The Buffalo History Museum Podcast

The Buffalo History Museum
  • 4.9 (146)
  • History
  • Updated Monthly

The Buffalo History Museum Podcast is the premier source for Western New York history. Each episode, we tell a story of the people and events that have shaped our region. Help us grow by subscribing, rating, and reviewing us.

  1. Mar 27

    The Buffalo Six: Jailed for Suffrage

    In 1917, six women's suffragists from Buffalo were arrested and sent to Virginia's Occoquan Workhouse for picketing in front of the White House. This is the story of the Buffalo Six.

    31 min

  2. Feb 3

    Highmark Stadium: One Final Goodbye

    For over a half-century, Highmark Stadium has been the backdrop to many of our best (and worst) memories. Today we share a history of the beloved gathering place and discuss what's it's meant to Western New York.

    25 min

  3. 12/30/2025

    When Buffalo Burned

    In this episode, we revisit late December 1813, when British forces crossed the Niagara River and set the village of Buffalo ablaze. Through the eyes of frontier doctor and militia leader Cyrenius Chapin, terrified families fleeing into the snow, and survivors like Margaret St. John, we explore the chaos, courage, and cruelty of one of the most defining moments in the city’s history.

    22 min

  4. 12/08/2025

    12/08/80 (In the Name of Love)

    On December 8, 1980, as U2 played to a sparse crowd outside Buffalo, the world was upended by the murder of John Lennon, transforming an ordinary night into a defining moment in music and cultural history. Thank you to Jeff Miers, WKBW, Willie Nile, and Billy Sheehan for providing audio and other assistance on this very special episode. The audio of Bruce Moser is taken from an interview done by WKBW in 2017. Sadly, Moser passed away in 2020.

    20 min

  5. 11/28/2025

    Ely S. Parker and the Impact of the Erie Canal

    Ely S. Parker was a Tonawanda Seneca leader, engineer, Civil War officer, and later U.S. Commissioner of Indian Affairs—and his story begins in the shadow of the Erie Canal. While the canal is often celebrated as a triumph of American innovation, we explore its deeper impact as a force of dispossession that carved through Haudenosaunee homelands and helped shape Parker’s lifelong fight for Indigenous land, rights, and sovereignty. We conclude in the present day, with Parker’s posthumous admission to the New York State Bar in 2025, a historic act of recognition 176 years after he was first denied that right.

    22 min

  6. 11/07/2025

    The Dead Have Never Died

    Edward Caleb Randall was a highly-respected lawyer from Buffalo. In 1892, his life would change forever. That's when he met Mrs. Emily S. French, a psychic medium from nearby Rochester, New York.

    17 min

  7. 10/31/2025

    The Toughest Miles: Irish Laborers and the Erie Canal

    The Erie Canal was an engineering marvel that shaped our city, state, and nation. Digging the man-made waterway not only required innovation, but also the efforts of thousands of laborers, man of them Irish immigrants. This is a story of the excavation of the canal's most challenging sections and how the Irish played a vital role.

    15 min

  8. 07/11/2025

    (EXPLICIT LANGUAGE) The Tulsa Riot and Massacre, a Poem by Andrew J. Smitherman

    After fleeing from Tulsa in 1921, Andrew Smitherman made his way to Boston before later settling in Buffalo. While in Boston, he penned a poem describing his experiences during the Tulsa Race Massacre. Reading the poem is Jillian Hanesworth, Buffalo's Poet Laureate Emeritus. This episode is being published in conjunction with the previous episode titled, And a Shot Rang Out: Andrew Smitherman and the Buffalo Star.

    6 min
See All (53)

4.9
out of 5
146 Ratings

About

The Buffalo History Museum Podcast is the premier source for Western New York history. Each episode, we tell a story of the people and events that have shaped our region. Help us grow by subscribing, rating, and reviewing us.

Information

  • Creator
    The Buffalo History Museum
  • Years Active
    2020 - 2026
  • Episodes
    53
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © Copyright 2020 All rights reserved.
  • Show Website
    The Buffalo History Museum Podcast

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