Archive - WNY Heritage

There Is No Glamour Here: The Overseas Life and Letters of Alice Lord O’Brian

Volunteers from the American Red Cross provided aid and comfort to countless Allied soldiers who faced death on the front lines during World War I. One canteen worker from Buffalo recorded her experiences so future generations could understand the horrors and futility of war.

The Immigrant Army: Western New York’s Polish Volunteers in World War I

A century ago, thousands of newly immigrated Poles risked everything for a chance to free their homeland from oppression—in spite of the prejudices they experienced in "the Land of the Free."

John Lord O'Brian: Lawyer & Public Servant

Dubbed the "Dean" of the Supreme Court by Chief Justice Warren Burger, attorney John Lord O'Brian argued over 50 cases before the nation's highest court, while serving his community and his country in many other ways as well.

Happy Camp: ROTC Training at Fort Niagara, 1917

Fort Niagara's two 1917 training camps prepared thousands of officers for service "Over There."

Buffalo and the Great War, Part III: Home Fires Kept Burning: 1917-1918

The final installment of our three-part series explores how Western New York supported America’s entry into the First World War, as well as the celebration that took place once peace was declared.

Buffalo and the Great War, Part II: Keeping Out of War

The second installment of our three-part series examines the final years leading up to America’s declaration of war in 1917, as tensions rise and the region deals with issues of ethnicity and preparedness.

Accept Everything America Can Produce: Glenn Curtiss Comes to Buffalo

The onset of the First World War brought Glenn Curtiss’ quest to send an aircraft across the Atlantic to a temporary halt. But it also brought incredible changes to his small-town aeroplane and motor business.

Buffalo and the Great War, Part I: The War Before the War

Long before America went “over there,” Western New York had to cope with some unique realities in the opening years of the First World War. In part one of a three-part series, we look at a usually peaceful region during the years of true neutrality.

Western New York Heritage

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