- What was the hardest thing you've ever had to do?

Maybe it took determination or courage.

Over the next two episodes, we're going to visit places that represent people who've had to work hard for their freedom and who have built community.

(upbeat music) Community is a place where you feel valued.

It's a group of people you can rely on and the feeling that you're not alone.

For some Americans, even though there were significant hurdles in their path, it thrived continuously in Buffalo, even before it became a city in 1835.

That's even before the Civil War.

Maybe you or your family have a similar story.

Hi, I'm Chrisena, and today we are headed into the historic Michigan Street African American Heritage Corridor.

Let's go.

(gentle music) The Nash House and Museum is our first stop.

This home and its contents were an actual time capsule when it was discovered, giving us a glimpse into what life was like in the early 1900s.

The street is actually named after the house and the house is named after the family that lived there.

The house was restored and represents a close-knit society, which was centered around Michigan Street.

(bright music) - Hello and welcome to the Nash House Museum, and this is the home, historic home of Reverend J. Edward Nash and his wife, Ms. Frances Jackson Nash.

They purchased a home in 1925 and moved in this two-family home.

They lived upstairs and they rented the downstairs for extra income.

Reverend Nash went to Wayland Seminary and later that became Virginia Union University.

He graduated from there in 1892 and his first assignment as a pastor was to become the pastor of the Michigan Street Baptist Church in Buffalo, New York.

He pastored that church for 61 consecutive years.

The first picture I'll show you is a picture of Reverend Nash, Mrs. Nash, and their son, Jesse Jr. Now, there are photographs all along the wall that were in Reverend Nash's collection, but I love to show how people did dress to take photos from a photographer.

I especially like this picture of this young girl who's dressed up probably for a special occasion.

And there she is in her best dress with her bows on.

- Wow, Sharon, it's really incredible in here.

- It's a time capsule of how the house looked when they lived in the house in the '20s, '30s, and '40s, even up to the early '50s.

So we're in the kitchen, which is a good place to talk about how Mrs. Nash was an excellent cook, cooked all of her meals on the stove in the kitchen.

She was a seamstress, made a lot of the clothes that she wore.

She also had an organic garden at the back of the house where she grew her own vegetables and some she gave out to other members of the community.

- Seeing a lot of grains.

I see beans and lentils here, some spices down here.

Cinnamon, one of my favorites.

- Yeah.

- So what is all of this under here, all these mechanisms?

- Well, the whole thing is a Hoosier cabinet.

So this is like modern kitchen furniture for the time that they lived in.

And sacks of flour inside here, and then just wind out as much as you needed to use so that you wouldn't have the sacks all around.

(ambient music) Nash had her desk where she could do her Sunday school business.

She had her own programs that she would design and pass out so that people would know that she could do poetry and be on church programs.

(upbeat music) So they were a very versatile family.

They loved music.

Mrs. Nash was a musician.

Sometimes she played the piano, sometimes they listened to the radio in this room, and they had a Victrola in the house that we had repaired and we have some of their records that they also left as part of the artifact.

And turn it on, and we shall hear what they were listening to.

(bouncy music) Reverend Nash was well read.

And in 1892, there were not a lot of African American men who had completed college.

He helped to get nurses into the nursing program, especially African American nurses.

He helped to co-found the Buffalo Urban League, the Buffalo NAACP, and the Michigan Street YMCA, all played an integral part in the civil rights of that era in this community - [Chrisena] There's a lot more history here at the Michigan Street Baptist Church.

(upbeat music) - My dad was the champion of both the Nash House and the Michigan Street Baptist Church.

He actually fought very hard to be recognized by the city of Buffalo and on a national level as the church is now on the National Registry for historical landmarks.

A more simplified definition of preservation would be to take upon the responsibility for a piece of land, a building, and to take care of it and make sure that it looks good for people to come and visit and it's well maintained.

- You said that the Michigan Avenue Baptist Church, that was one of the last stops on the Underground Railroad - To specify what the Underground Railroad was, it was actually a network of houses, churches, and also other safe places where freedom seekers on the trail from the South up to the North could stop and either be helped, given rest and food.

And that was full of abolitionists.

Someone in the past who actually fought against slavery.

An abolitionist would help to successfully guide people to Canada or to a free state.

Slavery was the legal enslavement or forceful labor of African Americans in the United States.

- Freedom seeker, why is that an important term to use?

- To identify as a freedom seeker is to identify our agency to have freedom, wanting to have rights, and wanting to fight for justice.

(gentle music) The front of the church was a bit different in the beginning.

So there was a door that led directly to the basement and not just the sanctuary.

So they would go there through that and into the basement.

It would be a hiding space inside the wall.

- [Chrisena] Wow.

- And it actually fit about five to six adults, as well as a few children.

- And you said there was a hiding place down here and then up top in the roof?

- Yeah.

And actually, there is a space in the roof too, but it will be inside of the rafter.

So if we were to be inside, it would be near the balcony in the ceiling.

They could uncover that and could hide people temporarily or hide goods or whatever they needed there.

- Are there any notable activists that you think everyone should know about?

- Well, one of the women that we are trying to put now at the forefront is Mary B. Talbert.

She was a national suffragist.

So she fought for the women's right to vote.

She actually formed what's called the Phyllis Wheatley Club.

She was a Buffalo New York champion for reforms and justice in the African American community.

- She sounds like a superhero.

- Very well celebrated woman in Buffalo, New York.

We should honor the historical treasures that we have here.

The Corridor is one of them.

(upbeat music) - I feel so grateful that I got to spend time listening and seeing parts about this rich history that we should all know about.

Well, I'm going to go get myself ready for part two of this journey here in the Corridor.

I'll see you next time ♪ Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha ♪ - Through our preservationist board, and they are original to how it was when the church was built.

So actually that parking lot right over there is where Mary B. Talbert's home was now.

The Talberts were very involved.

They were abolitionists, activists, and their home is so important.

♪ Ha, ha, ha ♪ ♪ Ha, ha, ha ♪ ♪ Ha, ha, ha ♪ ♪ Ha, ha, ha ♪ ♪ Ha, ha, ha ♪ ♪ Ha, ha, ha ♪ ♪ Ha ♪ (lighthearted music)