ROCHESTER, N.Y. (WROC) — You could say Hilda Buckley went out to Mount Hope Cemetery last week to beat the crowds.
Her destination was the same place more than 10,000 people are expected to visit on Election Day: the gravesite of Susan B. Anthony, a Rochester, N.Y., icon and leader in the suffragist movement.
“I wanted to get out and see Susan B. Anthony — her grave, you know — get out and take a picture, send it to my son in England,” Buckley said.
It will be a different picture on Tuesday and might look something like it did on Election Day 2016 when there was another female candidate running for president.
Just like on that day, the cemetery staff will make sure everyone gets in line, and just like on that day, visitors can leave their “I Voted” sticker to honor Anthony and her sister Mary.
Cemetery Manager Jarod Terrell wants people to know about one change from eight years ago, though.
“We put plastic covering over each one of the headstones so they won’t get damaged from I Voted stickers. Everything else we just make sure everyone is safe and secure as people are visiting the gravesite,” Terrell said.
The cemetery will open at 8 a.m. on Election Day. Terrell says there will be security and police on hand and folks can park by the fountain until 4 p.m.
After that, you should park on Robinson Drive and walk over.
If you’re in line before 5 p.m., you can stay to see the gravesite, but no one can enter the cemetery after 5 p.m.
If you miss out, there’s always Wednesday.
“Always visit the cemetery. It’s a beautiful place, the leaves, it’s beautiful right now. That’s all I can say right now. It’s exciting, it’s exciting,” Terrell said.
The same goes for the chance to walk a path paved by others.
“She was the beginning of the women’s rights. I think it’s great,” Buckley said.
