The Buffalo History Museum is preparing to roll out its new Wednesday Happy Hour History this fall, starting on September 7 with “The Day He Was Shot: The Last Pictures of McKinley” with Taylor Bagwell. Each of lecture and event will feature local and regional historians, documentary screenings, and the Museum’s first Buffalo trivia night.
The Happy Hour History series will include a happy hour vibe, as beer and wine will be available for purchase. This is a fun opportunity to learn about some of Buffalo’s most intriguing historical accounts, from technological breakthroughs to sports miracles.
Not only are the topics designed to be of special interest, the setting of the Museum is dynamite. Recently, significant investments have been made, which have brought the facility up to speed – from new seating to a dramatic restoration of the Museum’s lower level, including the new Portico Gallery. There’s never been a better time to participate in functions at the facility.
Admission for the program series is $5 per event, and free for members.
On Wednesdays, each program starts at 6 p.m. and the Museum will remain open until 8 p.m.
The series schedule is as follows (please note, there is no program on September 14, because the American Association for State and Local History will hold an event at the Museum that night as part of its conference).
9/7/22: “The Day He Was Shot: The Last Pictures of McKinley” with Taylor Bagwell
After anarchist Leon Czolgosz fatally shot President William McKinley at the 1901 Pan-American Exposition, numerous camera operators claimed authorship of the final photo on the day he was shot. Writer, musician, and historian Tyler Bagwell shares these photographers’ stories and places their work in the greater context of photographic history.
9/21/22: “Louise Blanchard Bethune, FAIA: Architect and Feminist” with Kelly Hayes McAlonie
Buffalo architect Louise Blanchard Bethune, FAIA, was the first professional woman architect in the United States and a leading feminist in the region. Join Bethune biographer Kelly Hayes McAlonie, architect and Director of Campus Planning at UB, as she brings this trailblazing woman’s story to life.
9/28/22: “The Fan Connection” screening (in-person and virtual options)
The Fan Connection documentary is a deeply personal, fly-on-the-wall look at the lives of die-hard fans over the course of a Buffalo Sabres season. Created by filmmaker Mary Wall, the film is a heart-warming story of what it means to be a fan and the power of ordinary citizens to affect change. Join us at our screening of The Fan Connection as the Sabres’ new season gets underway.
10/5/22: “The Mighty Steam Locomotive: An Illustrated Technological History” with Walter Simpson
Many historians credit the steam locomotive and the railroads with building America in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Author Walter Simpson’s presentation uses images from his latest railroad book, “The Steam Locomotive Energy Story,” to consider steam locomotive evolution and explain how these spectacular machines worked. This program is free, generously underwritten by the presenter, Mr. Simpson.
10/12/22: “December 1813: The Burning of Buffalo” with Dr. Rich Barbuto
The burning of Buffalo by British soldiers in December of 1813 left the small village completely devastated. Join Dr. Rich Barbuto, Emeritus Professor of History at the US Army and General Staff College, for this presentation about the British assault on the Niagara Frontier, the capture of Fort Niagara, the destruction of the village of Buffalo, and the depopulation of the region.
10/19/22: Buffalo History Trivia Night at Community Beer Works
Test your Buffalo knowledge at our first Buffalo History Trivia Night at Community Beer Works (520 7th St.). Bring your competitive spirit and learn a fun fact or two you never knew before about Buffalo’s rich history.
10/26/22: WNED Documentary Screening
For years, WNED and PBS have produced some of the most compelling documentaries ever created about our city, region, and country. Join us this fall as we host special screenings of these documentaries that share our collective story and enrich our understanding of the past.
11/2/22: “100 Years of Broadcasting in Buffalo” with Steve Cichon
Join author Steve Cichon, an expert in Buffalo’s media history, as he looks back into Buffalo’s storied radio and television past. Steve Cichon has spent three decades in Buffalo media, starting as an intern at WBEN. The program will focus on his book, 100 Years of Buffalo Broadcasting Vol. 1: 1920 to 1970.
11/9/22: WNED Documentary Screening
For years, WNED and PBS have produced some of the most compelling documentaries ever created about our city, region and country. Join us this fall as we host special screenings of these documentaries that share our collective story and enrich our understanding of the past.
11/16/22: “Historic & Influential People from Buffalo & WNY – the Early 1900s” with Rick Falkowski
Discover the stories of Buffalo’s most influential leaders at the turn of the 20th century, when the city was the eighth largest in the country. This special 90-minute presentation by Rick Falkowski, author and founder of the Buffalo Music Hall of Fame, highlights individuals involved in education, politics, entertainment, sports, religion, social welfare, and white-collar businesses of Buffalo, along with the industrialists in the steel, automotive, airplane and other factories that shaped the blue-collar backbone of WNY during the early 20th Century.
11/23/22: WNED Documentary Screening
For years, WNED and PBS have produced some of the most compelling documentaries ever created about our city, region, and country. Join us this fall as we host special screenings of these documentaries that share our collective story and enrich our understanding of the past.
11/30/22: “Buffalo, Home of the Braves” with Tim Wendel
With Bob McAdoo, Ernie DiGregorio, Randy Smith and so many others, the Buffalo Braves were known for their up-tempo style of play, three NBA rookies of the year, and a bizarre exit from Western New York. With vintage photographs from this era in Buffalo sports, Tim Wendel will discuss this epic, star-crossed team for the ages. Wendel is the award-winning author of 15 books, including several with a Western New York connection (‘Cancer Crossings’ and ‘Buffalo, Home of the Braves.’) A writer-in-residence at Johns Hopkins University, his stories and columns have appeared in the New York Times, Washington Post, National Geographic, Psychology Today, GQ, and Esquire.
12/7/22: “Distinctly American: Secessionism & The Road to the Civil War” with Patrick F. Ryan
Join The Buffalo History Museum’s Programs and Education Coordinator, Patrick F. Ryan, for a retrospective study of the role that secessionism played throughout American history, beginning in the late 18th century. See how John C. Calhoun’s (and other Southerners’) ideas and rhetoric were not novel. This presentation investigates the early whispers of nullification and secessionism in the United States, namely, the Virginia and Kentucky Resolutions, Essex Junto, the Hartford Convention, indecision by the founders, and how this indecision shaped later American politicians in the mid-19th century.
12/14/22: “Buffalo is A-Wheel: Parades, Runs, and the Buffalo Bicycling Century Ride of 1888” with Dr. Claire Schen
Writing about Buffalo, journalist and suffragist Ada Kendall proclaimed the “City is A-wheel.” Indeed, late 19th-century Buffalo was a hub of bicycle manufacturing and riding. Efforts to map routes, plan bicycle parades and events, and undertake adventurous “runs,” like the Buffalo Bicycling Club’s first Century Ride of 1888, demonstrated the fervor for cycling around 1890. Join us for this presentation on Buffalo’s cycling history by Dr. Claire Schen, a University at Buffalo professor who specializes in European and Atlantic World history.
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