Buffalo Black Achievers Museum

The Buffalo Black Achievers Museum

Empowering our youth to excel and go forward by exposing them to the accomplishments of the heroes of our past aiding in their desire to advance our cause through technology.

Black Achievers Museum

Buffalo’s rise, decline and current resurgence has been influenced for generations by the contributions of African Americans.  From the city’s trading-post origins through its time as a stop on the Underground Railroad, into the Civil War and through the days of Jim Crow to the Civil Rights movement, black Americans have played crucial but often under-recognized parts in the city’s history. Buffalo’s Black Achievers, Inc. plans to change that, by establishing a museum dedicated to highlighting the contributions of African Americans to Buffalo’s history and to its present resurgence.  The Buffalo Black Achievers Museum will permanently house standing exhibitions and archival resources that will enlighten, educate, motivate and inspire not only the black community, but the wider population by focusing attention on the educators, businesspeople, social advocates, clergy and public figures who built Buffalo’s past and who plan the city’s future. 

The Museum will maximize its location in the heart of the university-medical corridor development and take its place as a tourist destination.  The stories of black achievers will draw visitors who want to see examples of accomplishment and endurance, presented in a neighborhood of the city that demonstrates those concepts.  Our location in a re-developing urban area underscores the black community’s participation in the history of Buffalo, and offers a destination for tourists to see the urban renaissance in progress.  Visitors will recognize our Museum as an integral partner of the resurgence of our city and as an economic and cultural force within an active urban residential area.

Our targeted constituency is school-age children in Western New York, as well as all potential museum enthusiasts and people of all ages, from Buffalo and beyond, seeking to expand their understanding of African Americans and their impact on our heritage.  We anticipate beginning with 4,000 visitors each year who will include students from local classrooms; scholars and patrons from Buffalo’s colleges and universities; African-American youth seeking connections to their heritage; and friends from diverse communities seeking understanding of their neighbors.A grant from the Empire State Development Fund is funding construction and preparation of a facility named Bellamy Commons at 1490 Jefferson Avenue, just blocks from Buffalo’s Main Street corridor.  Bellamy Commons is a mixed use facility which will be the home of the Buffalo Black Achievers Museum, together with the corporate offices of Buffalo’s Black Achievers, Inc. Initially the Museum will house artifact and archival materials gathered over the years by the board members of Buffalo’s Black Achievers, and the board will have an active role in the Museum’s operation. 

Our remaining needs are vital: a director to oversee the operation and to develop engaging exhibitions, coordinate visits, and implement educational programming on a regular and consistent basis; and display and technological equipment to use in operating a quality museum on a daily basis. 


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Open By Appointment Only