Hascal L. Taylor: The Man Who Commissioned Adler & Sullivan's Buffalo Building

The dynamic entrepreneur responsible for bringing Adler & Sullivan to Buffalo for the world-famous office buiding we now know as the Guaranty Building was Hascal Taylor. From the 1860s through the time of his death, Hascal Taylor (1830-1894) was an important and well-known businessman, first in Fredonia, then in the oil regions of northwestern Pennsylvania, and finally in Buffalo.

Yet today he is almost unknown, and, without his role in bringing about the Guaranty Building, he would be completely unknown in Buffalo. When I asked his great-granddaughter and great-grandson about him in 1976, neither knew what he had done to merit his place in history. Without Taylor it is almost certain that the Guaranty Building would not exist anywhere. The commission was to be the last one Dankmar Adler and Louis Sullivan would do together

To read the rest of this story by Jason Aronoff, see page 50 of the Spring 2009 Heritage Magazine.

 

Lincoln's Connections to Western New York

Illinois is The Land of Lincoln but one of our greatest presidents did have strong connections to Western New York.... Abraham Lincoln passed through the region during his Inaugural Tour of 1861. It was eleven-year old Grace Bedell of Westfield who, on October 15, 1860, wrote to Lincoln, suggesting he grow a beard. "You would look a great deal better for your face is so thin. All the ladies like whiskers and they would tease their husbands to vote for you." On February 16, during a stop in Westfield, Lincoln said, " Well I known that there's a young lady from this place that had written to me and would she by any chance be here in the crowd?" She was brought forward; he shook her hand, kissed her and asked how she like his fresh beard. A statue memorializes the event in Westfield.

To view the rest of this story by Alan V. Manchester, see page 60 in the Spring 2009 Heritage Magazine.

Another Look: Sculpture of The Willert Park Courts

.Willert Park Courts was a "New Deal" 1938 Works Project Administration (WPA) federal housing project funded by the U.S. Housing Authority. It was specifically intended for African-Americans living in the Ellicott District which was overcrowded because of residential segregation in the city. The Federal Arts Project (FAP) was assigned to provide sculpture for the project. They chose New York City sculptor Robert Cronbach to create the artwork. To prepare for the task, Cronbach traveled to Buffalo and met with a wide range of leaders in the black community. He found that they did not want sculpture that would accentuate their ethnicity but preferred everyday, domestic and pleasant scenes.

To read the rest of Susan J Eck's Another Look, see page 68 of the Spring 2009 Heritage Magazine.

 

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