Interview, George Anderson

George Anderson (b.1947) was born in Chester, Pennsylvania, and came to Rochester as a young child. After graduating from high school, Anderson attended the Rochester Business Institute (RBI), where he studied business administration and data processing. He left RBI for a position at Graflex and went on to work at Xerox in an entry-level position. Having always enjoyed writing, Anderson quit Xerox to become an editorial assistant at Gannett, working his way up to a position as a full-time reporter. He held a variety of jobs at several Rochester news companies and often produced programs that focused on the problems facing Rochester’s black community, calling upon citizens to solve these problems together.

In this interview, Anderson discusses his experiences with racial discrimination at Xerox, as well as the racism he faced as an African American journalist. He reflects on the urban uprising that took place in Rochester in the summer of 1964, and notes the ongoing social problems facing Rochester’s black community.