| Description: | The East Side History Project (ESHP) is currently supported through a SUNY Networks of Excellence grant received by the Center for Urban Studies in June 2015. The center is collaborating with SUNY Buffalo State’s Archives, the Buffalo and Erie County Public Library (BECPL), King Urban Life Center and Randforce Associates to develop a neighborhood-based strategy to collect historical documents from East Side residents to expand a current collection to include archival documents on neighborhood life and culture in a section of the City of Buffalo. This is a public history project based on the East Side of Buffalo that seeks to interview residents about their everyday life experiences and collect documents like photographs, videos, letters and historical ephemera about the city. The project uses history to shed light on current neighborhood planning and development issues facing residents of the East Side. These historical documents will then be scanned, organized and added to a larger body of documents pertaining to the development of modern public housing in the City of Buffalo. Initially, the project was funded in part by an Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) grant to the BECPL. From 2012 to 2014, the Center for Urban Studies digitized, indexed, and categorized over 8,000 historical documents from the Buffalo Municipal Housing Authority (BMHA) and residents of the BMHA Commodore Perry development. The project included arranging, preserving and describing a collection of historical documents to current archival standards. These historical documents pertain to urban life, culture and city building in Buffalo during the first half of the 20th century. This collection was generated during the onset of modern city planning and represents the choices made by urban planners and leaders in the building of the post-industrial city. |
| Project/Activity Leader(s): | Henry L. Taylor, Professor and Director, Center for Urban Studies |
| Unit: | School of Architecture and Planning |
| Department: | Urban and Regional Planning |
| City: | Buffalo |
| State: | NY |
| Country: | United States |
| External Funding: | Yes |
| Funding Source: | The Research Foundation for The State University of New York |
| Start Date: | 2012-11-01 |
| End Date: | active |
| External Partners: | Archives and Special Collections, SUNY Buffalo State; Buffalo and Erie County Public Library; King Urban Life Center; Randforce Associates; Buffalo Municipal Housing Authority |
| Are UB students involved? | Yes |
