Western New York Heritage Magazine

For several decades in the mid-19th century, a small press in Western New York produced a steady stream of publications; remarkably much of it was in the Seneca language. The Seneca Mission Press produced spelling books, hymnals and biblical translations in Seneca as well as a small journal, The Mental Elevator. This publishing activity occurred from the 1830s through the 1850s, tumultuous times for Senecas living on the Buffalo Creek, Cattaraugus, Allegany, and Tonawanda Reservations.

To read more of Jack T. Ericson's story, see page 34 of the Fall 2005 Heritage Magazine. Subscribe now!

Mandolin Mania

When the Figaro Spanish Students toured North America in 1880 with their bandurrias (a plucked lute), their exotic costumes and thrilling music, the response was immediate, enthusiastic and completely predictable - they were copied. A band of imitators, called the Original Spanish Students, played mandolins instead of bandurrias, sparking a musical enthusiasm in North America perhaps not as wild as the Beatles' "British Invasion," but at least as long-lasting.

The craze captivated hundreds of Buffalonians who decided to join one of the many mandolin, banjo and guitar clubs that formed in the city.

To read the rest of Jean Dickson's story, see page 42 in the Fall 2005 Heritage Magazine. Subscribe now!

The J.N. Adam Hospital, Perrysburg

The White Plague, as the worldwide epidemic of tuberculosis or TB as it was known, held Buffalo in its grip. Young people grew pale and thin and were carried off by fever and bloody coughs. The federal government estimated that for every TB death there were five active cases or a million across the country.
...

On March 28, 1910, the Buffalo Common Council voted into law:

An act authorizing the City of Buffalo to construct, equip and maintain a Municipal Hospital or Hospitals, either within or outside the limits of said city, for the exclusive care and treatment of persons affected with incipient Tuberculosis, and authorizing said city to acquire lands for such purpose and to borrow money therefor by the issue of bonds, accepted by the city.

To read more of Larry Beahan's story, see page 54 of the Fall 2005 Heritage Magazine. Subscribe now!

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