Pictures of Rochester and Monroe County, NY

Austin Steward Bust

Bust of Austin Steward
Created in Jan. 1986
Located: On Second Floor, Rundel Memorial Building, Rochester Public Library
Photo by: Dick Halsey
Photo dated: Oct. 23, 2023

Text on plaque:
AUSTIN STEWARD
1793 - 1869
Austin Steward was an early Rochester pioneer who successfully combined business and community service. He settled in Rochester in 1817 and by 1830 had become a successful businessman in the grocery and dry goods business. He was Rochester's earliest known black businessman, property owner and contributor to economic growth. Austin Steward was also a human rights advocate who worked to abolish slaver and its aftermath of sociel, political and economic inequality in the United Sates and Canada. In addition, he worked for equal voting rights and temperance, and wrote his autobiography in 1856 entitled "Twenty-Two Years A Slave and Forty Years A Freeman". He died at the age of 76, leaving Rochester a legacy og human freedom, dignity and progress.
Dedicated in Rochester, New York, January 1986