Library: Archives & Special Collections: Polonia

Collection Subject: Polonia

Courier-Express Newspaper Collections [1926-1982] The Courier-Express newspaper was born in 1926, with the merger of the Buffalo Courier and the Buffalo Express to form the Buffalo Courier-Express. William J. Conners, owner of the Buffalo Courier, was the person instrumental in bringing the two papers together. During the 19th century numerous newspapers existed. The Buffalo Courier-Express merger can trace its roots back to 1828. From 1828 to 1926, twelve separate newspapers merged during those years, ending with the formation of the Buffalo Courier-Express; quite a chronology for the history of this newspaper. The Courier and then the Courier-Express took a liberal position on all issues. In the late 1970s, the Courier-Express was sold to Cowles-Media, an out of state publisher. Cowles Media decided to close the paper in 1982. The September 19, 1982 issue was the last one for this very popular Buffalo newspaper. Cowles Media donated the library to the Buffalo and Erie County Historical Society and Buffalo State College.
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Dr. Francis E. Fronczak Collection Dr. Francis E. Fronczak was born in Buffalo, New York, on September 20, 1874, the son of Polish immigrants. He studied at Canisius College and the University of Buffalo, receiving his M.D. degree in 1897, the first Polish-American to do so. He maintained a private practice in Buffalo but also was known for his local charity work including at the local Polish Orphan Asylum. He went on to become Commissioner of Public Health for the City of Buffalo.
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Dr. Walter M. Drzewieniecki Collection Dr. Walter (Wlodzimierz) Marian Drzewieniecki was born in Piotrkow Trybunalski, Poland, on December 14, 1914. He graduated from a Polish military school and received his commission as an officer in 1937. He participated in the defense of Poland in September 1939 and was decorated several times for bravery with the order of Virtuti Militari and the Polish Military Cross (with two bars). After the Polish defeat, Drzewieniecki joined the Polish underground. At the end of 1940, he escaped occupied Poland to the Middle East, where a large Polish army was gathering.
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Zofia Drzewieniecki (Zofia Wisniewska, Zofia Krzyzanowka) Collection Zofia Wisniewska was born in Warsaw, Poland, on March 1, 1910. She received a Master’s in Law from the University of Warsaw in 1934. Due to her father’s early death in 1930, she completed her studies while working at the Polish Consulate in Berlin (1931-1936). When WWII broke out, she was working in the Polish consulate in Bratislava, Slovakia, with her first husband, Wojciech Krzyzanowski. The German Military Administration allowed the consulate staff to move onto Romania, where many Polish war refugees congregated briefly. Krzyżanowski worked at the Polish Embassy while Zofia helped organize aid for the refugees. By 1940, she was in Lebanon working for the Polish Red Cross. In 1942, she became the Director of the Polish YMCA attached to the Polish Army in Palestine and Egypt. The organization served both soldiers and children and youth who had reached the Middle East from the Soviet Union when that country joined the allies. After the invasion of Italy, she became Deputy Director of the Polish YMCA attached to the Polish 2nd Corps in Italy (1944-1946) – by the end of 1945, this organization had a staff of 116. After the war, she briefly work with the Polish YMCA in London. Her first marriage was annulled and she married Walter M. Drzewieniecki in Italy in 1945.
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Contact an Archivist

Daniel DiLandro, MLS, CA
College Archivist & Special Collections Librarian
Email: dilanddm@buffalostate.edu
Phone: 716-878-6308

Hope Dunbar, MLIS, JD
Special Collections Archivist
Email: dunbarhm@buffalostate.edu
Phone: 716-878-4790