Uncrowned Community Builders

Maya Angelou, Harriet Tubman, Booker T. Washington, Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr., Rosa Parks - all are famous African Americans whose names we recognize. But how many Western New Yorkers have heard of: Raymond Jackson, a founding memeber of the Colored Musician's Club; Clara Payne,the first black county social worker who welcomed African American visitors to the Pan-American Exposition; John Brent, the black architect who designed Buffalo's YMCA for African Americans, the second one of its kind in the nation; or Amelia Anderson, the first black to graduate with a Ph.D.from Syracuse University and first woman to head the NAACP's Buffalo Branch?

To read the rest of this story by Barbara A. Seals Nevergold, Ph.D and Peggy Brooks-Bertram, Cr. P.H., Ph.D., see page 46 of the Summer 2008 Heritage Magazine.

 

Cradle Beach Camp: A Western New York Legacy

Since 1888, the laughter of thousands of underprivileged and disabled children of Wesern New York has resounded across the woods, playing fields and Lake Erie's shores at Cradle Beach Camp.

The Fresh Air Mission was founded 110 years ago in 1888 by the Universalist Church and governed by a nondenominational board of wealthy Buffalo citizens. Infant mortality rates were high due to typhoid, diptheria and cholera. The Mission rented a building in Athol Springs (later the site of Foits Restaurant) as a place to house sick babies, but that lasted for only a few years.

To view the rest of this story by Laura Cunningham Wright, see page 56 in the Summer 2008 Heritage Magazine. Subscribe now!

Historian's Notebook: Tommy Jemmy


Buffalo-born artist William John Wilgus (1819-1853) painted several portraits of Western New York Indians. Unfortunately most of the works were lost in a fire that destroyed the house of a collector in Lyons, NY. The best portrait of all, that of Tommy Jemmy, was not in the fire. That 1849 portrait was considered an epitome of its genre, but in 2005 its whereabouts were unknown. According to the late Chase Viele's notes, it had been last on public view during the 1940s a the Albright Art Gallery; but the Albright-Knox had no record of such an exhibit. Chase thought the work was owned by Dartmouth University but their curator was completely unaware of the painting. Thus, it was with some excitement that I discovered the painting had survived in excellent condition as the treasure of a private collector. The owner has generously agreed to share the image with our audience.

To read the rest of John H. Conlin's Historian's Notebook, see page 28 of the Summer 2008 Heritage Magazine.

 

Back to the Summer 2008 Heritage Magazine Contents

Back to WNY Heritage Press home