The Circle Association's
African American History of western new york state
TWENTY FIRST CENTURY EVENTS
These are just isolated events which attracted our attention:
2000
(yes I know this year stil 20th century)
| Buffalo east side native Lynn Gilmore Canton was appointed Executive Director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) during in the administration of President Bill Clinton on June 1, 2000. She was responsible for overseeing the Agency's personnel and management issues, employee development diversity, labor partnership, and strategic planning.Prior to her appointment to this post, she served as the Agency's Region II Director in New York City. In this position, she was responsible for the administration of Federal emergency preparedness, mitigation, and disaster response and recovery programs for New Jersey, New York, Puerto Rico, and the United States Virgin Islands. Ms. Canton experienced twenty-two natural disasters in Region II during her tenure which included hurricanes, floods, ice and snowstorms, tornadoes, and wild fires. The federal expenditure for disaster relief in the region was over three billion dollars. In March 2001, Ms. Canton was named the Assistant Deputy Comptroller for Management Audit in the Office of the State Comptroller. |
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2001a.Ellen E. Grant Bishop is appointed chief executive officer of Niagara Falls Memorial Medical Center was the first woman to hold the title of CEO since the hospital was formed in 1895.. She is also the past President of the New York State Association of Counties and the president of the New York State Chapter Board of Directors of the National Association of Social Workers. Also see 1988.
2001b. Byron
Brown became the first African-American elected to the New York
State Senate outside of metropolitan New York City when he was
sworn in January 1, 2001. He was first elected to public office
in 1995, representing the Masten District on the City of Buffalo
Common Council.
Senator Brown, a native of Queens, New York, earned a dual Bachelor
of Arts in Political Science and Journalism from Buffalo State
College, graduated from the Charter Class of Leadership Buffalo
and completed a certificate program for senior executives in state
and local government at Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School
of Government. After beginning his career within the private sector,
Mr. Brown went on to serve in key staff positions with the President
of the Buffalo City Council, the Chair of the Erie County Legislature
and the Deputy Speaker of the New York State Assembly. Senator
Brown is the former director of the Erie County Division of Equal
Employment Opportunity (EEO). In 2005 he was elected Mayor
of Buffalo.
2002a. Doris Jones a strong voice, tenacious fighter and compassionate conscience for tenants and tenants rights in the Niagara Falls community, even in the face of strong adversity and opposition. She began in 1975. In 1976, she was elected to the Niagara Falls Housing Authority Board of Commissioners, where she served for more than twenty-five years. She successfully initiated a variety of programs for the Niagara Falls Housing Authority. Doris served as a 2nd Legislative District committeewoman for over forty-five years. Doris was a founding member of the Niagara Improvement Association and an instrumental member of the Niagara County Black Achievers, Inc. Her humanitarian efforts earned her certificates of meritorious service.
Doris Jones was inducted into the Housing Authority's "Wall of Fame" in 1992. In 1998, she received the "Heroes of Public Housing" Award from the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development for her dedication and loyalty to the Housing Authority and its residents and for her constant encouragement. In 2001, Doris received the distinguished Resident of the Year award from the National Association of African Americans in Housing. In 2002, she was the recipient of the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Civil Rights Award.
2002b. Shirley Hailstock, the first and only African-American board member of Romance Writers of America (RWA), the largest genre writers organization in the world. In 2002 she became their first African-American president (2002-2003). Shirley is a best-selling, award-winning author of seventeen novels and novellas. At the age of 10, Shirley moved to Buffalo where she remained a resident for 16 years.
| Whispers of Love, Hailstock's debut novel, was published in September 1994. The romantic suspense received critical acclaim from the Gothic Journal, Romantic Times Magazine, Affaire de Couer, Rendezvous and Booklist. Whispers of Love, winner of the HOLT Medallion, is in its 4th printing and was optioned for a television movie of the week. Clara's Promise, Shirley's first historical romance, won the Heart of the West Award. Additionally, Romantic Times presented Shirley with a Career Achievement Award and her novel, Legacy, received the Waldenbooks Award for Bestselling Multicultural Romance. Legacy was also listed as one of the 100 Greatest Romance Novels of the 20th Century and Affaire de Coeur Magazine's Readers Poll named Shirley Hailstock the Outstanding Achiever of the Year 2002. Shirley's books regularly appear on the Blackboard and the Library Journal Best Seller lists. The recipient of nearly every award for romance writing, her short story made it all the way to the finals of the Chicken Soup for the African-American Soul books. |
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2004a. In 2004, Rochester native is Harvard Foundation SCIENTIST OF THE YEAR:
Dr. S. Allen Counter, director of the Harvard Foundation of Harvard University, and Dr. Benedict H. Gross, dean of Harvard College and Leverett Professor of Mathematics, presented the Harvard Foundation "2004 Scientist of the Year Award" to noted mathematician Professor Dr. Jonathan David Farley. Farley is Associate Professor of Mathematics at Vanderbilt University and currently a visiting professor of Applied Mathematics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Born and rasied in Rochester New York, he graduated in mathematics summa cum laude from Harvard College and later earned a Ph.D. in mathematics from Oxford University. "Jonathan Farley is one of the world's most impressive young mathematicians," said Dr. Counter. "He is a model of excellence for young people of all backgrounds, but especially African Americans who may see their intellectual potential in him. Harvard is proud to honor his achievements and acknowledge his fine example."
Previously, Farley was named by Ebony as a most eligible bachelor. For a web site on Farley see http://www.math.buffalo.edu/mad/PEEPS/farley_jonathan.html
2004b. University
of Buffalo professor Scott Williams was selected one of THE
50 MOST IMPORTANT BLACKS IN RESEARCH SCIENCE 2004. Previously
Williams was the first African American tenured scientist at the
University of Buffalo in 1977 and its first African American Full
Professor scientist in 1986. Also see 1971.
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(AP) November 8, 2005 BUFFALO, N.Y. -- Democrat Byron Brown easily won a four-way mayoral race Tuesday on a promise to turn around a city growing ever shorter on people and cash. Brown is the first black man elected to lead New York's second-largest city and its white majority, succeeding on a campaign strategy that appealed across racial and geographic boundaries. The state senator also enjoyed a lopsided party advantage. Democrats outnumber Republicans in the working-class city by 116,660 to 20,135 _ a nearly 6-to-1 ratio, according to the Erie County Board of Elections. Initial election results, with 92 percent of precincts reporting, showed Brown with 40,811 votes, or 64 percent. Republican Kevin Helfer had 16,665, or 26 percent. Green Party candidate Judith Einach had 3,033 votes, or 4 percent, and Independence Party candidate Charles Flynn had 2,745, or 4 percent. |
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