The Center for Afro-American History and Research

The Center for Afro-American History and Research is the largest resource center in Western New York for information on African-American history and is located at Frank E. Merriweather Jr. Library. The reference collection includes books, microfilm and pictures with its emphasis on primary source material related to African-American history in Western New York. The "Buffalo Afro-American Collection" is a microfilmed collection, which contains the records of many local organizations as well as the personal papers of community leaders. Records include Urban League, BUILD papers, Bethel A.M.E. Church, First Shiloh, Raphael DuBard's papers and more.

Grosvenor Room (Genealogy, Music, Rare Books)

About the Grosvenor Room (pronounced Gro-ve-ner)

The Special Collections Department of the Central Library opened in 1994, originally comprised of local history, genealogy, and the Rare Book Room. In 2003, the Library's extensive Music Department united with the existing special collections to form the Grosvenor Room.

Materials from most Grosvenor Room collections are for in-library use only and cannot be borrowed. Additional copies, if found elsewhere in the Library, may be available for borrowing.

Please use the following links to help plan your visit to the Grosvenor Room:

Visiting Us Terms of Access Finding Aids Services

To view digital collections of the Buffalo & Erie County Public Library and other WNY Resources, visit http://www.wnylegacy.org/

Are you interested in learning more about the history of the Empire State? Visit http://www.newyorkheritage.org/ for a gateway to hundreds of digital collections about New York State's people, places, and institutions..

Buffalo and Erie County Public Library Welcomes Erie County Historian

The Buffalo and Erie County Public Library would like to welcome newly appointed Erie County Historian, Douglas Kohler. Mr. Kohler, appointed by Erie County Executive, Chris Collins will make his office in the Grosvenor Room of the Central Library. Office hours are Mondays 4:30 - 6:00 pm, 2nd and 4th Saturday's 11:00 am - 2:00 pm and by appointment 858-8368.

The charge of the county historian is to record significant events. In this era of heritage tourism, the county historian will play a significant role in interpreting the county's history and historic sites. In his volunteer position of County Historian, Mr. Kohler, plans to work with historical agencies across Erie County to reach a diverse audience and tell the innumerable stories that our county has to tell. . Doug Kohler is a middle school teacher in the Clarence Public School District. He is the author of four books on the history of each of the four sections of Clarence. In addition, he has published several articles on the Automobile Club of Buffalo and the War of 1812.

Rare Book Collection

The rare book collection in the Grosvenor Room at the Central Library (716-858-8900) consists of significant collections of Americana, early printed books, Bibles, Shaker literature, juvenile titles, anti-slavery literature, local history (including pre-Civil War Buffalo imprints and pre-1852 Buffalo newspapers), Roycroft publication and more than 5,000 literary and historic manuscripts and letter. The room also contains the Milestones of Science, one of the first rare book collections in an American public library. The Milestones contain 196 of Western history's most significant works of science and technology  printed up to the early 20th century.

Rare Book Room Terms of Use

For security reasons, the collections in the Rare Book Room are stored in carefully controlled nonpublic areas of the building and are not available for browsing. Researchers are asked to call for appointments. Photographic reproduction of any Library materials requires Library permission. If you intend to publish, display and/or profit by images of the Library materials you plan to photograph, you must complete the (AUTHORIZATION REQUEST FOR REPRODUCTION/LICENSING OF LIBRARY MATERIALS FOR PUBLICATION (PROFIT OR NOT-FOR-PROFIT) form. Please see the fee schedule for applicable charges.

If you do not intend to publish, display and/or profit by the images but just a photograph of library material for personal use, you need to complete the (AUTHORIZATION REQUEST FOR REPRODUCTION/LICENSING OF LIBRARY MATERIALS FOR NON-PUBLISHING/NON-PROFIT PURPOSES) form. Please see the fee schedule for applicable charges.

Genealogy and Heraldry Collection

The premiere genealogical destination in Western New York, the collection is composed largely of American family history and biography, general and ethnic genealogical research manuals, heraldry and family crest dictionaries, publications of genealogical societies, books on royalty and nobility, military roster lists, surname dictionaries and an extensive series of newspaper genealogy columns covering a 50-year period. In addition, the collection includes directories to libraries, historical societies, genealogical organizations, and vital records office. The Western New York Genealogical Society's repository of information is also found here. More...

Music Collection

The collection houses one of the oldest and most distinguished collections in North America encompassing all genres of musical tastes. A sampling of the broad range of books includes: arts management, biography, general music history, jazz, harmony, music business, opera, history of rock, discography and vocal techniques. Recordings of a wide variety of styles and artists are available on compact discs, cassettes, vinyl LPs and 78rpm. Tours are available on request. More...

Mark Twain Room

This special exhibition room at the Central Library (716-858-8900) is the home of Twain's original handwritten manuscript, Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. Twain was an active member of the Buffalo and Erie County Public Library's predecessor, the Young Men's Association and honored the Library with the manuscript of what is viewed by many as the greatest American novel. In 1885, Twain donated the second half of Huckleberry Finn, believing the first half had been lost by a printer. In 1991, the missing portion of the manuscript was discovered in a small steamer trunk in a Los Angeles attic. It was among the possessions of James Fraser Gluck, a curator of the Buffalo Library who had requested the manuscript from Twain a century earlier. Eventually, Twain mailed the missing half of the manuscript, but Gluck, who apparently had removed it from the library to have it bound, died with it among his belongings in 1897. After gaining possession, the B&ECPL united the manuscript in 1992 for the first time in more than 100 years and showcases this cultural treasure in its Mark Twain Room. This priceless literary masterpiece is on public display in the heart of the room.

The Mark Twain Room also houses an antique walnut mantel from the now demolished Delaware Avenue home where Mark Twain resided during his brief newspaper career in Buffalo. A unique portrait of Twain hangs prominently above this scrupulously restored hardwood mantel. Norman Rockwell prints from a 1940 edition of Huckleberry Finn enhance the wall space on either side. Bookcases line two walls. Hundreds of Twain publications, including many first editions and many foreign languages, call these cases home. The Mark Twain Room is open during normal Central Library hours of operation.