Ethnic Heritage Museum brings Graham-Ginestra House back into public view

By Lynne Conner for Chronicle Media

A true gem of Rockford’s southwest side and a testament to the city’s business and architectural history has re-opened to the public.

The Ethnic Heritage Museum Board hosted a grand re-opening of the Graham-Ginestra House earlier this month as board members, local dignitaries and descendants of the Ginestra family were all on hand for the celebration.

The Graham-Ginestra House was built in 1857 by businessman Freeman Graham. Constructed of Galena dolomite limestone, the home was modeled after the Greek Revival, Italianate architectural style and features hand-painted ceilings, inlaid wood floors and a grand curved staircase flanked by a majestic stained glass window.

The home was owned by the Graham family until the late 1920s when it was purchased by Sicilian immigrant and southwest Rockford businessman Leo Ginestra and his wife Mary.

The home was bequeathed to the Ginestra’s daughter Therese and her husband Don. And it was through the efforts of Therese Ginestra Schmeltzer that the Graham-Ginestra House was named to the National Register of Historical Places in 1979.

For the next several years, the Graham-Ginestra House was opened to the public for special events, teas and Christmas celebrations. With Therese’s death in 2004, the home was sold to a private investor and with no public access.

In late 2016, the Ethnic Heritage Museum purchased the property and has been working to restore the home and reclaim some of its original furnishings before opening it to the public.

A July 7 re-opening served as a culmination of these efforts.

Ethnic Heritage Museum Board president, Sue Lewandowski said that the museum’s purchase of the Graham-Ginestra House is a win-win for the home and the city.

“We had an opportunity about 12 years ago to bid on the home, but it just wasn’t a good fit for us at that time,” she said. “We love the fact that the Ethnic Heritage Museum is adjacent to the Graham-Ginestra House. Now, both facilities are part of what we are calling the Ethnic Heritage Museum Park.”

She pointed out that the Ethnic Heritage Museum Board was responsible for supplying the manpower necessary to get the Graham-Ginestra House ready for the re-opening.

“Many of the home’s furnishings and artifacts are still here which is wonderful and we’ve done research as to where to place pieces within the home,” Lewandowski said. “So, the home is looking great and we are excited to offer tours and have the Graham-Ginestra home open to the public.”

Mike Schmeltzer, the youngest son of Don and Therese Ginestra Schmeltzler and a grandson of Leo and Mary Ginestra shared his memories at the celebration.

“What I remember most about this house is every Sunday, after Mass, Mom and Dad would take all six of us kids down to this house to have brunch with our grandparents. This was our tradition for the first 16 years of my life,” he said.

“When my parents assumed ownership of the Graham-Ginestra Home, they realized that some of the other homes in the area were declining and being torn down,” he said. “My parents didn’t want this house, a “jewel in the rough” as my Mom called it, to suffer the same fate as other homes in southwest Rockford. They realized that the Graham-Ginestra House had architectural and historic significance and they wanted to preserve it for the city of Rockford.

“The re-opening of the Graham-Ginestra House is an incredible event for our family…the opportunity to improve southwest Rockford is something that my grandparents and my mother would all be very proud of,” Schmeltzer added. “The fact that the Ethnic Heritage Museum was able to buy the Graham-Ginestra House and turn it into a museum campus dedicated to the different ethnicities of Rockford is a win-win for the community as a whole.”

Schmeltzer is happy to see the vision of his mother Therese live on and grow in the Ethnic Heritage Museum Park.

“I see the re-opening of the Graham-Ginestra House as another step in what my mother was trying to accomplish: the revitalization of southwest Rockford. With the road way improvements on South Main Street and now this incredible venue of the museum park, we are definitely providing the community with a positive step into the future while honoring the roots of our past,” he said.

–Ethnic Heritage Museum brings Graham-Ginestra House back into public view–