A LOOK BACK INTO BUFFALO’S HISTORY

I’m a firm believer in looking into the past to shape one’s future. As a media professional and history buff, and one who holds degrees in both subjects, I’ve always been fascinated with reading history, researching, and documenting it for future generations.

Many years ago, I wrote a research paper on Buffalo’s history, specifically how it failed in urban renewal efforts, and while thinking of this month’s column, I thought it would be a great opportunity to look back and share my writing over the next few months. With that said, here is the first part:

Failures in Urban Renewal: 

Buffalo Politics 1900 to 1989

 Over the years, throughout America’s Rust Belt region, where steel factories once stood and American industry strived, urban decay and poverty have seen a rise. In cities such as Detroit, Flint, Gary, Indiana, Pittsburgh, and Cleveland, there has recently been a steady decline in population and jobs. Buffalo, New York is one such city, and the presence of urban decay and the remnants of abandonment are visible if one were to take a tour throughout much of the city’s East Side.

Throughout its history, Buffalo New York has been known by many names that gave a great representation of what the city had to offer. Whether it was the City of Lights, the City of Good Neighbors, or the Queen City, Buffalo has always prided itself in identifying the positive aspects of its rich and vast history.

Buffalo, New York is a city rich in history and influence, not only in the prosperity of the State of New York but also in its importance to the American landscape, given its location on the Great Lakes. During the early part of the 1900s, Buffalo was a growing city with a bright future, however by the 1950s, the city reached its plateau, and the loss of industry and population would follow over the next fifty years.

 Over the last century, starting in the early 1900s, Buffalo’s neighborhoods have seen several changes and renewal projects which haven’t always positively shaped the city. Political, racial, and social discrimination and bias have played many roles in the shaping of Buffalo throughout the twentieth century, and these influences have forever shaped the city’s identity, especially if one looked at the way Buffalo’s African American community was created and treated throughout the last century.

From the early years of the Pan-American Exposition, the American Negro exhibits displayed black men and women living in shacks and villages as a representation of the AfricaAmericansan, to the creation of urban public housing and the riots which shocked the city in 1967, the African American community in Buffalo has a rich and sad history tied to many failures connected to city planning and political influence… — to be continued in next month’s issue.