Campus History

(Photograph: University Libraries/Department of Rare Books, Special Collections, and Perseveration)

Todd Union, a Georgian Revival building that has been a key part of student life on the River Campus for nearly a century, has been recommended for historical recognition at state and national levels.

New York Governor Kathy Hochul this spring announced that the state’s Board for Historic Preservation has approved Todd as a site to be added to the State and National Registers of Historic Places.

In making the recommendation, Hochul noted that Todd was a “key site associated with Rochester’s LGBTQ+ history.” In the 1970s, Todd was home to an office of the University’s Gay Liberation Front, an organization that advanced the gay liberation movement on campus and in the city of Rochester and paved the way for numerous Rochester-based LGBTQ+ organizations that continue their work and advocacy.

Opened in 1930, the building was originally designed as a campus activity hub and included dining, social, shopping, barber, game, and club facilities for students, which was men-only until 1955.

In a twist of Rochester history, the state board also recommended that Oak Hill Country Club in the Rochester suburb of Pittsford be added to the state and national registers.

Originally located at the site of the River Campus, the Oak Hill golf course relocated to Pittsford as part of a land exchange that allowed the University to move the College for Men from Prince Street to the site of the former course.

The first tee of the former Oak Hill course was roughly where Todd Union stands today.