The 26th annual Clarissa Street Reunion on Saturday included live music, food and a lot of conversation about what had been a thriving, culturally diverse neighborhood in the southwest part of the city.
Organizers of the event, the Clarissa Street Legacy Committee, also announced the release of their first comic book, designed to help young people connect with the history that neighborhood.
Developed in partnership with RIT and Cooley Comics, the comic book also serves as a visual aid for the committee's walking tour.
Antonio Martin, a digital artist at Cooley Comics, hopes this comic book will inspire younger people to learn more about the Clarissa Street legacy.
“I hope that they take away from the history of Clarissa Street as a whole, and get to learn more about it for those who didn't already know,” said Martin, “and after they read this comic book, they start talking to more of the elders and really dig deep into how this comic book has grown the knowledge of the younger people and also inspired the older generation.”
George Fontenette, one of the organizers of Saturday's event, said that his family had once owned several businesses in the area, including a tavern, barbershop, restaurant, and dry cleaners.
“Clarissa Street meant a whole lot to me and my family, when urban renewal came through and uprooted us, so our family was scattered,” said Fontenette. “Some moved back to Louisiana, some moved down further on in the city, but there was nothing like Clarissa Street, because we had everything here.”
Clarissa Street, like a number of neighborhoods in Rochester and other cities, was hit by the negative effects of urban renewal in the last half of the 20th century. Organizers of the annual festival are trying to help local residents reconnect with the history and culture that were part of that neighborhood for so many years.
