FLOWER CITY

Questions

1. What happened that caused Rochester to become the Flower City instead of the Flour City? Should Rochester continue to be called the Flower City? Explain. Should its logo — a lilac floret — be replaced?

2. The early horticulture nurseries and seed companies in Rochester were some of the largest in the world and very profitable. Yet dissatisfied workers struck four times between 1883 and 1918. How might you explain the causes for so many strikes in such a short time?

Activities

1. Design a new logo for the City of Rochester. Write a brief description in paragraph form.

2. Visit Lamberton Conservatory in Highland Park. Illustrate how the park is laid out and find out how it is maintained. If possible, talk to a park worker about his or her work.

3. Create a list of locally-owned nurseries in Rochester and its suburbs with locations for consumers who would like to support locally owned businesses.

4. Research a 19th century Rochester nursery. Determine its labor practices. What were the hours, salary, benefits, and other working conditions?

Vocabulary horticulture

nursery

lithography

pavilion

Glossary

strike: A temporary stoppage of work by a group of employees to express a grievance or demand for change over issues ranging from union recognition to wages, hours, or working conditions. Such a withdrawal of work may even be in sympathy with other workers.

Resources

Map/Guide, # 3, 42
Withold Rybczynski, A Clearing in the Distance: Frederick Law Olmstead and America in the Nineteenth Century. (1999)
Rochester Historical Society, The Garden of the Genesee. (1940)