Even with the continued rise in features about Rochester and its many contributions to the local, national and international, it can still feel like there’s only two notable Rochesterians — or three, if you think a little more on it. It cannot be overstated how impactful the contributions of Fr ederick Douglass, Susan B. Anthony and George Eastman were; that said, they’re not the only people who lived and left their mark here.  Continuing the series started in last year’s August issue, here are 10 (more) historical Rochesterians who don’t always get the recognition they deserve. Leo Lyons (1892-1976) Born in Fairport, Lyons was an avid athlete who played semi-pro football for one of the many city teams in his teens. He was a player/manager by his early 20s, and at his most involved, he served as manager, owner, photographer, doctor, counselor, financier, game booker, agent, scout and groundskeeper. By 1920, he traveled to Canton, Ohio to represent Rochester in talks to form a professional league for football teams. His team was the Rochester Jeffersons, and they became charter members of the National Football League (active 1920-1925). When the team folded, Lyons served as honorary historian for the league until his death in 1976. Roy Van Graflan, born Roy Rudolph Van Graafeiland (1894-1953) During the immortal game three of the 1932 World Series, when Yankees legend Babe Ruth allegedly pointed towards the center field bleachers of Wrigley Field calling his intention to hit a home run, a Rochesterian was crouched behind him serving as home plate umpire. Roy Van Graflan worked for the American League 1927-1933. He then retired to his hometown and served as head coach of the most successful professional sports team in New York history, let alone the nation: the Rochester Filarets, a professional independent women’s basketball team. Active from the 1930s to the 1950s, they achieved a staggering 211 consecutive winning streak between 1940-1944, with 523 wins and 12 losses over 11 years. Nellie McElroy (1874-1937) A devoutly religious woman, Nellie McElroy served as a missionary for the Monroe County Christian Endeavor for most of her life — until she switched careers. On September 23, 1913, McElroy became the first female police officer in New York State history, serving with the Rochester Police Department for 23 years. As a police matron, she was part beat officer, part social worker and mentored many at-risk women and parolees with patience and understanding, strongly believing in rehabilitation over punishment. She found work and resources for men and women struggling to survive, and was lauded for her focus on keeping families together and women out of the wrong side of the courtroom. Caroline Perkins (1835-1919) Born into wealth, Perkins was the daughter of wool magnate Aaron Erickson. With her husband, Gilman Hill Perkins, she founded the Rochester School for the Deaf on February 3, 1876. The school served as a new resource for children affected by hearing loss, motivated by the couple’s early challenges of finding tutors and education for their young daughter Carolyn, whom they discovered was deaf at the age of 2. Ms. Perkins would also go on to re-found the Rochester Historical Society in 1888, which had been previously suspended during the Civil War. Anne Keefe (1925-2015) University of Rochester graduate Anne Keefe started her trailblazing broadcast career in 1946 for WHAM radio, moving to broadcast news with WROC in 1957. She was praised for her interview style and equal approach to men and women, maintaining a long career in news and media for over 50 years. She moved to St. Louis in 1976 and served as the first female interviewer for KMOX, then fully retired in 1998 and spent the rest of her life back in Rochester. Bobby Johnson (1929-2022) A lifelong resident of the Third Ward (Corn Hill), Bobby Johnson worked in factories, post offices, counseling and teaching positions. These humble trajectories cloaked a prolific writing and performance career that spanned the majority of his life, coining him as the “Bard Of Clarissa Street” as Johnson published five books and gave performances across New York State. His prose continues to be preserved in local organizations like Clarissa Uprooted, Writers Books and the Memorial Art Gallery. Bill Klem, born William Klimm (1874-1951) Born in the Dutchtown neighborhood to German parents, Bill originally pursued a professional baseball career before an arm injury ended that dream. He bounced around the northeast working various jobs until reading an article about baseball umpiring brought him back into America’s Pastime. Klem joined the National League as umpire in 1905, and worked for 37 seasons. He still holds the records for umpiring 18 World Series games and ejecting 279 players throughout his career. He was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1953, one of the first two umpires inducted. Charles Roscoe “Ross” Barnes (1850-1915) Born in nearby Mount Morris, Barnes moved to Rockford, Illinois to begin a dominating career in the fledgling game of base ball (then spelled with a space). On May 2, 1876, playing shortstop for the Chicago White-Stockings, Barnes made history as the first player to hit a true home run (known then as a clean home run) in the National League. He is the only player in major league history to have a batting average of at least .400 in four seasons, and is one of only four players (along with Babe Ruth, Rickey Henderson and Aaron Judge) to lead his league in runs, with at least 30 more runs more than the next closest player of that league. John Rochester Thomas (1848-1901) Thomas was enrolled in the Rochester public school district until 1862, when his father’s business failed and he entered the workforce to help support his family. He began an apprenticeship under local architect Merwin Austin, studied at the University of Rochester and entered into business for himself in 1868. One of Thomas’ best-known local buildings was Sibley Hall at UR, which is credited as the first fire-proof building in Rochester. But as it was not credited as wrecking ball-proof, it was demolished in 1968. Thomas was appointed New York State architect under then-governer John Alden Dix in 1874, and became the most prolific architect of public and semi-public buildings in American history at the time, designing hundreds of churches, dozens of state prisons and municipal buildings across the state and American east coast. Marcia Joan Brown (1918-2015) Brown was born in Rochester, yet lived in multiple towns around New York State as her minister father moved from one congregation to another. She showed artistic interest and talent at an early age, and was supported by her family in that endeavor. Brown wrote and illustrated her first children’s book in 1946 while working as a librarian for the New York Public Library, and went on to write and illustrate over 30 more children’s books. During the course of her illustrious career, she won three Caldecott Medals as writer, six Caldecott Medals as an illustrator and numerous other awards for her writing style, character design and creative illustrations. She is one of only two authors to win three Caldecott Medals. Matt Rogers is a Rochester-based artist and storyteller who works to celebrate urban history, culture and pride in as many ways as possible. Follow him @thelostborough. 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