The Courier-Express newspaper was born in 1926, with the merger of the Buffalo Courier and the Buffalo Express to form the Buffalo Courier-Express. William J. Conners, owner of the Buffalo Courier, was the person instrumental in bringing the two papers together. During the 19th century numerous newspapers existed. The Buffalo Courier-Express merger can trace its roots back to 1828. From 1828 to 1926, twelve separate newspapers merged during those years, ending with the formation of the Buffalo Courier-Express; quite a chronology for the history of this newspaper. The Courier and then the Courier-Express took a liberal position on all issues. In the late 1970s, the Courier-Express was sold to Cowles-Media, an out of state publisher. Cowles Media decided to close the paper in 1982. The September 19, 1982 issue was the last one for this very popular Buffalo newspaper. Cowles Media donated the library to the Buffalo and Erie County Historical Society and Buffalo State College.

The Courier-Express Photograph Collection spans from the early 1960s to the mid to late 1980s. The collection contains over 100,000 print images used to complement published and unpublished articles. In addition, most photo files contain the associated article. Topics can range from the Buffalo Bills to photos of elementary schools in WNY.

The George Borrelli Political Newspaper Clippings and Materials [1962-2003] contains his extensive collection of original clippings derive from his often daily columns (the bulk of which were written by the donor for the Buffalo News) and present, for many years, a day-by-day examination of the Buffalo and Niagara Region, New York, political scene.

Rita Smith’s Papers contain thoughts, ideas, and stories that span nearly five decades and topics that embody the breadth of human emotion and experience. The collection itself is made up of journalistic research, notes, rough drafts, published articles and correspondences, as well as photographs of a personal and journalistic nature. Contextually, Rita Smith published her first article in 1944, during the Second World War, and published articles well into the 1980’s. She wrote about the transformation of people as it was occurring. This collection is infinitely rich, because Rita had a love for people and life that reflects in her words throughout her career. Discover the columns she wrote like "Getting It Together," "It's Your World," and “All People,” as well as the many feature articles that often touched on difficult issues. The topics are as varied as her subjects and the places she visited. One only need to begin reading to get lost in the world she experienced every day. There are also letters from readers who wrote with their own stories in hope that she would tell it better than they could themselves. Her notes are varied and sometimes difficult to read. However, as a whole they offer a perspective of a journalist, a columnist, and an adventuring world traveler. Her travel journals and articles are fantastic and offer an opportunity to see the world through her eyes, first-hand, about what was happening in other parts of the world.

Rachel Cain was a reporter, columnist and editor at the Buffalo Evening News. Her husband, Stephen Cain, worked for the Buffalo Evening and Sunday Times, Buffalo Evening News, and the Buffalo Courier-Express. National credits include stories in True and an original article in Reader’s Digest. The Cain Collection consists of three boxes of short stories, manuscripts, drafts, programs, poetry, notes, newspaper clippings, photocopies of newspaper clippings and some miscellaneous material, such as press credentials. The manuscripts include fiction and non-fiction works. Some of the documents are typed and some are hand-written; many of the documents contain hand-written notes and revisions.