Lillian Fisher - Historic Valentown Museum

HISTORIC VALENTOWN MUSEUM / VICTOR HISTORICAL SOCIETY

Lillian Lewis Fisher

Born in 1912, Lillian grew up in Kansas, the elder daughter of a Virginia-born father who worked as district manager for Southwestern Bell Telephone Co., and a mother whose father was a noted professor at the University of Rochester.

She graduated from the University of Nebraska in 1933 with a degree in business and spent some time as a Depression-era social worker.

In 1937 she moved to Rochester to be closer to relatives and worked as an executive secretary at Eastman Kodak.

In 1938, Lillian attended a Rochester Historical Society program where she met J. Sheldon Fisher, a fellow history enthusiast. Their shared interests led to marriage in 1939, and notably, they spent their honeymoon exploring New England graveyards and researching family records.

In 1940, the Fishers purchased Valentown Hall, and in 1946 they converted the former upstairs school rooms into a five-room apartment and moved in with their two young children in time for the arrival of a third; the fourth was born in 1951. They intended to stay a few years until the restaurant on the first floor succeeded, but it did not, and they ended up living there for nineteen years.

With new plumbing and propane gas available, Lillian turned a onetime classroom into a functional kitchen. Gas heaters were considered a fire hazard, so the apartment was heated with vintage coal stoves. She carried laundry downstairs and around to hang on clothes lines in the narrow backyard in warmer weather, and in the winter hung it on folding racks that became playhouses for the children. The ballroom upstairs was a spacious play area, complete with basketball net and roller skates.

In 1965 the family purchased the former Valentine home across the road following the death of its owner.

The Fishers played a pivotal role in preserving the Seneca village site on Boughton Hill in Victor. Their advocacy led to its designation as a National Historic Landmark in 1964 and the eventual establishment of the Ganondagan State Historic Site, honoring Native American heritage. They were also instrumental in founding the Victor Historical Society and the Perinton Historical Society.

In 1982, the town of Victor recognized their contributions by naming them Outstanding Citizens of the Year.

After her husband died in 2002 she lived in the home nearly until her death six years later at the age of 96. Her legacy endures through the institutions she helped establish and the countless individuals inspired by her dedication to preserving history.