2013 Local History Books: An end of year roundup!

2013 was a great year for local history books, and the Grosvenor Room was able to acquire titles on many popular Buffalo research subjects. Here are some of the most frequently asked for recently published books we added this year:

The Angola Horror : the 1867 train wreck that shocked the nation and transformed American railroads

Jewish community of Greater Buffalo (Images of America Series)

Kleinhans Music Hall : Buffalo architecture, mid-century modern

Love Canal (Images of America Series)

No stoppin’ this boppin’ : let the good times roll

The Roycroft Campus (Postcard History Series)

Steel’s: A forgotten stock market scandal from the 1920s

And, here are few popular new additions from recent years:

Albright-Knox Art Gallery (Buffalo architecture, mid-century modern) 

Artpark 1974-1984 

Bipolar Buffalo : a mosaic of minds journey

Frank Lloyd Wright’s Buffalo venture : from the Larkin Building to Broadacre City : a catalogue of buildings and projects

M&T Bank : Buffalo architecture, mid-century modern 

Niagara Falls : 1850-2000 (Images of America Series) 

More to come in the new year!

Genealogy 101 Class This Sunday

Genealogy 101

January 5th, 2014 2 PM

Forest Lawn is one of the largest repositories of individual and family heritage in Western New York. We invite you to join Forest Lawn and speaker Rhonda Konig, Grosvenor Room Librarian at Buffalo & Erie County’s Central Library, in the historic Forest Lawn chapel for an introduction to genealogy research, including basic concepts, types of records used, and an overview of genealogy resources available through the Buffalo and Erie County Public Library System. Seating is limited; reservations are required. Tickets for this Sunday In The Cemetery® Concert & Lecture Series event are $15.

Order tickets at the following link:

http://www.forest-lawn.com/page/calendar/title/genealogy-101/

Wizard of Oz Genealogy

From now through April 2014, the Rare Book Room is displaying their collection of Wizard of Oz books as part of  “The Wonderful Wizardry of Baum” exhibit.  Wizard of Oz memorabilia, quotes and imagery can be found throughout the Central Library.

The Central Library is also hosting a number of Wizard of Oz related programs.  See the Calendar of Events on the Library’s home page for more information.

Check out the links below to see if you are related to the following Wizard of Oz associated people.

L. Frank Baum – The Wonderful Wizard of Oz author.

Judy Garland – Played Dorothy in the 1939 Wizard of Oz film.

Bert Lahr – Played the Cowardly Lion in the 1939 Wizard of Oz film.

Lions and Tigers and Baum, oh my!

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Lyman Frank Baum [1856 – 1919] began his life and journey in Chittenango, New York, just south of Oneida Lake and east of Syracuse. His yellow brick road led him from Central New York to the Dakota Territory, Chicago and, ultimately, California. He enjoyed wealthy times and lived through lean and bankrupt times. Along the way he was a chicken breeder, printer, actor, playwright, shopkeeper, china salesman, journalist, and children’s book writer.

Baum’s life and writings are the subject of the current and exciting Grosvenor Rare Book exhibit The Wonderful Wizardry of Baum. Many are unaware that Baum wrote 13 other Oz books in his lifetime (2 published posthumously) and that he also wrote other books before and while he wrote about Oz. Frank Baum’s Wonderful Wizard of Oz has been dubbed an American Fairytale and his life could be called the same with all of its remarkable highs and lows.

Come see first editions of the “Oz Canon” and some of Baum’s earlier non-Oz writings. Learn about Baum’s incredible life journey and about the illustrators of Oz. See also more recent mechanical and fine press versions of The Wizard of Oz. And walk in front of the life-size Wicked Witch of the West and she has some words for you!