Program

National Votes for Women Trail

Subject

People

Location

546 Clarissa St, Rochester, NY 14608, USA

Lat/Long

43.14535, -77.61826

Grant Recipient

National Collaborative for Women's History Sites

Hester C. Jeffrey was a leading African American political and community rights activist, reformer, speaker and suffragist. During her time in Rochester, New York she was also a member of the Memorial AME Zion Church.

Born in Norfolk Virginia in 1842, much of Jeffery’s early life was spent in Boston, Massachusetts before settling in Rochester in 1891.

It was here in Rochester where Jeffrey would found, join and lead several organizations aimed at supporting both equal suffrage and the growing African American community within the city. Throughout her time in Rochester she was a leader of the Susan B. Anthony Club for Colored Woman, the President of the State Federation of Colored Woman Clubs, a member of the Political Equality club and the Women’s Christian Temperance Union, along with a number of other civically engaged organizations. She also formed the Hester C. Jeffrey Club, which was aimed at improving the lives of young women within the city by providing financial support to them to pursue further education.

Following her death, an obituary was published in the Rochester based, Democrat and Chronicle on January 10^th, 1934. Titled “Former Suffragist of Rochester Dies” it read:

Mrs. Hester C. Jeffrey, former Rochesterian who was active as a suffrage worker and in charitable organizations and women’s clubs, died in Boston on Jan. 2, according to word received here yesterday. An associate of Susan B. Anthony in the fight for women’s rights, Mrs. Jeffrey spoke at the funeral of the suffrage leader… Mrs. Jeffrey is remembered for notable effort in war work, and as a member of the YWCA she furnished a room for the organization.

Though she was both raised in and spent the last years of her life living in Boston, as noted in her obituary, Jeffrey’s impact on the Rochester community was immense. From her leadership in the equal suffrage movement, her support to the burgeoning African American community in Rochester, to the financial backing she provided local charitable organizations and those in need, Hester Jeffrey helped shape and transform the Rochester community throughout her time there.