The riot occurred in the context of a rapidly-growing African American population in Rochester which had experienced discrimination in employment, housing, and policing in the preceding years.
In the aftermath of the riot, downtown Rochester received the attention of several new urban renewal and public housing projects, and local activists organized campaigns to change hiring practices in the city.
[1] On July 25 six black organizers, including three clergy members, brought Mayor Lamb a list of demands which, if met, would bring an end to the violence.
These included a mayoral committee consisting of members of the black community to oversee the police department, the deputization of "responsible area residents" and more resources allocated to black-owned businesses and workers.
One man was killed when he arrived on scene wearing a helmet, stood in the street and was subsequently hit and dragged 100 feet by a passing car.
[6] The last day of the ordeal was July 26, when a helicopter used to survey the violence flew too close to a house on Clarissa Street, clipping the roof.
[1] Later that same day, violence erupted in Rochester's Upper Falls neighborhood when demonstrators threw Molotov cocktails at police, who responded with gunfire.
[2] A police officer, Dominick D'Angelo, suffered a cut under his eye, but was able to remain on duty,[10] and ABC News reporter Dick Baumbach was shot in the face, but it only grazed his facial structure.
[14] Social service agencies, including Action for a Better Community and the Urban League of Rochester, were established as a result of the riot.
The organization was led by Franklin Florence and reached an agreement with Eastman Kodak to hire more African American employees in 1967.