Participant Info

First Name
Cynthia
Last Name
Van Ness
Country
United States
State
NY New York
Affiliation
The Buffalo History Museum
Website URL
https://www.linkedin.com/in/cvanness/
Keywords
Buffalo, western New York
Availability
Media Contact
Additional Contact Information
PhD
other credentials

Personal Info

Photo
About Me

Cynthia has an Master of Library Science (MLS) degree from the University at Buffalo and a BA in art history from SUNY/Empire State College. After library school, she worked at the Buffalo & Erie County Public Library for 13 years, half of were in the Grosvenor Room, the local history & genealogy collection, where she developed research and reference expertise in the people, places, things, and events Buffalo history. She was appointed Director of Library & Archives at The Buffalo History Museum in 2007. On her own time, she is the author of Victorian Buffalo (1999), Quotable Buffalo (2011), and the creator of BuffaloResearch.com, a guide to researching ancestors, buildings, and companies in Buffalo.

Recent Publications

Van Ness, C. Victorian Buffalo: Images from the Buffalo and Erie County Public Library. Buffalo, NY: Western New York Wares, 1999. Print.

Van Ness, C. Buffalo Takes on the Ku Klux Klan. Buffalo, N.Y.: Western New York Heritage, v. 15, no. 3, Fall 2012.  Online. https://simplebooklet.com/buffalokkk#page=0

Van Ness, C. “And still they come:” Some eyewitness accounts of the Underground Railroad in Buffalo. Afro-Americans in New York Life and History, January 2012.  Online. https://goo.gl/dh5Adp

Van Ness, C. Buffalo Hotels and the Niagara Movement: New Evidence Refutes an Old Legend. Buffalo, N.Y.: Western New York Heritage, January 2011. Online. http://www.buffaloresearch.com/essays/BuffaloHotels.pdf

Media Coverage
http://www.blogtalkradio.com/janeewilcox/2016/02/03/buffalo-history-museum-with-cynthia-van-ness
Country Focus
United States
Expertise by Geography
United States
Expertise by Chronology
19th century, 20th century
Expertise by Topic
Museums, Slavery