Black Experience

[00:15.20] Forty years before the Erie Canal was completed, Buffalo was still a wilderness. [00:20.08] The first two settlers who were not Indigenous came to the region sometime between the late 1780s and early 1790s. [00:28.40] One of those two settlers was a Black man. [00:30.63] His name was Joseph Hodge, and he was a freedom seeker who established a trading post on Little Buffalo Creek near the site of the future canal. [00:40.61] He lived with the Senecas, spoke the language, and acted as an interpreter. [00:47.15] There is anecdotal evidence that the canal played a significant role as a part of the Underground Railroad. [00:54.03] The canal formed one of the waterway routes [00:57.00] followed by freedom seekers from Philadelphia or New York City, [01:00.00] westward to cities like Albany, Syracuse, Rochester, and Buffalo, for example, [01:05.00] which had border access to Canada, safe houses and conductors, vigilance committees that aided freedom seekers with shelter, food, money, and guidance, [01:16.08] and individuals such as Stephen Miller of Albany and Reverend Logan in Syracuse, [01:21.00] Frederick Douglass in Rochester, operated safe houses. [01:26.26] There were the unbelievable escapes, such as the person who mailed themselves free, and those who did impersonations of white folks. [01:36.04] In Buffalo, Peyton Harris and Doug's Dive were sources of aid for freedom seekers once they got to Buffalo. [01:44.88] Researchers have much more work to do to understand the connection between the canal and the Underground Railroad. [02:06.18] Early in the development of the community, the church was the foundation, but the community also worked to form institutions that encouraged empowerment through education, social uplift, and social justice. [02:20.95] The Michigan Street Baptist Church, built in 1845, was a known safe house for freedom seekers. [02:28.79] The church still stands today, and until a decade ago, was used as a house of worship, as well as a museum commemorating its activity as a safe house. [02:41.06] Buffalo's African Americans built a community based on collaboration and mutual support. [02:48.50] From the beginning, they exercised agency. [02:51.94] When they felt they were being discriminated against, they published an article in the newspaper called “An Appeal to the Citizens of Buffalo” that was signed by 47 leaders of the community. [03:05.27] They were entrepreneurial. [03:07.11] They purchased land, even their graves, early on. [03:12.21] The legacy of Buffalo's African American community is built on instructive and inspirational history. [03:20.53] African Americans have historically been empowered and advanced their communities through self-help movements that incorporated advocacy strategies focused on programs for the less fortunate; enfranchisement; economic, political, and social equality; educational access, and other rights denied to the race. [03:46.12] A principal component of these movements is the communal nature of collective effort, working together on common goals, nurturing and supporting one another, mentoring younger members, and maintaining the tradition of passing the lessons down from generation to generation.