Melting pot, ethnic diversity, multicultural: terms that barely begin to describe the rich, colorful, fiercely separate and slowly blending swirl of cultures and nationalities that converged on Buffalo, Black Rock, and surrounding communities and settled the area during a population surge that spread until a l950s suburbanization trend.

In Neighbors: The People of Erie County you will see over 500 objects and photographs that tell the story of the talents, trades, skills, sports, foods, political and religious traditions that came together as thousands and then hundreds of thousands of people from all over the world began to call Western New York their home. In the process you are invited to understand the depth of community we developed, and the wealth of our community heritage and pride.

Enter Neighbors guided by the massive lighthouse lens from an old Buffalo lighthouse. A large and painstakingly created chromolithograph map of the City of Buffalo and its harbor front, seen as a Birds Eye View in l862, stands nearby and helps to orient the viewer to the thriving settlement that might have greeted an immigrant. Fleeing oppression or poverty or seeking a fresh start in life, immigrants found work and set down new roots, creating communities that reminded them of home. The East Side saw Germans, Poles and African-Americans.

The Irish grouped in South Buffalo, and on the West Side the Italians and Hispanics pre-dominated. All of Buffalo hosted a mix of nationalities, of course, but the development of strong neighborhoods with the precious traditions and comforting churches, language, shops and foods familiar from a homeland created support for new arrivals. Integration led to a distinctly American city with a wonderful appreciation of ethnic variety, celebrated still with ethnic restaurants, cultural clubs, and community-wide festivals.

To explore Neighbors is to see a city’s past, in objects such as the church windows from St. Mary’s on Broadway, some of the dozens of different language newspapers we once had, Scottish curling club photos and an Iroquois-crafted ornamental beadbook. Cholera records from 1854 show that no nationality was immune. A bound memo pad from Altman’s American and Chinese Café, operated l909-1913, hints at the blending of culinary interests. Memorabilia on display in Neighbors show the texture of the many cultures that melded into the vibrant community we are today, "The City of Good Neighbors".

Interactive activities may test your knowledge of your neighbors. Videos further interpret the changing scene, such as the labor and housing options open to previous generations. Explore your world through our neighborhoods. Neighbors: The People Of Erie County, is all about culture in context.