About Us

Background

The Rochester School for the Deaf Archive Center had its beginnings in the late 1950s. Pat Zwick (wife of teacher and later superintendent, Leonard G. Zwick) began collecting daily papers, calendars, and other items to get acquainted with her husband's new job. By the 1970s, Pat had accumulated so much information that Superintendent Zwick designated a room in Perkins Hall as the "history room" and the materials were moved there.

In 1997, Mary Mowl (Archives Chair), Pat Zwick, Peter Simpkins, and Allis D’Amanda began organizing the materials info a formal archive center. Their work resulted in the establishment of the Carolyn White Siegfried and DeFois Hathaway Siegfried Archive Center at RSD in 2001.

In 2006, Marilyn Fedele, Pat DeCaro, and Fred Koch joined the archive center team. In the fall of 2006, Nancy McCrave was hired part-time to help organize and catalog the collection and to create a website for the archive center.

On January 30, 2006, the RSD Board of Directors, recognizing the importance of preserving the history of the school and its role in the education of children who are deaf and hard of hearing, voted to approve the mission statement and officially establish the Carolyn White Siegfried and DeFois Hathaway Siegfried Archive Center at RSD.