Toxic Archives: Voices from Love Canal
Step into the lived experiences of a community forever changed by environmental crisis. This exhibition presents the poignant stories of Love Canal residents from Niagara Falls, New York, through carefully redacted interviews conducted in 1978–79, now open to the public for the first time. The University Archives’ ethical redaction project balances transparency with privacy, making these powerful testimonies available while protecting personal information. As you explore photographs, correspondence, and firsthand accounts, you'll witness not only the struggle for environmental justice but also the delicate balance archivists maintain as stewards of sensitive historical records. These voices from Love Canal speak to us across time—of loss, resilience, and the ongoing pursuit of accountability.
An Exploration of GIS Across the Disciplines: Love Canal as a Case Study (In-Person/Virtual)
Thursday, October 9, 2025
2 p.m. to 3 p.m.
Silverman Library, 3rd floor, 310 Capen Hall
University at Buffalo, North Campus
Discover how Geographic Information Systems (GIS) can bring together data, storytelling, and research across fields like health sciences, urban planning, and information science. Using the environmental crisis at Love Canal as a case study, this session introduces key GIS tools—ArcGIS StoryMap, ArcGIS Online, and ArcGIS Field Maps—through real-world examples. We’ll explore archival collections and how spatial data can be used to interview residents, map environmental risks, and build engaging narratives. Whether you're new to GIS or looking to apply it in your own discipline, this presentation offers practical and interdisciplinary insights and is open to all.
Revealing Restricted Voices: The Love Canal Interview Redaction Project (In-Person)
Wednesday, October 22, 2025
1 p.m. to 2 p.m.
Silverman Library, 3rd floor, 310 Capen Hall
University at Buffalo, North Campus
This presentation explores the complex journey of making previously restricted interviews with Love Canal residents accessible to researchers. Archivists and faculty from the University at Buffalo will share their methodical approach to reviewing and redacting these sensitive 1970s testimonials, detailing how they navigated the intersecting challenges of legal requirements, privacy concerns, and ethical stewardship. Attendees will learn about the partnership with students from UB's Department of Environment and Sustainability that informed this process, and discuss curation elements from the fall campus exhibit "Toxic Archives: Stories from Love Canal." This presentation offers valuable insights for archival professionals and community archivists managing collections that contain sensitive personal information while trying to maximize their research value and historical significance.
Film screening of the PBS documentary “Poisoned Ground: The Tragedy at Love Canal” (In-Person)
Wednesday, November 19, 2025
2 p.m. to 4:30 p.m.
Silverman Library, 3rd floor, 310 Capen Hall
University at Buffalo, North Campus
Featuring 100+ historical images from the University at Buffalo, University Archives, Poisoned Ground: The Tragedy at Love Canal tells the dramatic and inspiring story of the ordinary women who fought against overwhelming odds for the health and safety of their families. In the late 1970s, residents of Love Canal, a working-class neighborhood in Niagara Falls, New York, discovered that their homes, schools and playgrounds were built on top of a former chemical waste dump, which was now leaking toxic substances and wreaking havoc on their health. Through interviews with many of the extraordinary housewives turned activists, the film shows how they effectively challenged those in power, forced America to reckon with the human cost of unregulated industry, and created a grassroots movement that galvanized the landmark Superfund Bill.