Shoemakers Hall

Category: Meeting Site

At this site, in the center of the shoe manufacturing district known as the "leather swamp," stood Shoemakers Hall. The Central Trades and Labor Council met here in 1904-05, as did Machinists Local 93. In February 1901, Samuel Gompers, President of the American Federation of Labor, spoke to a mass meeting at the hall under the auspices of the Council and the machinists. Not only did he press for the eight-hour day for Rochester's clothing and shoe workers, but he urged the organizing of workers in the Eastman and Brownell Kodak factories.