This collection was assembled in anticipation of the store’s 100th anniversary in 1967. It consists mainly of promotional materials, including newspaper inserts, merchandise catalogs, and advertisements. There are also several books and some sheet music published by the store; clippings, 1867-1981; a scrapbook documenting the downtown move, 1960; and some photographs of AM&A’s stores and employees.
General family correspondence, 1859-1929, mostly to A.L. Benedict; correspondence of A.L. Benedict as superintendent of the Division of Ethnology and Archaeology of the Pan-American Exposition, 1900-1902, as well as a map of the exposition grounds and notes on exhibits and concessions. Other papers of A.L. Benedict include writings on archaeology by Benedict and others, 1886-1909, medical and military certificates, and miscellaneous receipts and notes. Papers of N.G. and Gracia S. Benedict include estate papers, real estate records, and receipts for house construction, 1875-1912; estate papers of the Smith family, 1849- 1911, including papers of Lucy S., Sara M. and Kate M. Smith and others, and records of real estate in Buffalo and Clinton, N.Y. Also, notebooks of Charles W. Dobbins concerning archaeological and geological discoveries in Western New York, 1882-1886.
Records of the Buffalo Board of Trade, 1863-1867 and 1880-1937, including membership lists and contracts; records of the Buffalo Merchants' Exchange, 1883-1910, including letters, notices and membership lists; records of the Buffalo Chamber of Commerce, 1903-1951, including minutes, letters, and membership lists; and records of the Buffalo Manufacturers' Club, 1908-1912.
Collection includes histories of various Baptist Churches and prominent figures involved in the Baptist Church in the Western New York area.
Minutes of the Buffalo Lumber Exchange, Jan. 1880-Jan. 1887, Mar. 1889-Feb. 1905, April 1907-Dec. 1924, Jan. 1930-May 1950, and Dec. 1952-Nov. 1956; correspondence, including meeting notices, receipts, and industry notices, 1904-1955; luncheon registers, 1921-1931; account books, 1880-1908, and 1935-1946; memorial fund register, 1927- 1928, and memorials, 1934-1942; papers concerning the Lumber Exchange’s participation in home shows, 1953-1958; a history of the Western New York lumber industry; and obituaries and other papers concerning H. Shumway Lee and Harrison B. Mixer, members of the Lumber Exchange, 1925 and 1952.
Includes city contracts, 1850-1915, for such work as dredging the Buffalo River, canal dredging, street lighting, and bridge construction; accounts and claims, 1863-1875, and powers of attorney and other documents, 1909-1910, concerning improving Elmwood Ave. and Morgan St.
