Last updated: August 1, 2023
Place
Todd Union
Photograph by Landmark Society of Western New York, courtesy NY SHPO
Quick Facts
Location:
415 Alumni Road, Rochester, New York
Significance:
Social History (LGBTQ)
Designation:
Listed in the National Register – Reference number 100008906
OPEN TO PUBLIC:
No
MANAGED BY:
Todd Union on the University of Rochester campus in Rochester, New York, was listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 2023. Todd Union is significant as the site of origin of the University of Rochester's chapter of the Gay Liberation Front (GLF), which was founded in 1970. The creation and activities of the GLF established a sense of community amongst Rochester's LGBTQ residents, and advanced the community's fight for civil rights and gay liberation throughout the 1970s.
The Todd Union was built in 1932 to serve as a student union for the University of Rochester. Aiming to create a balance between academic life and extracurricular activites for students, the building featured dining, shopping, barber, game, and club facilities. Students would gather at the Union for dances, speakers, club meetings, and discussions. In 1970, two students inspired by the creation of the Gay Liberation Front in the aftermath of the Stonewall riots and uprising, decided to form a chapter at the university.The chapter's first meeting in Todd Union had around 100 people in attendance, and the group quickly secured university recognition, funding, and office space on the second floor of Todd Union.
Once the chapter was established, the group focused on building community and social ties on campus and in Rochester. Alongside the Women's Liberation Group at the university, the group hosted "Liberation Dances," which created a welcoming social space for students of all sexualities, genders, and races. Additionally, the GLF published their newspaper, The Empty Closet, in Todd Union, alerting members to national and local news, incidents of discrimination and entrapment, and promoting the group's meetings and events.
Fitting with their political mission, members also worked to advocate for and educate about their cause. In order to educate themselves and others about gay liberation, club members created a speaker's bureau, where students volunteered to give presentations at University of Rochester classes or at classes of other local colleges, and even at nearby high schools. While the gay liberation movement in New York was initially focused on LGBTQ people living in New York City, the group helped represent and advocate for the perspectives of LGBTQ people in suburban and rural areas, sending members to the New York State Assembly, marches, and other demonstrations across the state.
While the group was dissolved by the 1980s, Todd Union represents a point of origin for the group that inspired the creation of many of Rochester's LGBTQ institutions, which continue on today.
The Todd Union was built in 1932 to serve as a student union for the University of Rochester. Aiming to create a balance between academic life and extracurricular activites for students, the building featured dining, shopping, barber, game, and club facilities. Students would gather at the Union for dances, speakers, club meetings, and discussions. In 1970, two students inspired by the creation of the Gay Liberation Front in the aftermath of the Stonewall riots and uprising, decided to form a chapter at the university.The chapter's first meeting in Todd Union had around 100 people in attendance, and the group quickly secured university recognition, funding, and office space on the second floor of Todd Union.
Once the chapter was established, the group focused on building community and social ties on campus and in Rochester. Alongside the Women's Liberation Group at the university, the group hosted "Liberation Dances," which created a welcoming social space for students of all sexualities, genders, and races. Additionally, the GLF published their newspaper, The Empty Closet, in Todd Union, alerting members to national and local news, incidents of discrimination and entrapment, and promoting the group's meetings and events.
Fitting with their political mission, members also worked to advocate for and educate about their cause. In order to educate themselves and others about gay liberation, club members created a speaker's bureau, where students volunteered to give presentations at University of Rochester classes or at classes of other local colleges, and even at nearby high schools. While the gay liberation movement in New York was initially focused on LGBTQ people living in New York City, the group helped represent and advocate for the perspectives of LGBTQ people in suburban and rural areas, sending members to the New York State Assembly, marches, and other demonstrations across the state.
While the group was dissolved by the 1980s, Todd Union represents a point of origin for the group that inspired the creation of many of Rochester's LGBTQ institutions, which continue on today.