From the first American female architect to the inventor of the Buffalo wing, explore Buffalo’s hidden history.
by Katie Johnson
Learn about the significant role women have played in Buffalo history, including establishing and supporting many of our community’s institutions, on the Explore Buffalo “Leading Ladies: Downtown Women’s History Walking Tour”
Although nicknamed the Queen City for our size, it’s likely no coincidence Buffalo’s history is full of women who reigned supreme. Have you ever heard of “girl power”? Well before the Spice Girls, Western New York was the epitome of the phrase with women at the forefront of innovation and progress throughout the 19th and 20th centuries. Becoming more widely championed throughout the city, exploring their stories is now easier than ever before—whether you opt outside for a walking tour or decide to stay indoors.
“We have found a nice loop in downtown Buffalo that kind of is a mix of some historical markers and some buildings that are still there,” says Olivia McCarthy, Deputy Director of Explore Buffalo. Their Buffalo Leading Ladies tour, typically two hours on foot, starts off at the Hotel Lafayette showcasing the work of Buffalo’s Louise Blanchard Bethune, the first American woman known to have worked as a professional architect. “The creativity, the genius, the innovation that you see from these women on the tour . . . it’s been personally inspiring.”
“Once I started researching these women, I just was honestly astounded for the first time in my life, I felt like I had historic female figures to look up to, especially since they were local.”
Maria Blair, Owner & Operator of No Illusions Tours
Championing Buffalo’s women
For No Illusions Tours and their Buffalo’s Favorite Daughters walking routes, owner and operator, Maria Blair, echoes the impressiveness of Buffalo’s pioneering women—their stories igniting the initial creation of her tour group. “Once I started researching these women, I just was honestly astounded for the first time in my life, I felt like I had historic female figures to look up to, especially since they were local. I wanted to tell basically the story of Buffalo through different voices and I felt like women were a really great place to start.” One of those women being Maria M. Love, who established America’s first daycare center for the children of working women in Buffalo. “She allowed any race, religion, creed…for somebody to do that in 1881. It’s pretty impressive.”
Thanks to the Trailblazing Women of WNY monument project, local women’s history tour groups may soon have a new stop to add to their downtown routes. Through the group and project convened by the Erie County Commission on the Status of Women, three female community leaders will be memorialized through the placement of local statues, expected to be placed at the Buffalo Library: Louise Blanchard Bethune (First U.S. Female Architect), Mary Burnett Talbert (Civil Rights Leader) and Geraldine “Gawo:Sid-tah” Green (Longhouse Leader and Faithkeeper). “Women served and continue to serve a vital role in our community, just because they’re not on a horse holding a sword, waging war doesn’t mean they shouldn’t be recognized equally,” said Karen King, Commissioner of Public Advocacy for Erie County and the Executive Director for the Erie County Commission on the Status of Women. In Buffalo currently there are 106 public statues—only 2 of them dedicated to women.
(More) Ladies You Oughta Know
Shirley Chisholm, U.S. Congresswoman
Featured in the HULU series, Mrs. America, Shirely Chisholm was the first African American woman elected to Congress in 1968. Living for several years in Buffalo, the hometown of her second husband, she is buried in Forest Lawn Cemetery.
Anna Catherine Green, “Mother of the Detective Novel”
American poet and novelist, Anna was one of the first writers of detective fiction in America in 1878. She lived most of her life in Buffalo, NY.
Jessie Tarbox Beals, Photojournalist
The nation’s first published female photojournalist, she was hired in 1901 as a staff photographer for The Buffalo Inquirer and The Courier and became known nationwide for the images she captured.
Cornelia Bentley Sage, Art Gallery Director
Named the Director of the Albright Gallery (Albright-Knox Art Gallery) in Buffalo in 1910, Cornelia was the first female director of a major art gallery in the United States.
Teressa Bellissimo, Buffalo Wing Inventor
Teressa Bellissimo, who opened the Anchor Bar in 1964 with her husband Frank, is credited with inventing the Buffalo Wing.
A Well-Spring of Women’s History
No one may understand the depths of Buffalo’s women’s history better than our gate keepers of the past: Forest Lawn Cemetery and The Buffalo History Museum. With both having had to postpone their in-person women’s history tours and exhibits due to covid-19, Famous Females of Forest Lawn and Emblem of Equality: Woman Suffrage in Western New York, respectively, both continue to offer online resources for those looking to learn more about Buffalo’s women’s history from home. “With these major (women’s suffrage) anniversaries coming we wanted to do something important about women’s history,” explained Cynthia Van Ness, Director of Library and Archives with The Buffalo History Museum, creating an online accessible women’s history Google map and bibliography print books.
While the past has historically been written by men, the championing of women and the importance of the role that they have played in history is now able to tell our fuller story. An ode to the historic women of Buffalo Niagara, enjoy getting lost in exploring the history of some of the most remarkable and innovative women who have lived and worked in Buffalo for over the past 200 years on the tours that we have mentioned above.
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