George Nathan Newman, in life and upon his death in 1951, had donated extensive collections of books, records, and many photographs to the Grosvenor Library. Among the treasures that the Buffalo & Erie County Public Library inherited when the Grosvenor Library, Buffalo Public and Erie County Libraries merged was a black-and-white photograph collection compiled and donated by Mr. Newman. The Newman Collection of Photographs of Vanished and Vanishing Buffalo is a multi-volume photo album containing images of Buffalo's and the surrounding area's rich local history. The images are black-and-white reprints of Buffalo and the region primarily from the 1800s and early 1900s. The photos capture buildings (theaters, businesses, residences) and streets in Buffalo and the Niagara region that no longer exist or have changed beyond recognition.

The Western New York Index was created by the Buffalo & Erie County Library System and printed from 1983-1996. It indexed news, features, articles and reviews appearing in the city edition of the Buffalo News, Buffalo Spree, Business First, Western New York Magazine, and the WNY Genealogical Society Journal. Each volume covers one individual year, and also includes a separate Personal Names section.A print copy has been in the collection of the Western New York Library Resources Council since that time, and is still used by researchers. This collection was digitized on behalf of WNYLRC by the University at Buffalo. The images include searchable text.

The Town of Saratoga is located in Saratoga County. It is a landmark for a famous battle during the Revolutionary War, in 1777, which is considered a turning point in the war, giving Americans an advantage over the British.

Franklin Delano Roosevelt (FDR) and Eleanor Roosevelt visited Syracuse at various times in the 20th century for presidential campaign visits, community outreach, Democratic conventions, and family visits.

In 1882, realizing the potential of Niagara for generating electricity on a commercial scale, Jacob Schoellkopf installed a small hydroelectric generation station, which provided electricity directly to the nearby town of Niagara Falls. As a result, the Niagara Falls Hydraulic Power and Manufacturing Company became the first company to generate hydroelectric power from Niagara Falls. This had a massive effect on Niagara Falls, which saw its population increase and employment in the power generating industry soared.
Throughout the years, the company would go through many changes. In March 1910, the Niagara Falls Hydroelectric Power and Manufacturing Co. was renamed to the Hydraulic Power Company. Then, facing bankruptcy in 1918, the company, with urging from the US government, consolidated with Edward Dean Adams and became the Niagara Power Company. Much later, it would become known as Niagara Mohawk. On June 7, 1956, the Schoellkopf Power Station was destroyed due to several rock slides which caused a portion of the gorge wall to collapse.

The Liberator was an anti-slavery newspaper which was published between the years of 1831 through 1865 by William Lloyd Garrison and Isaac Knapp in Boston, Massachusetts. After the ratification of the 13th amendment in 1865, abolishing slavery, the newspaper was published under a new title: The Nation.

The Jamaica Parlor Car was built in 1912 by the American Car & Foundry Corporation for the Pennsylvania Railroad company, to be used by its subsidiary company, the Long Island Railroad Company. It was one of ten such cars built to be used as a first- class cars that could carry 26 passengers to their destination.
In 1925 it was reclassified as a business car for use by LIRR executives and renamed, “The Montauk “.
In 1930 it was rebuilt as an Observation Car with 3 state rooms, a solarium, dining room, galley and valet and cook quarters. An Observation Deck was added to the back of the car.
In 1941 the car was sold to the Pennsylvania Railroad Company, which outfitted the car with air conditioning.
It was sold back to the LIRR in 1949 for $26,434.00 and renamed,” The Jamaica”. It was used on an express train known as the,” Cannonball Run”, that ran from Pennsylvania station to Montauk Point.
The Jamaica was retired in 1968 and slated to be scrapped, where it was noticed in the Sunnyside railroad yard by society member Warren Hiltonsmith. He convinced the LIRR to donate the car to the Wantagh Preservation Society. With help from the railroad and local construction companies the Jamaica was moved to the Wantagh museum in October,1972.
A dedicated group of society members and other community groups spent 14 years restoring the car in time for the opening of the restored Wantagh Train Museum.
After a period of neglect a second restoration was undertaken from 2011 to 2016 in time for the 50th anniversary of the society’s saving of the Wantagh Station.
The Jamaica is the last of the Parlor Cars built a century ago. It is 80 feet long, 14 feet high and weighs 80 tons. It was made of rolled steel and was, “state of the art” for its day, with direct current electricity and ice filled air conditioning. It represents a luxury style of traveling from a bygone era.