Library: Archives & Special Collections: Political Papers, Politics & Government

Collection Subject: Political Papers, Politics & Government

Acker, Daniel Daniel Acker was president of the Buffalo, New York branch of the NAACP from 1972 until his death in 1997. Dan was active in many of the Buffalo organizations that fought for civil rights in the 1960s - the 1990s. He was a co-founder of Housing Opportunities Made Equal (H.O.M.E.) in the 1960s to work for equal access to descent housing for all Americans. He was a major player in the federal lawsuit that led to the Court ordered desegregation of the Buffalo Public Schools. Mr. Acker was also an appointed member of numerous state and local governmental oversight boards.
Arthur O. Eve Collection
Collins, David David Collins was elected to the position of Masten District Buffalo Common Council in 1977 and served for 18 years until 1995 when he was replaced by Byron Brown. The papers in this collection were organized and placed in categories and folders by David A. Collins and his staff. They were indexed and prepared for microfilming by Monroe and Freddie Mae. Fordham. The microfilming was done by James Prokos, a student at Buffalo State College. A collection of photo images from David A. Collin’s photo albums were preserved on a CD-R entitled, “Collins, (David A.) Photo Albums”. Both projects were carried out under the supervision of Buffalo State College’s Monroe Fordham Center for Regional History.
Collins, Dr. Catherine Regent Catherine Fisher Collins’ educational background includes undergraduate degrees from Trocaire College in nursing and a Bachelor of Science Degree from State University College in Vocational Technical Education. She also has an earned doctoral degree from the State University of New York at Buffalo in Education Administration. From the same institution she also received her Master’s Degree in Allied Health Education and Curriculum Development, graduated from the School of Nursing in the Nurse Practitioner’s Program. Regent Collins’ holds certifications in Health Occupations and Jr. College Teaching.
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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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Erie County Charter Revision Commission: Dr. E.O. Smith, Jr. Files The Erie County Charter had not been reviewed since its adoption in 1959. The Charter Revision Commission was established in 1973 in order to review the Charter and recommend improvements and revisions to the Erie County Legislature. The Commission was to keep in mind the purposes of the Charter which include the accomplishing of greater efficiency, economy, and responsibility in County government, the securing of all possible County home rule, and the separation of the legislative and executive functions.
George Borrelli Political Newspaper Clippings and Material [1962-2003] Mr. George Borrelli worked extensively within the Buffalo-area media world, writing for local newspapers including the Buffalo Courier-Express as well as the Buffalo News, among other print and media and journalistic outlets.
George K. Arthur Political Papers [1961-1910] Buffalo native George K. Arthur has been active on the local political scene for nearly half a century. Notably, he served on the Erie County Board of Supervisors from 1964-1967, as Ellicott District Councilman from 1970-1978, and then as Councilman-at-Large in 1978, eventually serving as Common Council President from 1984 until his retirement in 1996. Along the way, he ran for mayor in 1985 as the unendorsed Democratic candidate, narrowly losing to incumbent Jimmy Griffin. In 2010, he served as Secretary of the Buffalo Fiscal Stability Authority. –Art Voice 04/22/2010
Great Lakes United Environmental and Ecological Issues Collection [1984-2004] Great Lakes United “organizational members were brought together by the awareness that the world’s largest fresh water ecosystem was under very serious threat. These concerns attracted the attention of individual members who recognized the need for an integrated approach to recovery. The Basin contains twenty per cent of the world’s available surface water and is home to a broad variety of natural habitats. GLU members saw, on the one hand, a basin with abundant water resources and aquatic habitats, with biologically rich coastal waters, blue ribbon trout streams, and sparkling inland lakes. On the other hand, members were keenly aware that over two-thirds of the Basin’s original wetlands had been lost, thousands of miles of rivers had been impaired, and miles of shoreline had been degraded.” Great Lakes United works to preserve and protect the Great Lakes, the St. Lawrence Seaway and their surrounding ecosystems. Their research material focuses on the eight U.S. Great Lakes states as well as the Canadian provinces of Ontario and Quebec, and underscores the organization’s work in collecting relevant resources and petitioning the ruling bodies of the Canada, the United States, and First Nations.
Institute for People Enterprises [1978-1983] The Institute for People Enterprises was founded in 1978 by William Gaiter and became a registered non-profit in 1979. William Gaiter served as the president of the institute, as well as being affiliated with the Buffalo Affirmative Action Program (BAAP), organizing and chairing the Western New York Council for African Relations, and the president of B.U.I.L.D. The Institute for People Enterprises helped to connect workers to more than 120 service groups around the country and provided consulting, training, and operations assistance to various community, business, and political groups.
Joseph Haeffner - WBEN and WBEN-TV Records and Papers [1920s-1980s]
Lance Zavitz Radio Show Transcripts Collection [1935-1940] Lance Zavitz was a reporter, editor, church editor, columnist and self-described “commentator” at The Buffalo Evening News newspaper from 1933 to at least 1960. He wrote columns, editorials and book reviews. He also worked on the newspaper’s “church page,” and gave speeches/talks to community groups. Zavitz was born on March 28, 1899, and died Feb. 27, 1987 in Gerry, NY. He was a naturalized U.S. citizen who was born in Canada; at that time, he lived on Fishery Road in Cold Spring, Cattaraugus, N.Y., with his wife and four children. The U.S. City Directories 1821-1989 shows his profession in 1941 as a “rewriteman” for the Buffalo News who lived on LaFayette Avenue; in 1956, the directories show him as still working for the newspaper but now living on Leroy Avenue. Several records show he became a lay pastor and later minister of the Ellington Congregational Church in Ellington, N.Y., where he presided over funeral services. Town of Ellington, N.Y., sesquicentennial (1824-1974) records refer to him as having served as “pastor for 15 years” in 1959, when he “decided to become a part of the Billy Graham evangelist team.” Other references to Zavitz cite him as “Graham's news bureau chief” (a 1964 article in Harvard’s Crimson newspaper) and press agent (1965 article in the Lima, Ohio, News). Zavitz also is listed as a contributor to Christianity Today (June 24, 1966, Volume 10, Number 19).
Nash, Rev. Dr. J. Edward Rev. Nash was involved in the efforts to bring branches of the Urban League and the NAACP to Buffalo. He was a long-time leader and treasurer of the Western New York Baptist Association. For 32 years he was secretary of the Ministers Alliance of Buffalo. That inter-racial body was one of the most influential religious groups in Buffalo.
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New York African-American Institute, Founding Committee Papers The New York African American Institute was initiated under SUNY Chancellor Clifton R. Wharton, Jr. The Chancellor appointed a planning committee made up of Drs. Monroe Fordham (Chair), Ena Farley, Ralph Watkins, Ken Hall, and Mr. Rudy Johnson to design and write a rational for the Institute to be presented to the New York State Legislature for funding. The committee worked during the first four months of 1986, meeting in Albany for two days each week to prepare their recommendations. The papers in this collection are the records of that planning committee.
Richard B. Morris Historical Papers [c. 1976]
United Citizens Organization Papers [1976-1996] Materials were organized and preserved by Rev. Eugene Radon. They were indexed and microfilmed by Joanne Cofield, Daneen Kee, and Nichole Outhouse. The microfilming project was supervised by Monroe Fordham, Professor of History, Buffalo State College.

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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