CELEBRATE BUFFALO BLACK HISTORY - A TIMELINE OF AFRICAN AMERICAN HISTORY IN BUFFALO, NY 1790-PRESENT
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CELEBRATE BUFFALO BLACK HISTORY A TIMELINE OF AFRICAN AMERICAN HISTORY IN BUFFALO, NY 1790-PRESENT
S
ince our inception, Buffalo Bike Tours has sought to amplify
Buffalo’s lesser known histories. This February (2021), in light
of Black History Month and our commitment to the Black Lives
Matter movement, we present a series of 4 articles on our city’s black
history of resistance and resilience.
Want to learn more? Buffalo Bike Tours can provide private tours
themed around black history. We are also developing tours for younger
audiences. For school field trips on Buffalo black history by bike, bus,
or foot, see our website or contact us for more information on hosting
your class.
BUFFALO BIKE TOURS
BUFFALOBIKETOURS.COM
MARC@BUFFALOBIKETOURS.COM
(716) 328-8432
2
1790-1900
EARLY HISTORY OF BUFFALO’S BLACK COMMUNITY
P
rior to the war of 1812, Buffalo was a pioneer
town with a population of just under 1,500.
Buffalo’s first black citizens lived alongside
early settlers and largely resided in the Fourth
Ward.
Buffalo’s black population faced many adversities
but experienced more freedom than many other
parts of the country. New York State was one
of the more liberal states and enacted policies,
such as abolishing slavery in 1827. Still, life in
Buffalo was far from perfect for black families in
the 1800s.
Due to its proximity to the Canadian border, Professor Wilbur H. Siebert’s underground railroad of WNY map
Buffalo soon became a key part of the
underground railroad: it was the last stop before
reaching freedom. The city became known to
conductors around the country as a network of
“stations” were established.
3
Underground Railroad sites in Buffalo, NY - interactive Google Map
This became even more critical in 1850, when
President Millard Fillmore (from Buffalo), passed
the Fugitive Slave Act, imposing hefty fines and jail
time on those assisting freedom seekers.
Buffalo’s defiance of the Fugitive Slave Act
reflected currents happening around our region. In
Rochester, Austin Steward was a business owner,
abolitionist author, and underground railroad
conductor. In 1847, Martin R. Delany and Frederick
Douglass also moved to Rochester, where they
published North Star, which became the leading
newspaper of the abolitionist movement.
In 1825, with the opening of the Erie Canal, Buffalo
became a boom town. As European immigrants
from around the world sought opportunity in
Western New York’s industries, the city’s population
ballooned. Buffalo’s black population remained As the 20th Century approached, Buffalo was fast
small however and tightly knit, concentrated along becoming an economic powerhouse, and Buffalo’s
Michigan Street. As the Circle Association writes: black community was finding its voice. These are
a few key moments in the timeline of Buffalo black
In 1855 the seven hundred-odd black people history pioneers, 1790-1900.
living in Buffalo have two churches and a
separate, segregated public school for their
children. And while many black men worked
as common laborers and most black women
as domestics, there is a considerable large
number of skilled workmen in the city’s
East Side black community. Indeed, the job
descriptions of many of them that are noted
in the censuses of the mid-nineteenth
century read like a handbook of trades.
4
”Black Joe” Hodge, thought to be
an escaped slave, lives in Buffalo
with the Seneca Indians. He is the
first non-Native person to live in
1790
WNY and operates a trading post.
JOSEPH HODGE Fluent in both Native and English
languages, he is an interpreter
LIVES IN and is known for serving alcohol
BUFFALO out of his home (making him
Buffalo’s first bartender).
A number of black owned
businesses establish at a 3-story
building known as the Union
Block at Canalside. The area is
1830s
well known as a magnet for vice,
UNION BLOCK with as many as 60% of buildings
ESTABLISHED serving as brothels. One of the
more colorful establishments is
AT CANALSIDE Dug’s Dive, operated by William
Douglas, an escaped slave from
Tennessee. Located below sea
level, the bar is a literal “dive” one
could not stand upright in.
The “Colored Methodist Society”
of Buffalo is founded, otherwise
known as the Vine Street Church.
Its first pastor, Rev. George Weir,
serves for 10 years and remains
1831
BETHEL AME active in improving the economic,
social, and political conditions of
FOUNDED his people for several decades.
While the street and building are
no longer extant, the congregation
is still active.
After escaping slavery and working
on steam ships in Cleveland,
William Wells Brown moves to
WILLIAM Buffalo. He helps more than
1836
70 blacks escape on boats he
WELLS BROWN navigates across the Niagara River
at Black Rock Ferry. He becomes
MOVES TO the first African American
BUFFALO to publish a book, Clotell; or,
The President’s Daughter, and
travels the world speaking on
abolitionism. His homesite is Shilo
Baptist Church today.
5
Elisha Tucker establishes a second
Baptist Church in Buffalo to serve primary
a black congregation. In 1838, several of
the church’s leaders pass a resolution
MICHIGAN ST
1836
opposing slavery and the church
becomes a regular stopping ground
for black thought leaders, including BAPTIST
Frederick Douglass, Booker T Washington,
and W. E. B. Du Bois. In 1842, the church
CHURCH
established its home at 511 Michigan. FOUNDED
The building is rumored to have been an
underground railroad station. It is still in
operation today.
Leader of the Vine Street Church choir,
“Peg Leg” Harrison befriends Edwin “Ned”
Christy. They begin practicing together
as Christy’s Minstrels and revolutionize
theater with their bawdy performances, PEG LEG
1843
including the hit song, “Buffalo Gals,”
about prostitution in Buffalo’s Canal
HARRISON
district. While steeped in racist MEETS NED
stereotypes, minstrel shows allow early
black entertainers an outlet to challenge CHRISTY
perceptions and audiences, and pursue
new careers.
Vine Street AME Church hosts a national
convention with the purpose of
discussing how to end slavery. Speakers
include Samuel H. Davis, George Weir, NATIONAL
1843
Frederick Douglass, and Henry Highland
Garnet. Garnet calls for Southern CONVENTION
slaves to refuse to work and resist their
oppressors by any means necessary. OF COLORED
The gatherings exceed the church’s
capacity and are moved outdoors,
MEN
where 5,000 attend.
Newspapers detail a dramatic, failed
attempt by bounty hunters to arrest
Christopher Webb, a waiter at the
Gothic Hall Saloon. When their warrant
FUGITIVE
1847
is discovered illegitimate, a group of
Buffalonians, including the Deputy
Sheriff, chase the bounty hunters out of SLAVE ACT
town.
RIOT
6
Buffalo hosts a major convention
for a new political party: The Free
Soil Party. It is founded on an
abolitionist platform, summarized
FREE SOIL
1848
by a large banner that reads, “Free
PARTY Soil, Free Speech, Free Labor, Free
Men”. 40,000 attend speeches
FOUNDED IN at Lafayette Square. Poet Walt
Whitman is in attendance.
BUFFALO
During the 1800s, blacks are
regularly employed to break up
union organizing efforts. As a fight
breaks out between laborers and
scabs, a mob coalesces. Hundreds
of Irish dock workers attack
1891
blacks at random. One black is
1891 DOCK shot, at least two are murdered,
WORKER RIOT and dozens are beaten. Rioters
turn their attention to the Union
Block, where a mob surrounds
the building. Police rescue a large
number of black men at Dug’s
Dive, who are taken to jail for their
own protection.
Mary Talbert moves with her
husband William, from Oberlin, OH
to Buffalo. She becomes a leading
voice in the women’s suffrage
and abolitionists movements. She
1891
MARY TALBERT becomes founder of the Niagara
MOVES TO Movement and is instrumental in
anti-lynching legislation. She is
BUFFALO the first black woman to earn a
Ph.D. from University at Buffalo.
After studying at a Virginia
seminary, Rev. Jesse Nash moves
to Buffalo at the age of 24 to be
pastor of the Michigan Street
Baptist Church. Nash co-founds
the Buffalo Urban League and
REV. JESSE
1892
Colored YMCA in Buffalo and
serves his congregation for 61
NASH MOVES years. His house is a museum and
TO BUFFALO education center today.
7
1900-1950
BUFFALO BLACK HISTORY IN THE 1900S
A
t the turn of the Century, Buffalo’s black
population was sparse and intermixed. But
as the 1900s progressed, a more highly
concentrated neighborhood emerged with
black owned businesses, including nightclubs,
drug stores, restaurants, and churches along
Michigan Street.
Buffalo’s black population expanded with the
onset of World War I. Many Southern blacks
moved to Buffalo to pursue better paying jobs in
our wartime industries, such as Bell Aircraft and
Bethlehem Steel. This became known as the first
wave of the Great Migration. The Great Migration saw a large increase in Buffalo’s black population
Buffalo was an appealing destination. The city
was the second busiest rail hub, second only to
Chicago. The interconnectivity between rail and
waterways provided new opportunity for black
families.
8
The waitresses at Dan Montgomery’s (2008)
Map of Buffalo’s Fouth Ward, G. M. Hopkins & Co., 1872
Racism was pervasive. Beginning in the 1930s,
banks employed racist housing practices,
including redlining. This meant blacks had
difficulty obtaining loans for housing outside of
a small area.
Redlining created in a highly segregated city,
one in which race tensions sometimes flared.
It also created a cycle of poverty, with black
families struggling to make ends meet.
Still, Buffalo’s black community persevered and
organized. Building on its activist past, Buffalo
became a central part for the formation of the
modern civil rights movement, including the
foundation of the Niagara Movement.
The arts flourished in an entertainment district
known as the “jazz triangle”, consisting of Map showing redlined areas of Buffalo that discriminated against black
Club Moonglo, Vendome, and Colored Musicians families seeking loans.
Club. The city became a regular stop for
traveling musicians, with a growing number
of venues including the McAvoy Theater, Little
Harlem, Zanzibar, and Dan Montgomery’s.
By the end of World War II, Buffalo’s black
community was making strides towards upward
mobility. These are a few key moments in the
timeline of Buffalo black history, 1900-1950.
9
The World’s Fair becomes a
critical moment in the history
of civil rights, thanks to Mary
Talbert, who organizes protests
1901
PAN AMERICAN over offensive displays featuring
racist depictions. Talbert, James
EXPOSITION Ross, and W. E. B. Du Bois work to
present the Negro Exhibition, the
PROTESTS first time an exhibition of African
American literary and photo works
is assembled.
Du Bois and Talbert organize a
conference on the state of the
black movement. Activists from
around the country gather in
NIAGARA
1905
Buffalo and Fort Erie to create a
manifesto demanding their basic
MOVEMENT human rights. A few years later, in
1909, many present at the Niagara
FOUNDED Movement convention found a
new organization founded on their
principles: the NAACP.
Ann Montgomery starts an ice
cream parlor on Michigan Street,
expands with a billiard hall, and
finally opens the Little Harlem
LITTLE Hotel. The hotel’s music club
1910
hosts legendary jazz musicians
HARLEM including Cab Calloway and Ella
Fitzgerald. The club becomes one
OPENS of the first places lesbians and
gays could go, and it hosts the
city’s first drag shows.
Buffalo’s armory is converted
into the city’s first sports and
entertainment complex. The
venue hosts boxing tournaments,
BROADWAY lacrosse matches, 6-day bike
1910
races, hockey, and political rallies.
AUDITORIUM It is an anchor in the Michigan
Street neighborhood and attracts
OPENS diverse audiences from around
the city. The building currently
houses the city’s snow plows.Racism in the musician’s union and
local hotels gives rise to Local 533, a
collective voice for black musicians.
They establish a storefront on
Broadway for union meetings, with an COLORED
1918
after hours jazz club on the second
floor. The club remains to this day.
MUSICIANS
The first floor is a museum, while CLUB
the second floor is used for music
lessons and jazz shows. FOUNDED
More than just a club, the Michigan
St YMCA becomes the heart of the
Michigan St community. The building
houses a cafeteria, gymnasium,
swimming pool, barber shop, tailor
COLORED
1926
shop, library; and classrooms, locker
rooms, and dormitory rooms for 70 YMCA
people. It is designed by John Brent,
Buffalo’s first black architect. OPENS
In the early 1920s, the Ku Klux Klan
is active in Buffalo, but conflict
emerges when recently elected Mayor
Francis Schwab promises to repeal
1924
prohibition. Edward Obertean, a police
spy, exposes a list of more than 2,000 KKK
members and backlash ensues. He
is murdered at the hands of national EXPOSED
klan leaders.
With funding from the Works
Progress Administration (WPA), War
Memorial Stadium in built. A new
black business district emerges on
WAR
1937
Jefferson Avenue in the surrounding
blocks. “The Old Rock Pile” becomes MEMORIAL
home to the Buffalo Bills, Buffalo
Bisons, and site of the film, The STADIUM
Natural.
OPENSBuffalo invests in public housing
with another WPA project. Willert
Court, designed by Frederick
C. Backus, is one of the first
1939
public housing programs created
WILLERT specifically for African Americans.
COURT It becomes an important center
for black life in Buffalo, as the
BUILT community extends into the East
Side. The building is currently
abandoned and in danger of
demolition.
Eva Noles is the first African
American woman to become a
registered nurse in Buffalo. She
graduates at the top of her class
1940
and is hired by Roswell Park Cancer
EVA NOLES Research Institute. She founds
Nurses Week, and is heavily
GRADUATES involved in community activism.
Leeland Jones, Jr. becomes the
first African American on the
University of Buffalo football
team. He faces discrimination
LEELAND while travelling, having to stay
1941
at separate hotels from white
JONES players. In 1949, Jones is elected
county supervisor, the first
ATTENDS black to hold political office in
UB Buffalo. He organizes the March
of Mothers, a protest of school
inequality, and enacts policies
supporting the black community.
Reverend C.L. Franklin moves
to Buffalo to serve as pastor of
the Friendship Baptist Church.
His daughter, Aretha, begins her
ARETHA
1944
career singing at the church,
FRANKLIN before moving to Detroit and
becoming an icon in the Civil
MOVES TO Rights movement.
BUFFALO1950-2000
BUFFALO IN THE CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT
T
he second half of the 20th Century
brought dramatic change to Buffalo’s
black community. This was a reflection
of Buffalo’s economic decline and policies
impacting the city during the civil right
movement era.
Buffalo’s industries were amongst the largest
in the United States. The city was the 3rd
largest steel producer, the 2nd largest railroad
center, and the largest in flour milling. Steel
and iron plants employed 30,000 workers
alone.
Buffalo’s black population continued to
expanded significantly during the second
wave of the Great Migration. Many came to
work at Buffalo’s manufacturing factories,
Photographer Milton Rogovin documented the working class
such as Bethlehem Steel, Republic Steel, and at Bethlehem Steel
Ford Motor Company.
13Many individuals and groups furthered
civil rights in Buffalo. Policymakers such
as Arthur Eve and George Arthur fought
for affirmative action, housing, and school
equity initiatives. More radical groups such
as BUILD, SNCC, the Black Panther Party,
Revolutionary Action Movement, and the
National Committee to Combat Fascism
sought revolutionary change.
The arts flourished during the civil rights
era. Venues such as the Apollo Theater,
Buffalo’s black residential areas expanded from Langston Hughes Center, and African
Michigan Street to other neighborhoods of the American Cultural Center became important
East Side. A major black economic corridor cultural spaces. Meanwhile, Buffalo’s artists
emerged on Jefferson Ave, anchored by War of note during this time include Lucile
Memorial Stadium, with beloved institutions such Clifton, Ishmael Reed, Rick James, and
as Scottie’s Steakhouse, Get & Split, Wings N’ Grover Washington.
Things, and Burgerland.
By 2000, Buffalo’s industries would be
Growing racial tension emerged between Polish mostly gone. The impacts would be felt
and German residents and the newly arrived especially hard in Buffalo’s East Side. Still,
African American population. In 1956, a racial Buffalo’s black community continued to fight
incident at Crystal Beach resulted in 9 arrests and for change. These are a few key moments in
6 hospitalizations. It also led to a termination of the timeline of Buffalo black history, 1950-
the amusement park’s boat service. 2000.
This tension and racism, combined with the
construction of highways, led to Buffalo’s
sprawling suburbs. Between 1950 and 1960 over
80,000 white Buffalonians - close to twenty
percent of the population - moved out of the city.
In 1967, during the height of the civil rights
movement, race riots broke out on Jefferson
Avenue. This is examined in Doug Ruffin’s
67:Buffalo Uprising documentary.
14 Doug Ruffin’s 67:Buffalo Uprising documentaryPioneering restauranteur John
Young makes his mark opening
Wings N’ Things, the first chicken
JOHN YOUNG wing shop in Buffalo, NY. Young’s
restaurant is visited by celebrities
1961
SERVES including Cookie Gilchrist, Rick
James, and Joe Tex. Late in life
BUFFALO’S Young noted, “It hurts me so bad
ORIGINAL that other people take the credit”.
WINGS
Mack Luchey meets his wife
Doris Banks at Audrey and Del’s,
the city’s first African-American
record store. They soon start their
DORIS
1962
own store and marry in 1962. Over
the years, Doris Records is visited
RECORDS by traveling stars including Mary
J. Blige, Lil’ Kim, Ice Cube and
OPENS Kool Moe Dee. The shop is still
in operation as the city’s oldest
record shop.
Arthur Hardwick and Shirley
Chisholm, both state legislators,
meet in Albany. Hardwick becomes
the first African American to
HARDWICK represent Western New York in the
1965
State Assembly. Chisholm is the
MEETS first Black woman elected to the
US Congress. In 1972, Chisholm
CHISOLM becomes the first African-
American candidate to run for
President of the United States.
The Buffalo Challenger is founded
by Arthur Eve, Calvin Kimbrough,
and John Moore. In the early days,
it is assembled out of people’s
BUFFALO
1963
homes. In 1979, Al-Nisa Banks
starts as a volunteer, and soon
CHALLENGER moves up to become editor, and
IS FOUNDED eventually owner. The paper
continues its legacy of providing
a platform to address issues
impacting the black community.
15In 1960, Arlester “Dyke” Christian starts
playing bass in a Buffalo band, Carl
LaRue and his Crew. He soon forms Dyke
& The Blazers, playing in local clubs, and
1965
authoring a hit song “Funky Broadway”,
about Broadway Street in Buffalo. DYKE & THE
Some historians have called “Funky
Broadway” the first funk song, a sound BLAZERS FORM
attributed to James Brown. His music
is later sampled by Tupac Shakur and
Stetsasonic.
With little political background, Arthur
Eve is elected to the State Assembly. He
serves 36 years, working for affirmative
action, education, and health care. In
ARTHUR O.
1966
1978, Eve is elected the first African
American to win the Democratic Party
nomination for Mayor of Buffalo. He EVE IS
loses to Jimmy Griffin, who runs on
promoting racial fears.
ELECTED
Riots break out along Niagara Street
and spread to Jefferson Avenue with
protesters demanding civil rights. Most
businesses on Jefferson close, with
RACE RIOTS
1967
exception of Martin Sostre’s Afro Asian
Bookstore. Sostre hosts community
meetings, coming under scrutiny of the & MARTIN
Buffalo police. His shop is raided, and an
all-white jury sentence him to 41 years
SOSTRE
in prison. During Sostre’s time in jail
he becomes a champion for prisoner’s
rights and wins several landmark cases.
With help from Saul Alinsky, BUILD brings
grassroots power to Buffalo’s black
community. The organization gets its
start with the publication of “Black
1967
Paper No. 1”, which concludes more
parental involvement in the schools is BUILD IS
needed for black children to succeed.
In 1969, BUILD establishes a school FOUNDED
teaching a black-centric curriculum. It
is the first public school to run a free
breakfast program and features a high
degree of parental involvement. The
school is still in operation today.
16Clifton authors several collections
of poetry, a memoir, and more
than sixteen books for children,
written expressly for an African-
LUCILLE
1969
American audience. Her honors
CLIFTON include an Emmy Award, a
Lannan Literary Award, and two
PUBLISHES fellowships from the National
Endowment for the Arts. Her work
FIRST BOOK is remembered for addressing
political topics including race,
power, sexuality, pride, and
freedom.
More than 1,200 largely-black
inmates of Attica State Prison
stage a rebellion. 42 staff are
taken hostage and, after 4 days,
Governor Rockefeller sends in
ATTICA STATE
1971
400 state police, resulting in 39
PRISON deaths and numerous injuries. The
trial takes place in Buffalo, with
UPRISING many demonstrations outside the
Courthouse, at Niagara Square.
The uprising becomes one of the
most significant flashpoints of the
Prisoners’ Rights Movement.
Buffalo saxophonist Grover
Washington releases his first
major album “Inner City Blues”. He
wins a Grammy Award for his 1980
GROVER album “Winelight” and another for
1972
WASHINGTON his collaboration with singer Bill
Withers on the song “Just the Two
RELEASES of Us”, in 1981.
ALBUM
Started in 1976 by BUILD,
Juneteenth is founded as a
culturally-relevant alternative
to the country’s Bicentennial
JUNETEENTH
1976
Celebration. The festival
celebrates black culture and
CELEBRATION emancipation from slavery. Today,
Juneteenth Buffalo ranks as the
FOUNDED third largest in the world, and
features hundreds of events,
vendors, and festivities.In the 1970s, community leaders come
together to challenge inequities in
Buffalo schools – among them Arthur
Eve and George Arthur. They bring a
1976
charge against the Buffalo Board of
Education that blacks lacked equal ARTHUR VS.
opportunity.Judge John Curtin, a
Buffalo native and federal judge, is
NYQUIST
called to arbitrate in the case. Curtin DECISION
rules in favor of the activists, leading
to the creation of magnet schools and
mandatory bussing.
The Parade, also known as Humboldt
Park, is renamed in memory of Dr.
Martin Luther King. Jr. The renaming
is delayed by one year due to racism
within the city council. In 1983, an eight
1977
foot bronze bust of Dr. King is placed
in the park. Its sculptor, John Wilson,
MLK PARK IS
intended the work as an interpretation RENAMED
rather than a life-like representation.
Lorna Hill establishes a theater
space with an emphasis on modern
performance. The theater serves
as a vehicle for African American
UJIMA
1978
performers, theater crafts people,
and administrators. Hill is a playwright
and poet who is best known for the
THEATER IS
play Yalla Bitch that was performed as FOUNDED
part of the first International Women
Playwrights Conference. The theater is
still in operation today.
After enlisting in the Navy at the age of
15, James decides it isn’t for him and
goes AWOL, seeking asylum in Canada.
After playing backup in several bands,
James starts his solo career in 1973. RICK JAMES
1981
“Come Get It!” and “Street Songs” go
platinum, but it is “Super Freak” that RECORDS
makes Rick James a household name.
Heavy drug use, legal trouble, and SUPERFREAK
prison time follow him throughout his
life. James leaves an indelible impact
on Buffalo music, and the rap and R&B
world for generations to come.
182000-PRESENT
CONNECTING OUR BLACK HISTORY TO THE PRESENT
B
y the turn of the 20th Century, Buffalo’s
economic decline had taken its toll. Buffalo’s
former industrial economy had largely turned
to low-paying service jobs. Those hardest hit were
people of color.
Buffalo’s white population fled to the suburbs,
leaving vast areas of the East Side with population
loss. The city is currently ranked as one of the
most segregated cities, with 85% of its black
population residing east of Main Street.
Disinvestment is visibly apparent. Neighborhoods
west of Main Street, where the population is
majority white, are affluent. Neighborhoods east
of Main Street have seen continued decline.
As the Partnership For The Public Good points out
in their report, A City Divided: A Brief History of
Segregation in Buffalo, it was not by accident.
Buffalo’s current inequities are the result of
decades of discriminatory policies. 19Despite Buffalo’s revitalization, the city remains
entrenched in its historical mistakes. For those
living in East Buffalo, quality of life is significantly
diminished. Graduation rates and life expectancy
is lower, public transportation more difficult, and
there is less access to health food. Meanwhile,
pollution and law enforcement is higher.
Policies have tried to change these negative
outcomes. Numerous community based
organizations have arisen to help tackle issues
related to systemic racism. Comer v. Cisneros
(1989), resulted in the formation of Housing
Opportunities Made Equal (HOME), a nonprofit
that monitors housing discrimination.
Buffalo stands at a crossroads. Like many
American cities, it is trying to find a way to
A more recent issue has become gentrification,
build a better future for its black population
a word not commonly associated with Buffalo. As
but, for now, the struggle continues. These
city living has seen increased demand, housing
are a few key moments in the timeline of
values in downtown, the waterfront, and the
Buffalo black history, 2000-present.
Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus have risen
sharply.
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HISTORY & BLACK OWNED BUSINESS
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Buffalo? Check out our Google
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businesses.
20Democrat Byron Brown wins a
four-way mayoral race, becoming
the first black man elected as
2005
Mayor of Buffalo. He runs on the
promise of bringing economic
BRYON BROWN change to the city of Buffalo,
ELECTED and he enacts policies promoting
development, including the
MAYOR Seneca Casino and development
of the Buffalo waterfront.
In 1963, Coles opens his own
firm, which he managed until
late in life. His buildings of note
include the JFK Recreation
2006
Center, his award-winning home
MERRIWEATHER at 321 Humboldt Parkway and
the Merriweather Library, which
LIBRARY OPENS marries the circular design of
traditional African villages with
modernism. Coles breaks racial
and design barriers, is a champion
for more minority representation
in the design field, and is actively
involved in advancing civil rights.
Buffalo rapper Westside Gunn
founds the supergroup that put
the city again on the musical
map. The hip hop collective and
2012
independent record label feature
GRISELDA their hometown prominently in
their music and videos. The group
FORMS perfects its street rap sound,
echoing the boom bap of previous
supergroups like Wu Tang. The
group gives back to Buffalo and
many of their songs reflect social
issues.
Lillion Batchelor’s Buffalo
Quarters Historical Society makes
significant changes to Broederick
Park, the former site of Black
BROEDERICK
2016
Rock Ferry. The group puts in $4
million worth of improvements,
PARK including landscape design, a
reflective garden, and historical
RENOVATED signage acknowledging the site’s
significance in the underground
railroad.Activist Alexander Wright establishes
a food co-op to addressing the lack
of access to healthy food options on
Buffalo’s East Side. It soon turns into
AFRICAN
2016
a full fledged operation, sourcing
produce from local farms and making
fresh fruit and veggies available and
HERITAGE
affordable to those who need it. FOOD CO-OP
FOUNDED
Amid growing cries of rising rents,
activists take action in fighting the
forces of gentrification. Led by Open
Buffalo and India Walton, a nurse at
FRUIT BELT
2017
Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus, the
group begins organizing community
residents. They beat developers at LAND TRUST
their own game by buying up the
neighborhood’s vacant lots. The ORGANIZES
intention is not to resell them, but to
hold them in a land trust that leases
them out at rates existing residents
could afford.
A large mural featuring portraits of
28 black activists is commissioned
by the Albright-Knox. When residents
object to the project’s exclusion of
THE
2017
artists from the black community,
three African-American artists, John
Baker, Julia Douglas, and Edreys
FREEDOM WALL
Wajed, are added. The project serves IS PAINTED
as a connection point between the
Bethel AME church to the Michigan
Street Corridor.
Buffalo Common Council passes a law
mandating police officers intercede
when they believe excessive force is
being used. The bill comes as a result
2020
of the determination of Cariol Horne,
who is fired when she intervenes in an CARIOL’S LAW
arrest with one of her fellow officers.
She is terminated just a year short IS PASSED
of serving the necessary 20 years to
qualify for a full police pension.
22BUFFALO BLACK HISTORY TOURS
& FIELD TRIPS
Are you a teacher looking to take a Buffalo field trip your students will
remember? Empower your students to see the city on one of our school
tours, by foot, bike, or bus. Prepare them to see themselves as leaders
for positive change! (Grades: 4-12 + University)
Our field trips are designed to meet NYS Social Studies Common Core
standards and provide students with a deeper understanding of our
history. Give your students relevant experiences and engage them with
critical, meaningful issues.
For more information, visit our field trips page or email us for more
information on hosting your class. Ready to experience the real Buffalo?
Book your tour today!
BUFFALOBIKETOURS.COM
MARC@BUFFALOBIKETOURS.COM
(716) 328-8432
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