C.S. Arnold: A Famous Photographer No One Knew

Charles Dudley Arnold (1844 - 1927) was in a way a Buffalo hometown boy. Although born in Canada, he made his way to Buffalo in 1964 at the age of 20, and until his death, was in essence a Buffalonian. HIs fame still resonates today in museums, historical societies, books and private collections as the official photographer of those famous American World Fairs. His photographic record is as important today - if not more - than it was in the past. His work gives our visually conscious world the best idea of what those World's fairs were all about: a coming of age in America. The are photographic feats that keep his name alive. Arnold is a bit like a long time Hollywood character actor; everyone knows the face, but not the name. Arnold was the reverse; his name was/is famous, but no one knew who he was. That's the story.

To read more of Thomas Yanul's story, see page 38 of the Fall 2007 Heritage Magazine.

A Few Presidential Appearances

From what we can discover, the first American president to visit Niagara Falls and Buffalo was James Monroe. According to the weekly Buffalo Gazette of Tuesday, August 12, 1817, Monroe and Major General Jacob Brown arrived at Fort Niagara from Sackets Harbor on the previous Saturday during a tour of fortifications in the Great Lakes region. When they had finished their inspection of the fort, they proceeded to Niagara Falls where they stayed overnight at the home of Augustus Porter, about a quarter mile above the falls, overlooking the Upper Rapids and Goat Island. There is a marker where the house stood on Buffalo Avenue just east of the bridge at the foot of First Street.

To view the rest of this story by Graham Millar, see page 50 in the Fall 2007 Heritage Magazine. Subscribe now!

 

Historian's Notebook: Thomas Cole in Western New York

The artist Thomas Cole (1801-1848) was a giant figure of American Romanticism.... In his landscapes Cole sought to capture the essence of the American wilderness, in its rugged majesty and sublimity. He visited Western New York several times. The first time was 1829, when in advance of a trip to Europe to study the great works of the past, he visited Niagara Falls to steel his imagination against the attractions of European culture. He wanted to fire his imagination and memory with the power of the great natural wonder. The painting on our cover, Distant View of NIagara Falls, was the result of that visit. It was painted in London in 1830. The painting is a view of a Native American viewing the panorama, experiences the sublime.

To read the rest of John H. Conlin's Historian's Notebook, see page 47 of the Fall 2007 Heritage Magazine.

 

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