Michigan Street African American

The Michigan Street African American Heritage Corridor is a nationally and internationally recognized Buffalo neighborhood that serves as the focal point of residents’ and visitors’ experience for learning about Buffalo’s rich African American history through its vibrant neighborhoods, shops, restaurants, unique structures, historical markers, people and institutions, as well as its significant impact on local, national and international history. For generations, the once thriving community located along Michigan Avenue suffered from urban decay. At the MSAAHCC we believe that celebrating history can rejuvenate a community. Through our innovative planning, we are poised to create an epicenter of African American heritage that will reverberated in the surrounding community. Using Heritage Tourism as our driving force, we will be able to build a thriving community just east of the downtown core. The MSAAHCC is made up of four cultural anchors:

• The Historic Colored Musicians Club & Jazz Museum - The Colored Musicians Union, Local 533, was formed in 1917. A year later, upstairs from the office, the Colored Musicians Club became an after-hours gathering place for local touring musicians such as Dizzy Gillespie, Duke Ellington, Billie Holiday, Count Basie, Ella Fitzgerald, Lena Horne, Art Blakely, and many, many more. The club received designation as a historical landmark in 1979. Prior to the pandemic, it was still offering regular Sunday night jam sessions and was operating an interactive museum dedicated to jazz history.

• The Michigan Street Baptist Church – Owned by the not-for-profit organization, the Buffalo Niagara Freedom Coalition, the Church has been a central part of the history and culture of Buffalo for more than 150 years. The 1845 building became a legendary Underground Railroad station, providing escaped slaves sanctuary before crossing to freedom in Canada. National leaders, including Frederick Douglass and Adam Clayton Powell, Sr. have delivered powerful messages from this sanctuary. The church is currently under restoration projects to help it stand for another 150 years!

• The Nash House – Once the home of Rev. Edward Nash, pastor of the Michigan Street Baptist Church, The Nash House is currently owned by the not-for-profit organization The Michigan Street Preservation Corporation. The historic house has been operating as a museum since 2007. Many of Rev. Nash’s sermons and letters that are a crucial part of Buffalo’s African American community history were written here and are on display for viewing.

• WUFO Radio Station & Black History Collective – Established in 1961, WUFO is the only African American owned radio station in Western New York. In 2013, WUFO was purchased by Sheila L. Brown of Vision Multi Media Group (VMMG) and True Bethel Community Development Corporation, making it WNY’s first black, female-owned station. Brown is a well-respected icon in the community and hopes to open a not-for-profit Black History Collective, the first of its kind in the country. You can visit and see how a radio station operates. WUFO has provided America with popular African American radio personalities, including Frankie Crocker, Gary Byrd, Jerry Bledsoe, Thelka McCall, Dwayne Dancer Donovan, Don Allen, Don Mullins, and many more! The Heritage Corridor’s festivals, cultural events and artistic programming draw residents, national and international tourists, scholars and artists, writers, storytellers, poets, dancers, and actors to a thriving, community of historic urban scale.​

Your contribution to the Michigan Street African American Heritage Corridor will help us preserve the legacy of all four anchors and the surrounding neighborhoods. 

As an advocate for the community, the Michigan Street African American Heritage Corridor Commission endeavors to integrate the African American cultural significance and impact on Buffalo’s history through public engagement, community education that will invigorate, inspire and enliven cultural appreciation, preservation and community development.