for the Society. The COVID pandemic has prompted all of us to find new ways to do many things out of a concern for safety. This virtual tour is one of them.

For more information about this years tour, go to the Homes & Garden Virtual House Tour - 2021 page.

For many of the previous tours go to Historic Tours.