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About Us
The Lower Lakes Marine Historical Society (LLMHS) is the successor to the Lower Lakes Chapter of the Buffalo and Erie County Historical Society, which chapter was founded in 1957.
In that year, a group of members of the Buffalo and Erie County Historical Society formed the Lower Lakes Chapter of that society. They were led by Larry Burke, a lawyer, who represented the American Steamship Company, a large, Buffalo-based, Great Lakes ship owner.
Larry Burke had been collecting Great Lakes material since the late 1930's. He wanted a greater emphasis placed on the history of Buffalo's development and growth as caused by the Erie Canal and Buffalo's connection to the Great Lakes.
Unfortunately, due to aging members and dwindling numbers, the Chapter was all but moribund by the mid-1980's. Fortunately, Larry had reserved the right to spin-off the chapter and form a new group.
Thus, the new Lower Lakes Marine Historical Society was founded in 1986 as a result.
The first Board of Directers included Larry Burke as Chairman-Emeritus, former District Attorney Edward Cosgrove as Chairman, former Judge Michael McCarthy as President, and Mel Rupp, Jr. as First Vice President.
LLMHS became chartered by the New York State Education Department and recognized as a tax exempt organization under both New York State and Federal laws (Sec. 501(c)(3)).
Much of the present library and many artifacts now in the Lower Lakes collection come from the original Chapter. Whenever we talk of the work of Lower Lakes, we always thank the late Larry Burke for his foresight and Mel Rupp for his generosity. Our organization continues to advance the work they started and nurtured.
From 1988 to 1997, through the generosity of the Rupp family, LLMHS was located and housed on their company's grounds at 101 Great Arrow Avenue in Buffalo.
In 1997, Lower Lakes found a new permanent home thanks to a very generous donation from the M&T Bank. We are now located in an old 1896 loft-style, four-story warehouse at 66 Erie Street in the historic Buffalo waterfront district.
This wonderful old building now serves us as both our new headquarters and site for our museum and library. Appropriately, the building was formerly used by the Howard H. Baker Company as a ship chandlery.
Because Erie Street, in this area, was abandoned and made into a park in the mid-1970's, we are actually next door to 37 Franklin Street. Further, we sit in a maze of one-way city streets which makes getting to us somewhat of a challenge. Please refer to a location map by clicking here.
Since July, 1997, with grants and assistance from the City of Buffalo, Home Depot, the Cameron Baird Foundation, the Margaret Wendt Foundation, the Buffalo Museum of Science and many others, we have been steadily converting this building into a museum and research center.
During the brief history of our existence, we have endeavored to aggressively pursue the preservation of the little remaining evidence of Buffalo's maritime past.
Though we are small in number (our current membership is about 250), the results of our efforts have been recognized and lauded as a valuable contribution to local history.
We have found photos, master and doctoral theses, artifacts, art, literature, and oral histories pertaining to our nautical past. We have collected more than there is room to detail here. Please see our holdings by clicking here.
But it is what we have accomplished in our fledgling stage, with what we have collected, that makes us most proud.
We have made our photos and artifacts available at boat shows and civic receptions. We have taken our displays to the International Friendship Festival, local yacht clubs, schools, libraries, and building openings, to name a few.
We have published two historic maps, thirteen years of newsletters, a lithograph from our oil painting of the passenger steamer CANADIANA, a poster commemorating the 200th anniversary of the U.S. Coast Guard and its history in Buffalo, and two books about our harbor and waterfront. This is just a sample of some of our projects.
We have made our collections and services available to the other institutions in our area such as:
- Buffalo and Erie County Historical Society
- Buffalo and Erie County Library
- Buffalo Museum of Science
- Canisius College
- Buffalo State College
- S.U.N.Y. at Buffalo
- City of Buffalo Planning Board
- Erie County Preservation Society
Through membership dues and the sale of our photo reproductions, books, and prints, we have raised and spent approximately $200,000 of our own monies during the last thirteen years.
We have accomplished our goals and projects through donated services, borrowed equipment, and volunteer labor. As a measure of their dedication and commitment, our members and friends average about 10,000 man hours of free labor each year.
And significantly, as a tangible expression of those intangibles of faith and trust in our organization, our Board Members have provided loans and loan-guarantees on behalf of the museum.
Officers and Directors
Lower Lakes Marine Historical Society
Officers and Board of Directors |
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| Hon. George K. Arthur |
Mr. Kenneth T. Glaser, 2nd V.P. |
| Mr. Henry Baxter |
Ms. Patricia Glaser |
| Mr. Clinton Brown |
Mr. Kevin T. McCarthy |
| Mr. Karl Von Buhr |
Hon. Michael L. McCarthy, Pres. |
| Mr. Robert Coleman |
Mr. Jack Messmer, 2nd V.P. |
| Mr. Ronald R. Dukarm |
Mr. Joseph L. Rennie, Jr. |
| Ms. Beverly Foit-Albert |
Mr. Melvin E. Rupp, 1st V.P. |
| Mr. Robert Gilham |
Mr. David Wooley |
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