Following in Their Footsteps: Exploring Where Black History Happened in Buffalo, NY

If anyone knows where to experience Western New York’s extraordinary Black history, it’s Dr. Eva M. Doyle. Doyle, a retired Buffalo Public school teacher, is the author of 11 books and has written the Buffalo Criterion’s “Eye on History” column for 45 years, uncovering previously unknown stories of Black trailblazers, activists and freedom seekers for her readers.

Discover Dr. Doyle’s recommendations for the best places to go to follow in the footsteps of the history makers who have shaped our region.

Arrival of Black Pioneer Joseph “Black Joe” Hodge

1790s

Start your journey along Buffalo’s waterfront, where pioneering settler Joseph Hodge, believed to be one of the first, if not the first, non-native settler in the Buffalo area, once lived some 230 years ago. Near where Interstate 190 passes the Explore and More Children’s Museum, imagine instead a sparsely settled area and the cabin of “Black Joe,” one of the first non-native settlers who operated a trading post and what may have been Buffalo’s first bar.

Buffalo Niagara Region Becomes Final Stop on the Underground Railroad

Mid-1800s

Retrace the journeys of thousands of freedom seekers who crossed through our region on their way to start a new life in Canada at several Underground Railroad heritage sites across the region. See where they hid from bounty hunters and law enforcement at the Michigan Street Baptist Church, then relive the harrowing moments when they crossed the Niagara River at Freedom Park at the foot of Ferry Street, which features a small museum, historical signage and a “Freedom Walk” that recalls some of the individuals who crossed there.

Discover more tales of heroism 25 miles downstream at the Niagara Falls Underground Railroad Heritage Center. Through state-of-the-art exhibits, this museum recounts the extraordinary stories of freedom seekers who crossed to Canada just downstream of the falls and the abolitionist employees at the long-closed Cataract Hotel who risked it all to assist them. Then head to the shores of Lewiston to see the Freedom Crossing Monument, a sculpture that depicts a family in a rowboat embarking on the final stretch of a journey from that point to a new life in Canada.

And take the time to uncover the story of William Wells Brown, an escaped slave who lived in Buffalo for nine years and became an abolitionist, a hero of the Underground Railroad, a lecturer, and our country’s first African-American novelist. Discover more about his life and legacy at his portrait on the Freedom Wall, and at a historic marker at the First Shiloh Baptist Church on Pine Street where his home once stood.

Activist Mary Talbert Moves to Buffalo

1891

Explore the life and extraordinary legacy of Mary Burnett Talbert, a prominent civil and human rights advocate, anti-lynching activist, suffragist, preservationist, and educator. You can see a historical marker at the site of Talbert’s former home at 511 Michigan Avenue, view her Spingarn Medal that the NAACP awarded her in 1922 on display at The Buffalo History Museum, and pay your respects at her final resting place inside Buffalo’s Forest Lawn Cemetery.

James Benjamin Parker Attempts to Thwart McKinley’s Assassin

1901

The eyes of the world turned to Buffalo  in 1901 when anarchist Leon Czolgosz fatally shot President William McKinley as he greeted guests at the Pan-American Exposition’s Temple of Music. Standing behind Czolgosz was James Benjamin Parker, an African American who dislodged his weapon and helped authorities apprehend him. Discover where Parker acted valiantly at a commemorative boulder on Fordham Drive, and see the weapon on display at The Buffalo History Museum.

Veterans and Heroes of the World Wars

On the edge of downtown, remember the life and death of a wartime hero at Jesse Clipper Square. The small memorial at Michigan Avenue and William Street honors the life of Private Jesse Clipper, a founding member of Buffalo’s Colored Musicians Club who was fatally injured while fighting in France during World War I. This memorial has since expanded to honor Black soldiers who have served in all wars.

And don’t miss the African American Veterans Monument, which memorializes the contributions of African Americans who served and are currently serving in all six branches of the military, at the Buffalo & Erie County Naval and Military Park.

Frank E. Merriweather Starts Publishing the Criterion

1925

The Frank E. Merriweather Library is a vibrant gathering space in the heart of Buffalo’s East Side. African American architect Robert Traynham Coles, FAIA, modeled its circular rooms after African villages. The library is named after Frank E. Merriweather, the first publisher of the Buffalo Criterion weekly newspaper serving the city’s Black community that began publishing in 1925.