“How it all began”
The origin of LINKAGES
by Richard S. Fitts

In early 2003 we are in a time of heightened international tensions similar to those almost twenty years ago when Linkages was conceived and founded. Let us go back to see “How it all began”.

In the early 1980’s many Americans had genuine concern that an all-out nuclear war could erupt between the US and the then Soviet Union. Endless discussions of nuclear disarmament always led to the question “Yes, but what about the Russians?” There was little opportunity to educate ourselves about the other nation’s perspective. There was no way for ordinary Americans and Russians to get to know one another.

In Rochester, Nancy Eckerson Fitts saw an article in the magazine “Nuclear Times” in which the author offered to “pair” American cities with then Soviets cities. Feeling that this could be a way to start communications on a people-to-people level, she asked for the name of a city to be “paired” with Rochester, New York. She was sent the name “Novgorod”.

The assignment of city names did not involve any unit of government, US or Soviet. It was simply the work of one man, Prof. Earl Molander at Portland State University in Portland Oregon. Later we learned how he chose the Soviet city names to assign when people requested one. He looked at the geographical distribution of the population of the Soviet Union, concentrated along their western border, as a “mirror image” to the population of the United States, concentrated along the Atlantic seaboard. He selected cities comparable in size and general geographical location. Archangel was assigned to Portland Maine, Kalinin (Tver) was assigned to Buffalo, Borovichi to Binghamton etc.

Whether by chance or by choice, the match of Rochester and Novgorod has proved to be excellent.

Mark Hare, then a journalist with City Newspaper, offered to help gather a “Community Portrait” of material describing our city and send it to Novgorod. Joan Hensler, then a Rochester City Council member, invited other council members to each write a letter of greeting to their counterparts on the Novgorod City Council. Mark gathered the letters from City Council, descriptive material from the Chamber of Commerce, letters from ordinary citizens, children’s art work, packaged it (several pounds in weight) and in December 1983, mailed it to “The Mayor of Novgorod” No more address information was known. And the waiting began.

Because of the tension between our two nations, and the lack of any real encouragement by either government for such overtures, it is not surprising that no response occurred for over one year.

Not easily discouraged, a Rochester couple, David and Miriam Thomas, decided to organize a trip to the then Soviet Union, hoping to be able to visit Novgorod. Twenty-eight signed up for the trip in August 1984. It wasn’t easy getting Soviet permission to visit Novgorod, but with the Thomas's persistence, when they reached Leningrad, the group was granted a stay of a day and a half in Novgorod. Members of Novgorod’s Interclub “Mir”, led by Andrei Kolodin, were made available to meet with the Americans. There were no meetings in homes.

In December 1984, a year following the mailing of the “Community Portrait”, the first response from Novgorod was received. Rochester City Council member Anthony Sciolino (now a Family Court judge) received a letter, in response to his, from an English language translator in Novgorod, Valery Zelenin. From this start, the number of pairs of pen pals who have been in contact is in the hundreds.

Encouraged that people-to-people connections could be made, the organization “LINKAGES” was formed in April 1985. Educational meetings have been provided and a Newsletter has been published continuously ever since.

The first LINKAGES sponsored tour to Novgorod was made by twenty-three Rochesterians in July 1987. The next year, 16 members of Pittsford Sutherland High School visited Novgorod. Each year since, students from both cities, individually and in groups, have visited and studied in each other’s cities.

The first Novgorodian to visit Rochester was Alexander Kochevnik, a photojournalist who came in February 1988. A photo exhibit prepared by him was widely displayed in Rochester, giving increased visibility to our “paired” city. Shortly afterwards, Mayor Thomas Ryan welcomed Mayor Alexander Buzin of Novgorod for the first official visit.

In March 1989 a branch of the USSR-USA Society was formed in Novgorod with Nikolai Voronkov as its first President. With this organization, comparable to LINKAGES, it was now possible to maintain people-to-people connections on an organized ongoing basis.

In December 1989 Rochester City Council passed a resolution “authorizing and directing the Mayor” to establish a Sister City relationship with Novgorod. Planning then started for an official delegation from Rochester to go to Novgorod to sign an Agreement on cooperation.

In July 1990, thirty-two Rochesterians, including City Council members Lois Geiss and Tim Mains, visited Novgorod where representatives of both governments signed the official accord.

A full listing of the various exchanges with the professions represented, the educational and cultural events, the humanitarian aid shipments and business connections that have followed, would fill a book. Suffice it to say, the objective of establishing people-to-people connections has been achieved. New faces, new leadership and new programs have followed. A solid “bridge” has been built between our two communities, enabling people with varying interests in each city to make contact with their counterparts.

Keep tuned in to www.linkagesrochester.org for the continuation of the history of Linkages “Sister Cities - Rochester and Novgorod”