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The Rochester Athenaeum (1829-1885)

In 1927, the alleged murder of William Morgan by the Freemasons divided the fledging community of Rochester. The Franklin Institute, a literary society in Rochester at that time, was as divided as the rest of the community. Some in the Franklin Institute developed the view that the division was not beneficial. Under the leadership of Nathaniel Rochester, one of the town's founders, they separated from the Franklin Institute and formed a new society, the Rochester Athenaeum.

The Athenaeum held its first meeting on 12 June, 1829 in the Reynolds Arcade, a shopping arcade built by Abelard Reynolds, Rochester's first postmaster. Though other organizations appeared to compete with the Athenaeum, such as the Young Men's Society in 1833 and Mechanics Literary Association in 1836, the Athenaeum survived its early years by consistently merging with the other literary societies in the area while cultivating its reputation as a high-prestige organization.

By 1845, the Athenaeum, though prestigious and a generally successful literary association, was beginning to lose public support. The public was losing interest in the organization and there was no particular reason why the organization should continue, or be remembered, aside from its relationship with Nathaniel Rochester. Furthermore, the organization was financially troubled and always just a few steps away from collapse.

In 1847, William Reynolds, the son of Abelard Reynolds and the founder of another literary organization, sought to merge his organization with the Athenaeum and construct a new building that would house both. The Athenaeum's board agreed, and so it merged with the Mechanics Literary Association to become the Rochester Athenaeum and Mechanics Association. A large new and ultimately successful building, Corinthian Hall, was constructed to house the new organization.

Many scientific and cultural lectures were organized in Corinthian Hall by the Athenaeum, including lectures by Ralph Waldo Emerson, Horace Greely and Mark Hopkins. However, in 1856 it became apparent that the lectures were no longer able to financially sustain the organization, with lecturers becoming more expensive than the revenues from admittance. The Athenaeum's continued financial problems drove the board to request help from the city government, requests that were often not possible to fill.

The continued financial troubles ultimately led to the sale of Corinthian Hall in 1865 and the subsequent eviction of the Athenaeum from it when its lease expired in 1871. Reynolds by this point was the president of the Rochester Savings Bank, and allowed the Athenaeum to use the upstairs room of the bank after its lease to Corinthian Hall expired. At the time, the move was believed to be beneficial, as the rent, light and steam heat system were all free. However, the Athenaeum continued to decline; while the organization was prestigious, its insistence on "serious" literature such as Charles Dickens failed to attract younger readers whose preferences were changing. Furthermore, those who were even willing to pay to use its library would not due so because the collection was out of date.

The move proved to be a serious mistake in 1876 when the death of William Reynolds led to the eviction of the Athenaeum from the Bank's upstairs room. The dire financial status of the Athenaeum combined with the recession of 1877 forced the board to sell its library. The Athenaeum would remain chartered by the State of New York, but otherwise would see no significant activity until its merger with the Mechanics Institute in 1891.

The Mechanics Institute (1885-1891)

In 1885, Henry Lomb, Max Lowenthal, Frank Ritter and other Rochester business leaders sought to establish an evening school to teach drawing and other fields which they believed would improve the quality of their workforces. A public meeting was held on October 1, 1885 to form the board of an evening school in the pursuit of this goal: the Mechanics Institute.

The board's first meeting on October 21 of the same year saw the election of Lomb to be the first chairman of the executive committee, which would later be called the board of trustees. On November 9, the Institute made its first expression of desire to educate women, resolving to be "recommended to offer opportunities for the instruction of women in the drawing classes, at such times as they may find expedient." That same meeting saw the hiring of Eugene Colby as the Institute's first instructor. The Institute began its first class on November 25 with 400 students enrolled, divided into two sections, in the Gymnasium Hall of the city's high school.

Over the course of the first year, more and more classes were added to the Institute as demand for its services increased. Classes in math, philosophy, chemistry, physics, architecture and industrial design were established during that year. Over the first year, the Institute provided services to a total of 1,065 different students.

The second year saw increased demand for the Institute's classes and the need for a new location, as the constant set-up and break-down of tables and chairs was overly laborious. Furthermore, the classes were expanding rapidly and were now too large for the organization to sustain itself operating in the city's high school on the third floor. The Institute relocated to the Smith and Perkins building on Exchange Street in order to address this problem. Also, while the Institute lasted its first year offering classes for free, the financial status of the Institute was dire. A tuition of $8 for drawing and $12 for painting and modeling was imposed at the beginning of its second year for students taking classes during the day. Evening classes were to remain free.