1816 FARMINGTON QUAKER MEETINGHOUSE & MUSEUM

“The past is never dead. It's not even past. All of us labor in webs spun long before we were born, webs of heredity and environment, of desire and consequence, of history and eternity.”

William Faulkner, Requiem for a Nun

DEBORAH HUGHES, "BLESSED ARE THE WHISTLE BLOWERS" OCTOBER 1, 2026

It is our honor to welcome Deborah Hughes for our next program, October 1, 2026, 7:00 p.m., at Lyons National Bank, 1423 Hathaway Drive, Farmington.

Deborah L. Hughes was the President and CEO of the National Susan B. Anthony Museum and House, holding this position from 2007 to 2025. During her first year as President, Deborah visited the 1816 Meetinghouse, when we were just beginning our work.

She went on to lead the Susan B. Anthony Museum in a major phase of restoration, securing its Absolute Charter as a Museum, and dramatically expanding its attendance. As a National Historic Landmark, the Susan B. Anthony Museum and House is one of the premier historic sites relating to the history of women in the U.S.

Deborah Hughes is also an ordained Baptist minister. In that role, she was called last year to go to Minneapolis, to be a witness to how people responded to ICE raids that terrorized much of that community.

We are delighted to welcome her to share what she saw and experienced.

For more information, see https://www.wxxinews.org/local-news and https://rbj.net

WARM THANKS TO THE ROCHESTER AREA COMMUNITY FOUNDATION FOR A GRANT OF $20,000

We are delighted to report that the Rochester Area Community Foundation has just given us a grant of $20,000 from the Lloyd E. Klos Historical Fund. This will help support restoration of the interior of the 1816 Farmington Quaker Meetinghouse Museum, so that we can open the 1816 Meetinghouse to the public by 2028, for the first time in over 100 years.

Our architect, Bill Brandow, from John G. Waite Associates, is now in the process of preparing detailed architectural drawings and specifications for interior restoration, using a design grant from the New York State Council on the Arts. These will be the basis for construction work supported by the Rochester Area Community Foundation, Lisk Morris Foundation, and others. We plan to begin construction in early 2027, if appropriate funding is available.

HELP US MATCH THE LISK MORRIS FOUNDATION GRANT

The Lisk Morris Foundation has offered us a matching grant of $28,000 to help with the restoration of the first floor of the Meetinghouse and operating expenses.

We need your help! To receive the grant, we must raise another $28,000 to match it.

In the month since we first announced this, we have already received $4950 toward this goal, almost twenty percent of what we need. Warm thanks to those of you who have sent these generous gifts.

Only $23,050 to go! We simply cannot do it without you.

Grants from the Rochester Area Community Foundation, the Lisk Morris Foundation, and donations from all of you will help match funds that we have requested from several other private foundations, as well as from New York State’s Empire State Development Fund, Environmental Protection Fund, African American Heritage Fund, and Council on the Arts. All of these will help support Meetinghouse restoration and construction of a small visitors’ center at the rear of the Meetinghouse. We will hear results from most of these later this year.

Thank you for helping to keep our momentum going!

Checks may be sent to:

1816 Farmington Quaker Meetinghouse Museum

P.O. Box 25053, 230 Sheldon Road

Farmington, NY 14425

Online payments: can be made through PayPal, Venmo, or credit card using the link below.

ALL LOCAL RESOLUTIONS PASSED TO COMPLETE 550-MILE HARRIET TUBMAN BYWAY FROM NIAGARA FALLS TO NEW YORK CITY

We are pleased to share news that every municipality and county along the 550-mile Harriet Tubman Byway has passed resolutions of support. In June 2026, the New York State legislature authorized the first phase of the Byway, 173 miles from Auburn to Niagara Falls, to be designated as one of New York State’s Scenic Byways. This route runs through Wayne County, including the Town of Macedon. Thanks to all local municipalities who supported this. 

As one of twenty-two documented Underground Railroad sites highlighted on the first phase of the Byway, the 1816 Farmington Quaker Meetinghouse Museum will receive marketing help and considerable tourist traffic. This prospect lends urgency to our fund-raising efforts to restore the Meetinghouse.

The second phase of the Byway will run 376 miles from New York City, up the Hudson Valley, west through the Mohawk Valley, paralleling the Erie Canal, to Auburn. The whole Byway through New York State will connect with similar Byways in Pennsylvania, Delaware, and Maryland.

For more information, see https://www.fingerlakesdailynews.com

NATIONAL TRUST FOR HISTORIC PRESERVATION ANNOUNCES HISTORIC PRESERVATION DEFENSE FUND

Across the country, proposed federal changes to the National Historic Preservation Act threaten safeguards that have been in place since the 1960s for historic buildings all across the country. And unilateral efforts to demolish the East Wing of the White House, threaten the Kennedy Center, and disrupt the historic connection between Arlington National Cemetery and the Lincoln Memorial.

To safeguard this country’s historic sites, the National Trust for Historic Preservation, a 501c3 organization, has announced a new initiative, the Historic Preservation Defense Fund, to coordinate public advocacy, legal defense, and community action all across the country.

For more information, see https://savingplaces.org/hpdf.