1
10
79
-
http://digital.buffalolib.org/files/original/ed9335b2a08fe4a9ad04e60f153d3eac.mp4
6041070684299b17c9cd227f8628e2d3
PDF Text
Text
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Rich Newberg Reports Collection
Description
An account of the resource
This collection of long-form reports by retired WIVB-TV Senior Correspondent Rich Newberg covers a wide range of social issues, Buffalo history and the arts. Mr. Newberg retired from the Buffalo CBS network affiliate at the end of 2015, after serving the station for thirty-seven years in various roles including main anchor, reporter and documentarian. <br /><br />His New York Emmy Award winning pieces explore the abortion debate, care of the mentally ill, the African American struggle for civil rights, and the lessons of the Holocaust, among many topics. His video memoir, “One Reporter’s Journey, “ reflects on his forty-six year career, beginning as an advocate for those without a voice. <br /><br />"My hope," says Newberg, “is that this collection will provide a lasting chronicle of life and issues in Buffalo during the latter part of the 20th century and into the new millennium."
Moving Image
A series of visual representations imparting an impression of motion when shown in succession. Examples include animations, movies, television programs, videos, zoetropes, or visual output from a simulation.
Transcription
Any written text transcribed from a sound
The following program is a special presentation of news four.
And now News Four presents flight 3407 for the families
And good evening, everyone. I'm Don Postles
And I'm Jacquie Walker. They were mothers, fathers, sisters, brothers, and some of the best friends you could ever ask for in life and the 50 people who lost their lives when flight 3407 went down and Clarence Center were also extraordinary people and Tonight, we celebrate their lives. First, Melissa Holmes looks at what happened. Melissa.
Every day we learn more about the victims of the plane crash and more about the crash itself. It could be weeks, months or even years before we know why flight 3407 went down. It could be even longer for those who mourn to heal. fitting for zero so 0.5 Continental flight 3407 Newark to Buffalo in that last conversation between the female first officer and the tower. The final approach to the buffalo now average national airport seems normal. But seconds later the bombardment a dash eight q 400. dropped off the radar was five miles out and all of a sudden it's always thought that aircraft only six miles from the runway like 3407 fell from the sky landing on a house in Clarence Center. 50 souls perished. The date Thursday, February 12. The time 10:20pm lives were forever changed.
To me it looked like the plane just came down in the middle of the house and unfortunately that's where he was.
I heard my mother making noise on the phone that I never before.
He took the earlier flight because he wanted to come home and say goodnight to the kids before they went to bed.
The flames went on for hours. When it was finally safe, Federal authorities began searching for answers through the black boxes. National Transportation Safety Board investigators determined the pilot turned on the planes de icing system. It was functioning but problems persisted.
The crew discussed significant ice buildup ice on the windshield and leading edge of the wings.
The plane was on autopilot but then the plane stall prevention system kicked in, giving control back to the pilot. That's when it began to pitch and roll. It's like 3407 plunged 800 feet in five seconds.
At memorial services throughout the community 1000s have gathered for prayers and for peace. individuals from all walks of life has become one through unspeakable tragedy.
We try to love our neighbors as we would love ourselves but today we love our neighbors because we realize that they are ourselves.
Thoughts and prayers from around the world are going out to the victims and their families. But for Western New Yorkers, we know the faces we know the names none of us will ever forget where we were when we heard flight 3407 fell from the sky.
It seems out of the wreckage and the deaths a solidarity has been born a unity that Western New York has never seen before. Dawn and Jackie.
Thank you Melissa. Well, the families who lost our loved ones I'm flying 3407 return to the crash scene this afternoon for the very first time.
It was for us George record is live tonight in Clarence center with more of that emotional visit today.
GEORGE-- Yeah, and it's hard to say just how much closure this may have brought for the families the scene is still there. It has changed though there is no recognizable debris obviously no human remains visible, but still for for about one hour today. Everything stopped as the families came to see up close for themselves, the spot where their loved ones spent their last seconds of life. It was about 1245 This afternoon, when six busloads of family members and friends of the victims rolled up to the crash site, as members of the public looked on from two blocks away outside the perimeter on Goodrich road and they get to closure out of it why I think it's always a good deal.
I can't imagine I mean, I love my family and to see something like that, you know, but I mean, I guess that's all they you know, that's all they could have left to see. So, you know, like I say God bless them and my heart goes out to them and their families.
The families spent about an hour there laying flowers just over the fence of the crash scene. Immediately afterward. A few designated members of the media were taken to the site, including only one TV camera and local radio reporter Barbara burns.
Initially it looked simply like a construction scene. There was a lot of construction equipment, bobcats cranes, and then once you got close as close as they let us in the end, we got within I would say maybe 2025 feet. You started to realize it started to set in you saw the tail of the plane. While I was there, a huge crane took away a large piece which turned out to be a big a big part of the engine of the plane. Just I mean you keep hearing this word over and over surreal and it is surreal.
And we will have more first hand accounts from people who have seen the site up close as you see behind me. They are keeping the perimeter enforced here probably at least until the weekend is what we're hearing. We'll have more later on this hour reporting live on Goodrich road and Clarence George Ricker news for
All right, George. Well, one woman aboard continental flight 3407 was pregnant with her first child. Family and friends of Jennifer Neal feel cheated, they tell news four's Rich Newberg they we're looking forward to seeing Jen experience the joy of motherhood.
34 year old Jennifer Neil and her fiance Todd Acker were anxiously awaiting the birth of her son. Jennifer perished in the crash, but everyone remembers her spirit.
A beautiful young woman with a big smiling face and just very caring about other people. She was a fantastic person.
Jennifer is remembered here at Women and Children's Hospital where she worked in the physical therapy department for a while she had a special way with the children she helped as the hours go on after we found out it's it's harder and harder.
Mary Pat Battaglia remembers Jen helping this child recovering from spinal surgery, Jen was able to help her, you know, get up on your hands and knees and crawl around a little bit. It's strengthening for these kids. Get up and kneel at the table, pull yourself up to standing and she was she could she could get these little ones to work. She could motivate them because it was fun and she was happy. Jen was having a good time. And so the kids were having a good time.
As a student at Clarence High School, Jennifer excelled as a musician and an athlete, a strong team leader. Jennifer believed that anything and everything she wanted to do in life was possible, said her family. Every person that she met in life was drawn to her by her grace and inner beauty that was immeasurable. Jennifer went on to work for a drug company positioning herself in the top 4% of national sales. Her parents said she is forever in our hearts and minds.
That was Richard Newberg reporting there now at age 24. Ellyce Kausner of Clarence was one of the youngest passengers on board flight 3407 and many knew her simply Elly but there's nothing simple about the second year law student who was filled with laughter and loved in life. News four spoke with one of the Ellyce's family members this afternoon now,
Before we got the full picture of the deadly crash before we knew who was on the plane and who wasn't. We heard one name at least counselor has loved ones put it all on the line to find her that fateful night. Today, hundreds of well wishers have been filling the clubhouse of Clarence's main park for at least his week to mourn the loss of a bright light cut short so suddenly and violently, just a few miles away. 24 year old Ellyce Marie Kausner or Elly as she was affectionately known, graduated from Canisius College and was in the second year of law school. As Ellie's aunt Nancy Houston put it her niece would have been great as a lawyer or anything she set her mind to
She was always the life of the party. I almost never saw her without a smile. Just just a fantastic young woman. It's impossible even to describe what the world has lost in in having her not with us any longer.
Visitation continues tonight. until nine with a memorial service set for tomorrow morning. The family is asking that donations be made to the Erie County SPCA. Donna Jackie.
Thank you, Alan. The crash of Flight 3407 has left that deep hole in the hearts of nine brothers and sisters from Buffalo
Mary Pettis was the big sisters who all of them the rock of the family. She was also engaged to be married for her fiance. The tragic events of Thursday were the worst possible ending to the love story of his life. Here's news four's Laurie Schultz
Family members of flight 3407 their shock and sadness as reality sets in. There are also many memories.
She was the friend that everyone wished they had. And she was the person that everyone wished they could be
Sue and her father brothers and sisters gathered to remember 51 year old Mary Pat is the oldest of the 10 siblings, a lifelong Buffalonian was a software manager for a health care company. She was returning home from a business trip to New York when the plane went down. Her grieving fiance says everyone who met her fell in love with her. They were to marry this spring . Dealing two days after the nation's first deadly airline crash since 2006. air travelers seem to brush away any fear of flying and boarded flights. However New Jersey's newer flight 3407 came from some passengers admitted that safety was on their minds.
Oh yeah,definitely. Yeah, pretty much. I mean, there's no way anyone can sit up there and say they're not thinking about that are easy. It's very nerve racking, and our son actually was in the area, and he would have taken that flight to Buffalo.
Bianca was to New York the morning continues. Mary's widowed father says it really hit him when his daughter wasn't there to bring it coffee as she did every day since the wife died. brought coffee every morning and quite a girl. But amid tears are beautiful memories far stronger than the haunting images of the doomed flight.
Thank you, Laurie. And by now, many of us have also heard the story of passenger Beverly Acker, like Mary Pettis, Beverly was also a pillar of strength for her family, displaying tremendous faith and courage, especially in the years since the 911 attacks, a tragedy that took a life of her husband, and she was returning home to honor his memory. Beverly Eckerd family who is trying to cope with tragedy for a second time her husband Sean Rooney was killed in the 911 attacks on the World Trade Center. She was coming to Buffalo to celebrate his birthday with her sisters and to award a scholarship at Canisius High School. In her husband's memory.
It was just laughter in her voice. We were just talking all the time over the week what we were going to do and how we were going to do it.
After 911 she became an advocate for the victims families. Now her family was pulling on her strength Ben to get through this now.
She said Shawn faced death with such calm courage. And it calmed her we were more visibly shaken in Beverly who said I have to be strong. And I watched her and I think that lesson what she did there is allowing us to follow I keep thinking How did Beverly do this? I know how she did this. And she gave us a gift because she did this already. She was not afraid of death. The family is reflecting on Beverly and her talents. There's the mug she made inscribed with the words do all you can in the time that you have. There are also paintings that she made for her sisters. The family believes she's now reunited with Sean
I think she's a peace and I she was not afraid of death. She-She looked at it as a way probably be reunited with Sean
Beverly lived life with vigor and determination. She was an inspiration for all who knew her there was no fence that was too high. There was no pit was too deep. They could climb over it, climb out of it together or individually. And she's just amazing.
Beverly achor was held in such high esteem not just by her family, but by the community and her classmates here at Sacred Heart are planning on honoring her this May with the Distinguished Alumni Award. Her life is over. But her legacy lives on. She was recently called to the White House to meet with President Obama, who was touched by her compassion for life.
Tragic events, such as these remind us of the fragility of life and the value of every single day. One person who understood that well was Beverly Packard, who was on that flight and who I met with just a few days ago. You see Beverly lost her husband on 911 and became a tireless advocate for those families whose lives were forever changed on that September day. And in keeping with that passionate commitment, she was on her way to Buffalo to mark what would have been her husband's birthday and launch a scholarship in his memory. So she was an inspiration to me and to so many others and I pray that her family finds peace and comfort in the hard days ahead.
And many other families also hope and pray for that same peace and comfort tonight
News four's Melissa Holmes is joining us again with more stories of lives lost Melissa
Zach Aidan they're the stories of for more Western New Yorkers who have left behind husbands, wives, children, and tremendous legacies.
Father, we pray specifically for the families the individuals that are grieving at this time.
The community is wrapping its arms around those families who have lost loved ones in the crash of continental flight 3407 We're learning more about them. There was 44 year old Don mana Keno our lives together were just being with each other being with being with family. And in our two dots. John and Michael had been married for 14 years. She and her co worker were coming back from a business trip with Schering plough pharmaceutical company when the plane crashed. Michael says he's being strong for her family and Clarence and in Scranton, Pennsylvania.
I can hold it together because, you know, I gotta I gotta let people know about this. There was Dr. Allison Des Forges;
The Chinese have a saying that if a marriage is too happy, it can't last too long. Just totally devoted mother, a totally devoted wife.
They were husband and wife for 44 years and had two children together. Des Forges was also a human rights activist and the world's leading expert on the 1994 Rwandan Genocide and its aftermath. She was returning home from London that fateful Thursday night. Her last conversation with her husband was about fearing the flight from Newark to Buffalo in the icy conditions.
She knew that it was going to be a rough ride. Unfortunately, she didn't know it was going to be in a plane which probably shouldn't have been flown in those conditions.
It is the hope of Roger Des Forges that his wife's legacy will live on and others inspired by her work. That may be one of the outcomes of this tragedy, that her moral power will be actually greater in death and it was even in life.
The family of Brian Kuklewicz is also mourning. He leaves behind his wife of 14 years Karen and their twin sons who will be celebrating their ninth birthday on Wednesday without their father. That shooter Walgett native who grew up on Buffalo's east side worked as an engineer for burns cascade. There was also Darren Talsma Lancaster, who was supposed to for a later flight,
he broke the earlier flight
tickets before they even
tells me it was traveling with three co workers from Northrop Grumman. His wife Robin admits he spent more time at work than at home, but his priorities were clear worked
for his kids. They are his pride and joy a
16 year old Nicole and 19 year old Darren know that West Act was an act of love so we can't complete
How will you stay strong.
Being an engineer, my dad was always obsessed with details and he came for everything and he always said you know if anything happened to me, he goes, You're the strong one. You're gonna be the one that's got to you know, put the take the burden on your shoulders.
A burden no child should ever have to bear
it's okay because you prepare to be
fine. Four completely separate lives now bonded together by tragedy. A community praying together love for healing for all
these things in your son's.
There was also Susan Whaley of Amherst. She dedicated much of her life to helping others heal through faith and music. She was the cantor at Temple back down in Williamsville and even recorded a CD called stones of healing and hope. The daughter of Holocaust survivors use her infectious spirit for life to reach out to people of all generations.
She had a tremendous ability to teach. She also had a tremendous love for life a zest for life, one that she shared with everyone she knew. friends
and loved ones remembered Wally during a special service at Temple Beth on on Friday. The impact she made on so many people there and across western New York also lives on tonight. Dawn and Jackie.
Thank you, Melissa and hundreds of Western New Yorkers from all faiths came together this morning to remember the 50 lives last Thursday night as far
as chill arena takes us now to a celebration of life and community in Florence.
For one hour, every one who packed the Eastern Hills Wesleyan Church and Clarence put their differences aside. That great sense today we are all one community, a community searching for one common ground closure. But even for those responsible for today's prayer service like Pastor Carl e slack. There were even times he didn't have an answer. Families need
to go on they need to walk on. I don't know how you do that.
Those words ring especially true for people like Joon Fisher, my daughter, three of them were here for them. Sad thing and I couldn't get over it.
In a hurry. That's for sure.
But Pastor Darius Pridgen says today's example of solidarity will help a great deal
for people to look beyond where someone lives or what his name is or what their background is to get to the point of saying we're all people and the loss of life touches us all,
even if most of whom attended the ceremony never knew those who are no longer with us.
One plane crash 50 lives but not just 50 Lies 50 unique souls
each represented by a rose placed in a vase before the altar by the brave firefighters who responded to the scene where they fell from the sky.
We've seen enough tears and heard enough cries of people to fill our sadness cup for a lifetime. There is not a person aboard that flight 3407 That is not one or two degrees removed from a person that I know
all listings to see God was then we're all victims families, people in the neighborhood even people just watch this tragedy unfold on television. All are feeling a sense of grief.
And the ways of coping with this can vary which is why we have invited Jen Henry for the life transition center of hospice to join us tonight. She's a grief counselor. So Jen, we thank you for joining us and you know, what should people be feeling people who really have no real connection to the tragedy? What are normal feelings?
I think everyone feels deeply about this. We all have experienced some sort of loss in our own lives. This is not unlike 911 other losses that our community and nation has known and so this reminds us that we're all vulnerable. You can't count on life always be the same from one day to the next. And should you acknowledge the feelings that you have that you may be you may be angry even you may be fearful upset,
angry fearful. You may actually not have any feelings being Nam, strange as it may sound is also a response. But any of those irritability, not being able to sleep not eating overeating. All of those--during the call first came in. It was said to be a small plane. And Lisa Flynn was out of the scene. She told us that her sources said maybe 50 people could be dead. And then we found out as we stayed on during the night that Beverly Acker was among those dead and all sudden, you find out at someone you know, and it takes your breath away, and then that's the shock. And then as the time goes on, you really start feeling the pain and the suffering for her family and for all the victims families.
Yes, that's right. So it will change over time. And there's no right or wrong way to feel no right or wrong way to grieve.
I'd like to know what you say to somebody now. I think each one of us in this community knows somebody somehow connected to this tragedy. If you know someone who lost a close loved one or someone they know on this plane, what should you say to them? Maybe you know, nobody knows what to say in these times.
You let them talk. You tell them you don't know how they're feeling. I mean, that's one thing sometimes we say I know exactly how you're feeling. Don't say that. We don't none of us do. You let them talk, share their feelings. And just be open and respectful. And I'm thinking of you I care about you.
That means a lot to for them to know that you really sincerely care about and you're thinking about it, there's nothing you can do that bring the person back. But how does a person know if they're in such deep grief? If they need to seek professional help? What are the signs?
Initially, it's very normal, the things that we've talked about but if these attitudes, outlooks on life and so on, continue for several weeks or several months, then it's time to begin to think about seeking help whether we're there interfering with your life where you're not able to sleep, or you're always irritable. You can't go back to work after a month or so. Then it may be time to see some time needs to pass here before you know if you're really in distress and you need counseling.
Yes, but you can still talk with someone now to help you through the crisis period.
Right. And having said that, we want to remind folks that we have gents co workers. They're a counselor standing by right now. At the life Transition Center. They are available to take your calls. The number is 83664608366460 is the number for counselors that are there right now and they'll be there till eight o'clock.
And if you have young children in your family, stay tuned and the next half hour John will have some important tools for helping them cope as well.
Very important to talk to the kids about this and we'll be talking to you in a little bit. Now. Jim, thank you so much. Hospice is also holding a special seminar to help this community cope with the tragedy of flight 3407. This will take place on Wednesday, coming up this week Wednesday from five to six and the hospice buffalo Education Center. This is located at Como Park Boulevard in Cheektowaga and Horizon Health Services is holding free support groups for the next four Saturdays from 930 to 1030 in the morning, that's at the Boulevard counseling center that's near maple road in the town of Tonawanda. And for more information you can call 8311800. You'll find all this on our website. We'll also repeat it for you a little later in the program.
Well, the only two survivors of this terrible tragedy were on the ground.
Karen Wielinski and her daughter Jill made it out of the burning house alive. Doug Wielinski did not. Here's news fours Lisa Flynn,
I happened to notice a little light on the right of me that tiny bit of light was.
Karen Wielinski's ray of hope she had survived the impact of the plane striking her long street home in Clarence center. Karen told WIVBTV and radio how she got out and then just kind of pushed what was me part of that often crawled out the hole.
Karen's 22 year old daughter Jill was upstairs in the front of the house when the plane hit she to miraculously survived and found an opening and when I got her I mean of course she wanted to know where her dad was. I didn't know and to me, it looks like the plane just came down in the middle of the house. Unfortunately, that's where Douglas Karen's husband
61 year old Doug Welinski did not make it out. Karen says Doug was in the dining room working on his beloved sports memorabilia when the plane hit the woolen skis are well known and declared school district or Karen's a secretary. Doug, an engineer is a Vietnam veteran who frequently came to the school to do lectures on Vietnam was students were always enthralled to hear his lectures. Just a vibrant, good person.
And the Clarence community and the school's Federal Credit Union have set up a fund for the Weilenski family. You can drop off your donations at the credit union office at 9145 Sheridan drive in Clarence or you can mail them to post office box 657 Clarence, New York 14031. Well, we all know that buffalo is a hockey town and Madeline Loftus loved ice hockey. In fact, she was on her way back to Buffalo for a reunion game with her old teammates at Buffalo State is news forest. Joe arena tells us that game went on in her honor, and it will for years to come.
From the opening faceoff to the final handshakes. This game wasn't about scoring goals. It was about a friend
The reunion game from now on will be Maddie's game.
Madeline Lynn Loftus never made it to the game, or had the chance to catch up with her friends and teammates this weekend. She was on flight 3407 Her friends played the reunion game today, but with heavy hearts and say there wasn't a moment Maddie wasn't on their minds, especially during the final minute.
All I could think of really was the final minutes for Maddie. And this is her game and just go as hard as you can because she would be going as hard as she could
Years earlier, while Maddie was still in high school in her hometown of New Jersey. Maddie proved how hard she could go by becoming the only girl on an all boys hockey team.
And whether it was a boys team or a girls team. She was going to succeed too, would have been thoroughly disappointed if we if we hadn't played today. And I think it was great that we got out there and you know, every other shift I mean she popped into my head the entire game and I'm sure everybody else out there too.
Moments after the game the players formed a circle, took a knee and lit 10 candles for Mattie's number. They prayed. They cried. And as a group held on to the little piece of Maddie left in all of them, as their task now is much more difficult than anything they could deal with at the office or on the ice.
All among the victims of the continental crash the entire crew, the flight crew of four and a young pilot who was off duty they all shared a deep love of flying. The crew included Captain Marvin runs low of Lutz, Florida first officer Rebecca Shaw from Maple Valley, Washington and Matilda concerto and Donna Prisco flight attendants from New Jersey. 47 year old Marvin Rennes Lowe, a husband and father from Lutz Florida was the pilot of continental flight 3407 hours after the crash, his pastor spoke up his deep faith.
They want you to know that their faith is that God is sovereign, that God is in control even when it seems everything is out of control.
Next to the captain in the cockpit. 24 year old first officer Rebecca Shaw, who was married. Her family says she had a passion for flying
She experienced loved. She experienced passion she experienced passion in life and in her career. She would walk in and everyone would be in smiles because you just couldn't help yourself because she was always so happy and so smiling and she loved her husband so much flight attendant 52 year old Donna Prisco from Randolph New Jersey had been a stay at home mother of four before she fulfilled her lifelong dream of becoming a flight attendant last June. She trained as a flight attendant with 57 year old Matilda Cantero, a breast cancer survivor who was also realizing her dream later in life.
And when she got her wings she was really excited. She just loved it absolutely loved.
That's the common thread binding the crew of Flight 3407 their family members say each was in the sky that night because flying was a profound passion. Each had worked hard to gain the wings so flight had the privilege of flying whether she was an amazing pilot, absolutely amazingly proud of your family as a family.
And that off duty crew member was Captain Joseph CIPA Leto.
He didn't live here in western New York at the time of the crash but he had strong ties to the area and he too will be sorely missed.
Chautauqua County airport manager Dave sanctuary is mourning the loss of an old friend.
It's just an absolute shame to lose a gentleman's such a gentleman so young in his life and so dedicated to his career.
Captain Joseph Zuffoletto, was a native of San Diego but was based out of the Jamestown Airport last year. Sanctuary says you'd often drop by to chat and check in on the weather and aviation science graduate of Embry Riddle University sanctuary says Zuffoletto, got his pilot's license at 17
You could tell that just from getting him to talk about an airplane and he was just starting to kind of glow.
When Zuffoletto, was reassigned to the Newark Airport, the 27 year old would hop on a plane to see his grandmother in Buffalo.
I understand that he would fly there when he had a short time off rather than trying to get all the way back to his home
Friends of Zuffoletto in the area are working to organize a memorial service for a man who is said to have quote a heart of gold.
Joe is was the epitome of what what you look for in a pilot he he cared deeply about his professionalism. He cared deeply about doing the best job that he ever could do.
And that was news four's Michelle McClintock, Ronald and Linda Davidson are returning to the southern tier after visiting a relative out of town. They dedicated their lives to helping others and as Milo's here says tells us the close knit knit community that they call home will forever be grateful.
Ronald and Linda Davidson, a husband and wife parents of three victims of a flight 3407 tragedy,
great grief for all of us. There's like a hole that I don't know if it'll get filled or not.
Sunday service at the couple's longtime spiritual home, St. Peter's Episcopal Church in Westfield.
In this time of sorrow. Faith is the pillar of strength that is helping family and friends cope.
God take them to your heart and love them.
The Davidson's were returning home on plate 3407 After visiting their daughter,
It was very nice that they had seen all their children just before they left.
Linda was a nurse for 25 years. The Davidsons are remembered for giving back to their community. You see their calling went beyond Sunday services.
Ron was a volunteer in the soup kitchen on those days. Good good. Very funny man. And she would come in once a month. Take the blood pressure to clients in the soup kitchen that would come in and just awful nice people.
On Sunday, a chance for the community to remember and find answers in their beliefs.
To remember is is instead of pulling things apart, it's putting things back together the way they're meant to be a husband and wife, parents, friends.
It's right for us to grieve. We know where they are, but we miss them.
And looking forward to visiting relatives in Toronto a father a mother, their only child and his Aunt board a flight 3407 The four members of the Massop family of Bloomfield, New Jersey had delayed their vacation until they could get time off from work and school. Donald and Dawn Mossap 12 year old Shawn and Dawn's sister Ferris were active church members
They were God fearing loving, caring people. The type you would really want as friends.
Well two other members of the Masa family were supposed to take that flight but they decided to stay behind.
And two other passengers from New Jersey we're heading to Buffalo to share their musical talents with Western New Yorkers.
News Four's Trisha Cruz has their stories tonight.
Coleman Mallette was a 33 year old musician from New Jersey who just released his first CD in 2007. this VHS tape shows Clay Yarborough and a blue shirt back in the 1980s. Back then, he was playing at a coachmen Park concert in Clearwater where he played for power play. He went on to play at the ringside cafe in St. Petersburg with a band called taxi. Ron Reinhardt, a friend and fellow musician says music was Yarborough's Passion.
Clay was an excellent musician. Excellent, good reputation in the area. Some say he focused on music because of his traumatic experience in Vietnam. He was the most macho guy in the world. He was decorated Vietnam War grunt. I mean, he was he saw it all clay. Clay saw it all. And I mean, just there's nothing worse that anyone has seen that clay hasn't seen hadn't seen. And he was wounded couple times. I think he's helicopters crashed a couple times since then. Yarber didn't like flying but he did it anyway, on Thursday. He was one of 49 passengers who died when the commuter plane crashed and Clarence center so he would play said once he said, you know, he said he should be dead. He said he should have died in Vietnam. So everything since then has been gravy.
Reinhart says Yarber didn't worry about the small things after his close calls with death. He became a free spirit who lived through his music his music will now move on.
And the beat goes on. So many stories.
Really? Well. families of the victims were allowed to visit the crash site today for the very first time and after they left some members of the media were also allowed in use for storage records spoke with some of these media witnesses today, GEORGE?
Yeah, very few of even the media have been allowed in as you see the perimeter is still strictly enforced here. Most of us are kept a few blocks away. But here's a perspective from a few who have seen it up close.
I've visited the site on a daily basis. I've seen it transformed from a fireball in its first few minutes to smoldering pile to a coal pile and now the tear down of that pile and the analysis on it. Still to this day. I'm amazed at the compressed area that it's that it's encompassing, it's a very small piece of property. And then to have this huge tail section sticking out of the out of the ground is just it's staggering. It's amazing.
Mostly saw just what looked to be a pile of like dirt and rubble. We heard the word methodical from a lot of the investigators and that is exactly what I saw. They are going literally shovel by shovel. It's absolutely surreal, amazing to see. You know, we keep seeing over and over and over again. This plane hit one home, just one home and to see that. The most amazing part of it all was the steps to the front door still in place still intact, charred and burned, but still in place where they were when this plane went down.
That is the last place you know their loved ones were when they were on Earth. So like I said thinking of myself I understand when significance that location has. Its significant 25 years as a trooper and I've seen a lot of things and investigated a lot of even fatal motor vehicle accidents or things like that tragedies that have occurred that have involved people in you know, the magnitude of this one makes it different and you'll never forget it. My troopers never forget it.
It really does leave an impression on anybody who sees it a different impression for everybody. And again, it's hard to say just what impression or whether it provided much closure at all for the family, but they spent a good hour on site and we could see them from a distance moving by carrying flowers. They threw flowers over a fence as even though there was maybe not much to see any more at least represented the place where their loved ones spent their final seconds.
Well George I think for major Cummings to say that all the years that he's been a state trooper what he's seen that he's never seen anything like this tragedy.
Exactly. And I think the same could be said here in the media. I mean, I've certainly never covered a story that has affected so many people locally like this and you know, I'm sure you could say that, you know the same thing, just the it impacts everybody differently even if you didn't know somebody well, who was on that flight. It's buffalo. Everybody knows somebody who knew somebody on that flight.
George, I want to ask you the NTSB investigator has been talking about they're removing pieces of the plane from the scene and have already removed a good portion of it. Are you seeing any trucks going by or any of that wreckage as it's leaving that area? No, we haven't. I mean, we see construction vehicles moving in and out not often not necessarily trucks that might have a giant covered piece of wreckage, nothing like that. And we have been here all day. It's mostly just standard construction trucks. Of course in the middle of the day they paused all the work for the families, but I think they're really trying to respect the privacy of all of it and covering whatever they take away. We don't see dumpsters, we don't see any open things like that. And while I'm at it the you know, although we're being kept a few blocks away here. Dave Bissonnette at the Emergency Coordinator for Clarence is estimating that by this weekend, possibly all the streets will be opened by this weekend. He says possibly, except for maybe just that one block with the housing question.
But George, you spent all day in Clarence and I was just wondering what's the demeanor of the residents out there? They've been dealing with this since last Thursday night.
They believe it's being handled well. At least the few I talked to made a point of saying how well they think that the authorities are handling this and you know, we weren't treated like we're a nuisance as you know, sometimes you worry about disrupting the privacy of venue. We're right next to houses here, but we have been taken well here. And I've heard no complaints of the way any of this has been run.
All right, George record. We appreciate your observations from the scene tonight.
And as you can imagine, firefighters are among the first to respond to the fiery crash scene. Now
George spoke with a first responder who says the images that he saw Thursday night will be with him for the rest of his life. We had a job to doand we wanted to go and get it done. But volunteer firefighter way. Mahalik says nothing could have prepared him for a site like the crash of Flight 3407 He drove one of the ambulances for the town of Newstead to the scene that night. They quickly learned there were no survivors and when you're trained to help somebody and you can't help them, but like most firefighters, he didn't think twice about going back the next day to help with the recovery efforts. He shared the photos with us that he took from what he calls Ground Zero. Even now almost three days after the crash there is still a perimeter setup, keeping the public and the media a few blocks away from the actual crash scene. That's why Wayne's pictures bring us all that much closer to what most of us haven't seen, like the way the trees are sliced in such a way to almost show the path the plane took on the way down or the landing gear that sticks out from the top of the scene.
There's been those thoughts, you know, why am I doing this? Why do I put myself in this situation? You know, but that's there's more to life than just living it for yourself. I mean, we're all humans were meant to help each other and firefighters are human too.
And John Henry, who is a great therapist from the life Transition Center is here with us again, John, let's talk about those first responders. They gotta be dealing with a lot now they realize if they saw that ball of fire and then what was happening inside?
Absolutely. The concentric circle. I mean, it's like a ripple. Those people that responded initially, all the way out to people just living on the streets. And the neighborhoods in that community and then on out to the larger community and the nation.
So you would expect those first on the scene perhaps to be most affected. Even though you know as we heard major Cummings from the State Police say they see you know, death they see violence on a regular basis, but they've never seen anything like that not to the magnitude of this I mean, something like this that is so unexpected, a plane dropping from the sky. It's just there's no way that people prepare for this. And so it just is very distressing and yet you know, through the years, we've never up until this point, had a commercial aviation disaster in Western New York, but these first responders continue to have drill after drill through the years, and I don't care how many drills you have. I think when you come across the real McCoy, it's like a ton of bricks. This is it. We got a job to do but then you realize the emotional toll of what's going on to the victims. Yeah, and that's going to go away. I mean that I hope people know that. That's going to stay and need attention for months and perhaps years. Yeah, and counseling may very much be in order for some folks here. Now. Let's talk about children. Because they see it on television. They've heard they're hearing about it in school. A lot of them have parents who fly or they have been on airplanes or they even have airplanes flying over their house. How are children to deal with this?
Well, I think the first thing we really ought to talk about his let's let's limit their exposure to some of the stories and some of the discussions. I mean, as this unfolds, it may be quite inappropriate to have them know some of the details that are available. But on the other hand, having said that, it's important that when we do talk to them, we are clear and concise, confident with what we know and what we don't know. And give them accurate information in ways that they can understand.
And I agree with you the news is not for children and for small children. Don't let them sit there and soak it up. But Jen, we want to thank you so much. And we want to remind folks because we've been talking about counseling that we have grief counselor standing by right now. They will be on the phones up until eight o'clock tonight. They're at the life Transition Center. And they are available to take calls at 8366460 Jen we thank you so much. The number again is 8366460.
And on Wednesday, hospice is holding a special seminar to help this community cope with the tragedy of flight 3407. It will take place from five to six at the hospice buffalo Education Center. That's on Como Park Boulevard in Cheektowaga. No one needs to register you can just literally walk in and we'd like to let you know that horizon Health Services is holding free support groups for the next four Saturdays from 930 to 1030. At the boulevard Counseling Center, this is near maple road in the town of Tonawanda. For more information you may call 831 1800. You'll find all of this on our website wiv.com. And as Western New Yorkers work through their grief, federal investigators continue their search for answers. For more on that now we're going to head to Amherst and to our news for investigative reporter Luke Moretti, Luke.
Well, the reality is it could take many months before we know what caused this horrific plane crash. Investigators continue searching for answers. And that includes talking to pilots who were flying in the area that night.
We went on to ask him what I seen they experienced what flight conditions they experience and so forth. So we're putting out these questionnaires. We're putting them dispatchers we're gonna go out and start doing interviews of the accident dispatcher and and other folks involved with this. And this is again a process it's going to take place over the next several weeks.
Now as investigators tried to put together the pieces of the puzzle, they're looking at a lot of different factors and that includes icing. 53407 stripped a buffalo appears to be uneventful until its final 26 seconds we now know that 11 minutes after takeoff from Newark, the pilot in control turned down the aircraft's de icing system he left he left it on the remainder of the flight this is a very sophisticated de icing system on the Q 400. And he had an audit properly and it was working properly that as far as we can you know determine when the crew left new work. The weather was late to moderate icing in the Buffalo area. The visibility was three miles with snow in light mist.
It was really not a bad weather day and they chose to launch but recordings analyzed by investigators indicate the crew had commented about significant ice buildup on the planes windshield and wings. We know the plane was on autopilot, but was turned off when the plane stall prevention system kicked in. At that point, a terrifying sequence of events begins to unfold is the aircraft gyrates wildly in roll to the left 46 degrees now and then a roll back to the right 105 degrees.
Investigators say the turboprop planes rapidly falling 800 feet in five seconds. The pole inside the cabin was twice the force of gravity. As for how icing on the wings and windshield affected the pilots ability to control it in the final minutes is still unclear. However the NTSB recommends that the autopilot be disengaged in icing conditions so that you have the manual feel for what might be changing in your flight regime. Because of the ice.
But the FAA which regulates aviation has not yet made that recommendation a hard fast rule to say that they should not have been flying on autopilot is not correct. I mean, it's up to the airlines it's up to the FAA it has not been changed, you know become a rule yet. That you will disengage the autopilot. The NTSB
Steve ... says several airlines have changed their procedures when it comes to isin. What does the manufacturer of this particular aircraft say about that?
The only restriction that they see the manufacturer of this airplane and that they write about is that disengage the autopilot in severe icing conditions, but severe icing is something investigators haven't found yet based on pilot reports from other airplanes. Now investigators are hoping to be finished at the crash site in clearance by Wednesday afternoon. They're hoping to get done before a big storm moves into the area but they say they'll stay as long as they have to. And once again a final determination on this won't be known for many months to come. We're live in Amherst tonight Luke Moretti news for all right thank you, Luke. And one way or another this tragedy has had an impact on every person who calls western New York home that is so true. If you would like to send your condolences to the victims families, you can do so on our website wiv.com. You'll also find more information there about support groups and other places where you can turn for help dealing with such devastation.
And we want to thank you for joining us tonight as we remember the 50 extraordinary people who have touched so many lives. We're going to leave you now with the angelic sounds of the Clarence Senior High School chorus and the lasting images of a tragedy that has united this community and changed so many lives.
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
4 The Families
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
WIVB-TV
Description
An account of the resource
Four days after a plane crashed in the Buffalo suburb of Clarence, New York, claiming the lives of all forty-nine people on board and a man on the ground, WIVB-TV- Channel 4 presented a one hour special honoring the memory of those who perished.
“4 The Families” included eulogies from relatives and friends and the latest details on the crash investigation.
Colgan Air Flight 3407 was on its way from Newark, New Jersey to the Buffalo Niagara International Airport. Colgan Air was a regional company servicing Continental Airlines.
Shortly before the crash, the crew had reported a buildup of ice on the aircraft's wings and windshield. The Bombardier Q400 two-engine turbo-prop failed to recover from a stall and crashed into a house on Long Street in Clarence Center. Three people were in the house. A mother and her daughter were able to escape. The father did not survive. The accident occurred at 10:17 pm, about five miles from the Buffalo airport.
An investigation by the National Transportation Safety Board would later attribute the crash to pilot error. Instead of pointing the nose of the plane downward and applying full power, the proper reaction to an aerodynamic stall, Captain Marvin Renslow pulled back on the control column pointing the nose upward causing the plane to pitch and roll. It quickly lost altitude and crashed.
Among those killed in the crash were Allison Des Forges, a human rights investigator and an expert on the Rwandan genocide, Beverly Eckert, named co-chair of the 9/11 Family Steering Committee after her husband was killed in the September 11 attacks, Susan Wehle, the first American female Jewish Renewal cantor, and jazz musicians Gerry Niewood and Coleman Mellett, who were en route to a concert with Chuck Mangione and the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra.
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Murphy, Kurt (Graphic Artist)
Jacquie Walker, Jacquie (Anchor)
Postles, Don (Anchor)
Holmes, Melissa (Reporter)
Richert, George (Reporter)
Newberg, Rich (Reporter)
Vaughters, Al (Reporter)
Schultz, Lorey (Reporter)
Arena, Joe (Reporter)
McClintick, Michele
Hairston, Mylous (Reporter)
Cruze, Tricia (Reporter)
Moretti, Luke (Reporter)
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2009-02-16
Subject
The topic of the resource
Aircraft accidents--New York (State)--Clarence
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
Rich Newberg Reports Collection
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Buffalo & Erie County Public Library (publisher of digital)
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
Copyright held by WIVB-TV. Access to this digital version provided by the Buffalo & Erie County Public Library. Videos or images in this collection are not to be used for any commercial purposes. Users of this website are free to utilize material from this collection for non-commercial and educational purposes.
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
video/mp4
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Moving image
Language
A language of the resource
eng
-
http://digital.buffalolib.org/files/original/020d0ca978e38c266dad34c96c54f7d4.mp4
dcf1f2c6f8352f09819de90e3ab06197
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Rich Newberg Reports Collection
Description
An account of the resource
This collection of long-form reports by retired WIVB-TV Senior Correspondent Rich Newberg covers a wide range of social issues, Buffalo history and the arts. Mr. Newberg retired from the Buffalo CBS network affiliate at the end of 2015, after serving the station for thirty-seven years in various roles including main anchor, reporter and documentarian. <br /><br />His New York Emmy Award winning pieces explore the abortion debate, care of the mentally ill, the African American struggle for civil rights, and the lessons of the Holocaust, among many topics. His video memoir, “One Reporter’s Journey, “ reflects on his forty-six year career, beginning as an advocate for those without a voice. <br /><br />"My hope," says Newberg, “is that this collection will provide a lasting chronicle of life and issues in Buffalo during the latter part of the 20th century and into the new millennium."
Moving Image
A series of visual representations imparting an impression of motion when shown in succession. Examples include animations, movies, television programs, videos, zoetropes, or visual output from a simulation.
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
A Change of Course : Applied Lessons of the Amistad Slave Ship Rebellion
Description
An account of the resource
This television special documents the Buffalo visit of the Freedom Schooner Amistad, a replica of the infamous slave ship. Thousands of school children were among Western New York visitors who viewed the cramped quarters from which African captives liberated themselves and killed their oppressors. Their bravery changed the course of the ship and history. The documentary also shows how African American Churches in Buffalo have developed projects to address economic, social, and health needs of the community. This is the fourth in a series of News 4 specials about black history in Western New York.
<em>Originally aired on WIVB-TV.</em>
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Newberg, Rich (Producer, Writer, Host)
Vetter, Tom (Producer, Photographer, Editor)
Hairston, Mylous (Producer, Co-host)
Ersing, Rich (Producer, Photographer, Editor)
Musial, Chris (Executive Producer)
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Dawkins, Don (Photographer)
Schrodt, Roy (Post-production Editor)
Mombrea, John (Post-production Editor)
Battilana, Tony (Director)
Clemons, Michael (Technical Director)
Brown, Dave (Technical Crew)
Ayers, Don (Technical Crew)
Lawrence, John (Technical Crew)
Sanders, Greg (Technical Crew)
Newberg, Rich (Researcher)
Hairston, Mylous (Researcher)
Vetter, Tom (Researcher)
Ersing Rich (Researcher)
Musial, Chris (Researcher)
Subject
The topic of the resource
African Americans--New York (State)--Buffalo--History
African Americans--New York (State)--Buffalo--Social conditions
African Americans--New York (State)--Buffalo--Economic conditions
African American churches
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
WIVB (Television Station : Buffalo, N.Y.)
Buffalo & Erie County Public Library (publisher of digital)
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2004-02-04
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Moving Image
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
video/mp4
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
Rich Newberg Reports Collection
Relation
A related resource
Digital Collections of the B&ECPL
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
Copyright held by WIVB-TV. Access to this digital version provided by the Buffalo & Erie County Public Library. Videos or images in this collection are not to be used for any commercial purposes without the expressed written permission of WIVB-TV and the Buffalo & Erie County Public Library. Users of this website are free to utilize material from this collection for non-commercial and educational purposes.
Language
A language of the resource
eng
-
http://digital.buffalolib.org/files/original/ef5adb95b731c3a92c2afe491e0d2c43.mp4
748f14810a482c97bec8d4e105b66c37
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Rich Newberg Reports Collection
Description
An account of the resource
This collection of long-form reports by retired WIVB-TV Senior Correspondent Rich Newberg covers a wide range of social issues, Buffalo history and the arts. Mr. Newberg retired from the Buffalo CBS network affiliate at the end of 2015, after serving the station for thirty-seven years in various roles including main anchor, reporter and documentarian. <br /><br />His New York Emmy Award winning pieces explore the abortion debate, care of the mentally ill, the African American struggle for civil rights, and the lessons of the Holocaust, among many topics. His video memoir, “One Reporter’s Journey, “ reflects on his forty-six year career, beginning as an advocate for those without a voice. <br /><br />"My hope," says Newberg, “is that this collection will provide a lasting chronicle of life and issues in Buffalo during the latter part of the 20th century and into the new millennium."
Moving Image
A series of visual representations imparting an impression of motion when shown in succession. Examples include animations, movies, television programs, videos, zoetropes, or visual output from a simulation.
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
A Life in the Balance : Struggles of the Mentally Ill
Description
An account of the resource
In the wake of some tragic incidents involving psychiatric outpatients, WIVB-TV Senior Correspondent Rich Newberg and photographer Tom Vetter examine the struggles of the mentally ill in a flawed mental health system. "A Life In the Balance" weighs the right of society to protect itself, against the right of individuals to live independent lives free of institutions and government restrictions. The documentary also shows how patients who have gotten their lives together are reaching out to help others avoid falling through the cracks in the system.
<em>Originally aired on WIVB-TV.</em>
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Newberg, Rich (Producer, Writer, Host)
Vetter, Tom (Producer, Photographer, Editor)
Musial, Chris (Executive Producer)
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Murphy, Kurt (Graphic Arts Director)
Vanhorn, Mike (Graphic Artist)
Mombrea, Mike Jr. (Creative Consultant, Contributing Photographer)
Schrodt, Roy (Non-linear Editor)
Kaufman, Ken (Composer of original score)
Mombrea, John (Contributing Photographer)
Csortan, Peter (Contributing Photographer)
Hutchinson, Dave (Contributing Photographer)
McIntyre, Don (Contributing Photographer)
Subject
The topic of the resource
Mentally ill--New York (State)
Mental health services--New York (State)
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
WIVB (Television Station : Buffalo, N.Y.)
Buffalo & Erie County Public Library (publisher of digital)
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1999-02-03
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Moving Image
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
video/mp4
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
Rich Newberg Reports Collection
Relation
A related resource
Digital Collections of the B&ECPL
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
Copyright held by WIVB-TV. Access to this digital version provided by the Buffalo & Erie County Public Library. Videos or images in this collection are not to be used for any commercial purposes without the expressed written permission of WIVB-TV and the Buffalo & Erie County Public Library. Users of this website are free to utilize material from this collection for non-commercial and educational purposes.
Language
A language of the resource
eng
-
http://digital.buffalolib.org/files/original/08c35cdf1ff7c1815d22509a905d267c.mp4
a1413a4818294018ea0b2efdd6e8f27a
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Rich Newberg Reports Collection
Description
An account of the resource
This collection of long-form reports by retired WIVB-TV Senior Correspondent Rich Newberg covers a wide range of social issues, Buffalo history and the arts. Mr. Newberg retired from the Buffalo CBS network affiliate at the end of 2015, after serving the station for thirty-seven years in various roles including main anchor, reporter and documentarian. <br /><br />His New York Emmy Award winning pieces explore the abortion debate, care of the mentally ill, the African American struggle for civil rights, and the lessons of the Holocaust, among many topics. His video memoir, “One Reporter’s Journey, “ reflects on his forty-six year career, beginning as an advocate for those without a voice. <br /><br />"My hope," says Newberg, “is that this collection will provide a lasting chronicle of life and issues in Buffalo during the latter part of the 20th century and into the new millennium."
Moving Image
A series of visual representations imparting an impression of motion when shown in succession. Examples include animations, movies, television programs, videos, zoetropes, or visual output from a simulation.
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
A Palace for Buffalo : the History of the Shea's Buffalo Theater
Description
An account of the resource
A palace for Buffalo: the colorful history of the Shea's Buffalo Theater and its dynamic founder Michael Shea. This television special revisits the magic of the silent movie era, the desperate fight to save the theater from the wrecker's ball, and the Shea's magnificent rebirth as a venue for Broadway shows.
<em>Originally aired on WIVB-TV.</em>
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Newberg, Rich (Producer, Writer, Host)
Mombrea Jr., Mike (Producer, Photographer, Editor)
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Musial, Chris (Executive Producer)
Ersing, Rich (Contributing Photographer)
Dee, Joe (Contributing Photographer)
Swan, Ray (Contributing Photographer)
Beauchamp, Steve (Contributing Photographer)
Murphy, Kurt (Graphic Arts Director)
Vinciguerra, Jerry (Graphic Artist)
Bray, John (Announcer)
Mombrea, John (Post-production Editor)
Diavastes, Jim (Post-production Editor)
Schrodt, Roy (Post-production Editor)
Newberg, Rich (Researcher)
Mombrea, Mike Jr. (Researcher)
Musial, Chris (Researcher)
Kocher, Michael (Researcher)
Subject
The topic of the resource
Shea's Buffalo Theatre
Shea, Michael.
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
WIVB (Television Station : Buffalo, N.Y.)
Buffalo & Erie County Public Library (publisher of digital)
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2004-09-17
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Moving Image
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
video/mp4
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
Rich Newberg Reports Collection
Relation
A related resource
Digital Collections of the B&ECPL
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
Copyright held by WIVB-TV. Access to this digital version provided by the Buffalo & Erie County Public Library. Videos or images in this collection are not to be used for any commercial purposes without the expressed written permission of WIVB-TV and the Buffalo & Erie County Public Library. Users of this website are free to utilize material from this collection for non-commercial and educational purposes.
Language
A language of the resource
eng
-
http://digital.buffalolib.org/files/original/70bea4881d4cd8e255d3699677b4cd8f.mp4
f0533834a335aea6ae799caa4b636de7
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Rich Newberg Reports Collection
Description
An account of the resource
This collection of long-form reports by retired WIVB-TV Senior Correspondent Rich Newberg covers a wide range of social issues, Buffalo history and the arts. Mr. Newberg retired from the Buffalo CBS network affiliate at the end of 2015, after serving the station for thirty-seven years in various roles including main anchor, reporter and documentarian. <br /><br />His New York Emmy Award winning pieces explore the abortion debate, care of the mentally ill, the African American struggle for civil rights, and the lessons of the Holocaust, among many topics. His video memoir, “One Reporter’s Journey, “ reflects on his forty-six year career, beginning as an advocate for those without a voice. <br /><br />"My hope," says Newberg, “is that this collection will provide a lasting chronicle of life and issues in Buffalo during the latter part of the 20th century and into the new millennium."
Moving Image
A series of visual representations imparting an impression of motion when shown in succession. Examples include animations, movies, television programs, videos, zoetropes, or visual output from a simulation.
Transcription
Any written text transcribed from a sound
The loss of a child may be a direct result to the chemicals. Please don't allow this to happen to anyone else before you get them out
"Scream and holler and be heard"
This is what Love Canal looks like today, a vast and desolate fenced in area. Those of us who covered the Love Canal disaster for our western New York television viewers knew the story would have a ripple effect because of what it revealed about toxic contamination. It became what prosecutors called a national symbol for corporate irresponsibility. Long before TV news cameras were around an entrepreneur named Lillian love broke ground for a canal in 1894. It was about seven miles from Niagara Falls. He plan to divert water from the mighty Niagara River to help power a modern industrial city that he and his investors hope to create the project never have. The giant ditch that Mr. Love created became a dumping ground for 20,000 tons of toxic chemical waste from the pucker chemical and plastics Corporation and the US military. In 1953, poker sold the property to the Niagara Falls School District for $1. homes and schools were built on the side of the toxic barrier and then chemicals began surfacing into people's homes and the property around them and there was a terrible human price to be paid.
I lost obviously the one externally has stillborn. Her son is sick, this person is sick. How many more kids have to be sick haven't been done. We're not gonna let...
Michael Brown rookie reporter for the Niagara Gazette wrote his story after going door to door in the Love Canal neighbor in 1978. In case after case door after door house after house I you know people were telling me litany of different problems whether it's was miscarriages or, or, or cancers that they thought were peculiar. So this became a journalistic obsession of mine.
Like well, when he started talking about 99 Straight Elementary School is when it clicked for me because my son who was perfectly healthy is one years old when we moved into our Love Canal home. What since the time we moved there, kept getting sicker and sicker and sicker. What do you do for my kid? What are you gonna do?
A leader of the homeowners emerged. Lois Gibbs.
Anything going on in the state of New York it is more important as these people lie.
The state of New York initially announced it would evacuate only pregnant women and children under two who lived closest to the dump site.
Back now
When Niagara County lawmakers would not support the relocation of residents. Lois Gibbs lashed out as our cameras were rolling
The media especially television is so important that it is the platform the bully pulpit, if you will, in which you can not only get your message out, but you can also provide the pressure on those who need to be pressured to do the right thing.
Discovery of dioxin one of the most lethal chemicals ever created by humans and use to defoliate the jungles of Vietnam during the war, raised fears to a new level the United States only knew what was in that canal and still they let their children go to that school. They let citizens build homes over here because
I remember being in the White House where the army came in full dress and said no sir, we did not dump there. And they lied to the White House representatives. It was fascinating to me was the fact that when they dropped a drum in there and they would open up there's like a machine that you know you know the flames fire, everything went in here.
So it just created a fantastic uproar and a lot more national publicity.
On October 4 1979, actress and activist Jane Fonda and husband Tom Hayden, hate a visit to the Love Canal neighborhood to lend their support
This is a tragedy of such immense human proportions that it's very difficult to talk we've had a short bus ride while we have an opportunity to talk to some of the people in some detail about what they've gone through the children they've lost the miscarriages, the husbands, they've lost. Their lives have been torn up. It's unbelievable. That this happens in America today.
Jane Fonda coming brought that media attention in which we could say the president card you got to do the right thing
With buffalo television news cameras rolling. Lois Gibbs made it clear that Love Canal residents were making their case directly to the White House.
They have to keep the pressure on President Carter. We had to create more pressure than the Cubans coming in and Florida. Than the ... they demanded of federal buyers of their homes.
I'm 65 years old, almost second, third up in a yo yo all this way. All the other way. Why don't you get a hold on where you're pulling me down the road? Oh my God, I don't want to be relocated. All I want is my 28th Five and given to me tonight. And I'll never look back at Love Canal again.
May 16 1980. Rare chromosomal damage is found in a sampling of Love Canal residents.
We found two particular characteristics in this study, which are ominous.
I just want to get my kids away from here from the factories are under pressure or maybe they can have a decent life. I don't know. My son's probably already permanently damaged.
That was the straw that broke the camel's back. The fact that we now know that the chemicals are in the home that they got into the people and they caused chromosome damage in the people indicates that the miscarriages and the birth defects and cancer is a result of living in this neighborhood.
We have got abnormalities in our chromosomes and we've known it all along. On our street alone. There has been already eight cases of cancer on the 15th House street may 19 1982. EPA officials are held hostage for six hours
If we do not have a disaster declaration Wednesday by now what they have seen here today is just a Sesame Street picnic.
Two days later, President Jimmy Carter declared the Love Canal neighborhood a national emergency and agreed to evacuate all Love Canal. And on October 1 1980 President Carter came to Niagara Falls to announce that all the Love Canal families who wish to leave their homes would be provided the money to permanently relocate.
There's really no way to make adequate restitution for that kind of stuff. But this agreement will at least give the founders of the area some 750 of the financial freedom to pack up and leave if they choose to do so.
The President singled out the woman who called the grassroots leader of the Love Canal residents lowest gear for special recognition
Without her impassioned advocacy and dedication. That might have never been a Love Canal emergency declaration. And this agreement might never have come the time. There must never be in our country. Another Love Canal. A Love Canal. Mr. President, what can I say? New York love you today.
When people are right in people peacefully demonstrate and speak truth to power. That's how democracy works. And then we got what we need. I believe that every American has a fundamental right to breathe clean air and drink clean water. I know that we haven't filled that filling this basic obligation to all Americans, especially low income, white, black, brown and Native American communities. It's not going to be easy. But it's absolutely necessary.
Transcribed by https://otter.ai
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
A Toxic Nightmare: The Awakening [The Story of Love Canal Pt. 1]
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Newberg, Rich (Producer, Writer, Host)
Vetter, Tom (Producer, Editor)
Description
An account of the resource
More than forty years after covering the Love Canal disaster in Niagara Falls, former WIVB-TV senior correspondent Rich Newberg returns to the site where 20,000 thousand tons of buried industrial chemicals took a terrible toll on families living on top of the toxic dumpsite. Hooker Chemical had once sold the property to the Niagara Falls School District for a dollar.
The cries of families ravaged by chemical exposure in their own homes had initially been ignored by lawmakers who were in a position to offer meaningful support. The grassroots struggle of these homeowners and their ultimate victory in winning federal support offers powerful lessons to a nation still troubled by environmental injustice.
Mr. Newberg tracked down the former Niagara Gazette rookie reporter who broke the story in 1978. In a rare interview, Michael Brown recalls his "journalistic obsession" after going door-to-door in the Love Canal neighborhood and establishing a pattern of still births and cancer.
Lois Gibbs, the stay-at-home mom who rose to national prominence in her fight to be heard, tells Mr. Newberg that local broadcast journalists played a major role in getting the word out. “When people are right and people peacefully demonstrate and speak truth to power,” she said, “that’s how democracy works, and then we got what we needed.”
The story ends with President Joe Biden bemoaning the fact that the right of every American to breathe clean air and drink clean water has yet to be fulfilled.
“A Toxic Nightmare: The Awakening” received a New York Emmy Award in the category of Science/Environment. It also won a national Telly Award. In addition, Rich Newberg and co-producer Tom Vetter took first place “Enterprise Reporting” honors from the Journalists Association of New York.
The piece appeared as a featured segment of the Buffalo primetime special, “The Buffalo Story: History Happens Here,” which won a New York Emmy Award for “Public Service.”
Originally aired on WIVB-TV and WNLO-TV / Buffalo, New York.
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Walker, Jacquie (Co-producer)
Murphy, Kurt (Co-producer)
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2021-06-07
2021-06-19
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
Rich Newberg Reports Collection
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Buffalo & Erie County Public Library (publisher of digital)
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
Copyright held by WIVB-TV. Access to this digital version provided by the Buffalo & Erie County Public Library. Videos or images in this collection are not to be used for any commercial purposes. Users of this website are free to utilize material from this collection for non-commercial and educational purposes.
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
Video/mp4
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Moving Image
Subject
The topic of the resource
Love Canal Chemical Waste Landfill (Niagara Falls, N.Y.)
Chemical plants -- Waste disposal -- Environmental aspects -- New York (State) -- Niagara Falls
Relation
A related resource
<span><a href="http://digital.buffalolib.org/admin/items/show/2176">Love Canal: Neighborhood of Fear [The Story of Love Canal Pt. 2]</a> </span>
<span><a href="http://digital.buffalolib.org/admin/items/show/2177">Turning Anger Into Action [The Story of Love Canal Pt.3]</a></span>
<a href="http://digital.buffalolib.org/admin/items/show/2178">What Have We Learned? [The Story of Love Canal Pt. 4]</a>
<a href="http://digital.buffalolib.org/admin/items/show/2347">An Interview with Michael Brown</a>
<a href="http://digital.buffalolib.org/admin/items/show/2350">An Interview with Lois Gibbs [Her battle and victory on behalf of Love Canal homeowners]</a>
Language
A language of the resource
eng
-
http://digital.buffalolib.org/files/original/6aeab44ccacbb0a77403e468bdf54400.mp4
4da38c0ae37be94a17be62737b965829
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Rich Newberg Reports Collection
Description
An account of the resource
This collection of long-form reports by retired WIVB-TV Senior Correspondent Rich Newberg covers a wide range of social issues, Buffalo history and the arts. Mr. Newberg retired from the Buffalo CBS network affiliate at the end of 2015, after serving the station for thirty-seven years in various roles including main anchor, reporter and documentarian. <br /><br />His New York Emmy Award winning pieces explore the abortion debate, care of the mentally ill, the African American struggle for civil rights, and the lessons of the Holocaust, among many topics. His video memoir, “One Reporter’s Journey, “ reflects on his forty-six year career, beginning as an advocate for those without a voice. <br /><br />"My hope," says Newberg, “is that this collection will provide a lasting chronicle of life and issues in Buffalo during the latter part of the 20th century and into the new millennium."
Moving Image
A series of visual representations imparting an impression of motion when shown in succession. Examples include animations, movies, television programs, videos, zoetropes, or visual output from a simulation.
Transcription
Any written text transcribed from a sound
Hi my name is Lois Murray Gibbs. It's February 15 2021. And I'm at home in Falls Church, Virginia.
Lois, let's start from the beginning. That's always a good place to start. How did you get wind of the fact that you were living in a toxic neighborhood? And what was your reaction and the impact when you first found out?
It was really scary. I did not know when I moved in, but I was living in a toxic area. I found out through a series of articles that were in the neighborhoods because that that were written by Michael Brown. And he was talking about the toxic site he's talking about. Now you're talking about 99th Street 97th Street in the United States Elementary School, and it's like, well, when he started talking about 99 Straight elementary school, is when it clicked for me, because my son was perfectly healthy as one years old when we moved into our home since the time we moved there, kept getting sicker and sicker and sicker. And by when he went to kindergarten at 993 school, he got really sick and he developed epilepsy and, and these weird things that are not in either one of our family's history, and that's when it's like, I know what's wrong with Michael my pediatrician couldn't tell me but I knew when I read Michael's article, Michael Browns article and it said, school 20,000 tons of chemicals, chemicals that cause these diseases. It click and it was terrifying. As a mother it was terrifying.
What then so you're terrified? Where do you go from there?
Yeah, I didn't you know, I'm a high school graduate. And, you know, science was not my strength. And so I was trying to figure out where to go and I went to talk to my brother in law who taught biology at the University of Buffalo and said, This is the problem. What do I do about this? He said, This is a problem. And and so I went where most people do like in the whole world, every issue people do this. You go to your government officials because they tell you if you play by the rules, and you you know, work hard and data, and there's a problem, but your elected officials and they will fix it for you. And so I went to the 99th Street School Board superintendent, Dr. Long, I went to City Hall Michael Laughlin was the mayor. I went to my state senators, my state representatives, I went to everybody in anybody I could think of you know, you get this little voter guide things in the library. And I called everyone who said we have this problem. Can you help me and every single one of them said, No.
What did Michael Laughlin say?
Michael Laughlin said, I should go home and take care of my child like I was a dumb little girl who had no clue what she was doing. And it just sort of passively pushed me away like no, this is just crazy. I don't know what you're talking about go away. Michael Brown was a troublemaker
In footage that I've looked at, there's confrontational footage outside of Michael Laughlin's office. And there's a very telling interview that Fran Luca did where micro Laughlin Mayor of Auckland said you know, the city could be sued for a lot of money. We have to be careful about what we say we can be held liable. And you know, I have all this responsibility. Is that what you were getting? Or were you getting any answers?
I wasn't getting any answers. I later figured that out. On my own or with the help of others. It's like every single person felt that way. You know, this, this school board said, Well, we're not going to move. You know Michael Gibbs, because he's sick and because of one irate, hysterical housewife because if we do that for you, we have to do for all 407 children who attend the school. So it's like, oh, wow, there's all this liability where these children are gonna go they have to open another school. You know, Michael Lachlan was worried that just about Occidental Petroleum. He was worried about Goodyear, he's worried about Asheville trollee and Ellen street the City of Niagara Falls was owned and operated by the chemical industries. There was like 40 Some industries in downtown Niagara Falls that controlled everything happened in the city.
You go to the legislators as well, asking to help you at least relocate, right? What happened there.
Legislators, the legislators come on saying prove to us that you were harmed as a result of these chemicals. It's like it's not our job to prove to you that we are harmed. Are you our legislators, you have a whole health department. You have David Axelrod, the health commissioner or Whelan you know, and they all come and say, well, we'll show us demonstrate to us. And it's even true today and in the world I work in now, which is it's always a victim who has to prove that they are a victim, as opposed to the health department coming forward and saying, Well, let's, let's check this out. Let's see what's happening. Let's let's test your hypotheses and see if it's true.
So you go through some blood tests, right? Blood tests are given. What was the feeling at this point? Among the homeowners? Well, let me ask you this first. You wanted to organize, you felt the need to organize the homeowners. At that point, there was no organization Am I right? It was kind of every neighbor learning something but how did you how did you how did you attack that?
Yeah, there was no organization in the community. I mean, that your normal PTAs and stuff like that there was no kind of organization to deal with this issue. And so we went out to organize around the school so a lot of people think we organized around getting evacuation from the get go, that was not so we began to organize to close the 99th Street School, seeing the City of Niagara Falls and and the school board refused to close it. We actually did a petition and took it to Albany, New York, actually, on August 2 1978, the day in which they made the emergency declaration, but we had no clue about that. We got this petition, went door to door had people sign it and you know what's really interesting is that people often talk about those who work in the industry and how it's, it's the environmentalists versus the workers and it's, you know, this versus that. Do you know that only one door of the 853 doors that we we collectively knocked on was slammed in our face? That the people who worked in the industry knew the dangers that were in a backyard, they understood and one worker said one family said the chemical in my backyard is a chemical I get paid extra to work within the plant. So we knew it was dangerous, but we didn't we didn't really realize our homes were dangerous at the time. So we organized the parents movement to close the 99th Street School.
And there was another school as well.
There was a 93rd Street School but we didn't think at that time that the 93rd Street School was at risk as I didn't think my home which is three blocks from the center of the canal was at risk. I believe that the people in the first two rings of homes as they were later called 99 Straight 97 were at risk. You could talk to them. You could see their children or were sick there was rashes everywhere people were just you know, it was just horrible to do they would tell you stories about miscarriages and birth defects and children and cancers and, and deaths in their family crib deaths every year just all these horrible things in this tiny little two blocks of homes. So we all understood it was probably the school and later we came to understand there's probably the first two rings of homes. What we weren't there thinking it was my home on a 101st street or 100 and second, or 100 and third. At the beginning we really just thought it was a school in those first homes.
And initially, the evacuation was just for the people closest to the Epi Center, right? Close the first two rings and that meeting where people got quite emotional about your children who were over the age of two, because it was two and under. I might correct.
Right you had if you were pregnant or had a child under the age of two, you could be evacuated. It was like oh my gosh, it's like the canaries in the mine. What he told me and what what happened? What happened to the child who's two years and six months? Were more importantly, what happened to my pregnancy because I'm eight months pregnant. Now you're telling me it's dangerous if I'm pregnant there. I'm eight months pregnant. I lived there for eight months carrying my baby What is wrong with my baby? There was panic everywhere and justifiable because not only not only did they make that announcement, but there was nobody there to talk to the families about what that means my job. Most of us are high school graduates working in the chemical industry and listening to chemical propaganda everyday for work and the newsletter. And suddenly this happens in like, what is this mean? What does it mean for me? What does it mean for my unborn child? Was it mean for my child who's now three and a half years old and live there for that? What does it mean and there was nothing I think one of the things that Love Canal that was just demonstrated the wrongdoing by government was the fact that they would never bring people there to explain why these decisions. Why this and what happened to the others. The blood tests you mentioned, all these children are coming for blood tests. What are we looking for? No one would tell us are we looking for cancer? Are we looking for chemicals? Are we looking for disease? What are we looking for? We're we're checking the blood. What are we looking for? No one would tell us it was a huge mystery. They had a plan. They knew what they were looking for. They knew look they're doing but they chose not to inform us to keep us in the dark.
And then Family Start moving into motels. This must have been disconcerting for these families. What was that like to suddenly have to move into a motel and not know the future?
Yeah, it was it was again another sort of terrifying thing because I one hand it was a relief so you're out of your home. You're in a hotel your children are breathing safe air. Oh, so you believe and and you're in a safer environment. But the flip side to that is, oh my gosh, we got moved out. We're in a hotel. It's so dangerous, right? That we cannot live in the house. And then by the way, we had to move back to the community. Not everybody went to the hotel and stayed out of the neighborhood. So it was a catch 22 On one hand, it was sort of validation that what we were saying is right, that there was danger there. And on the other hand, you know, it was like, it was sort of scary and awful. Most of our families, by the way, work swing shifts. So for my husband work, three to 1111 to seven in the morning, seven in the morning to three in the afternoon. And so when you're in a hotel and you do swing sets, you can't sleep you have one room for all of you. You can't eat you can't pack a lunch, right? If you're if your shift is three to 11 step to bed but a loving the seven. You know how do you do that? How do you get food? How do you have milk around for the babies? And so you know, it was it was on one hand it was really fun the other hand it was just horrible.
Where did your husband work? Lois? I never asked him.
My husband worked a good year. He was a chemical operator at the plant on 56th Street. That was one of the plants by the way that came out with a high level of vinyl chloride and liver damage in both workers and the surrounding community.
Well I don't know if you want to get into the marriage thing but I know that you you divorced Right. Was it love canal that that caused it and when when you became immersed in this movement? It kind of took over your life.
It definitely took over my life. And and yeah, and to a certain extent it was. But But what what it was was that Harry my husband Harry was the same. You know he was just the same the same day and I'm the one who changed so you know after looking at all during look Cannella have been saying well don't you know as soon as is over and and tobacco be full time mom I'm gonna do all the things we need to do. You don't have to help with laundry anymore shopping or childcare or whatever. And then after the finale, I was like, you know, I can't go back to to being a full time mom. I really feel like I have this this new knowledge and understanding that I need to share with other moms across the country. Because everywhere you were looking then in the media, you were hearing about new love canals here and there and across the country. And so I felt like you know, I really needed to do that so essentially outgrew each other and ended up getting divorced as a result of that.
I want to get into your move to Washington a little bit later but let's let's jump ahead to dioxin. Dioxin from what I understand is probably the most lethal chemical created by humankind used to defoliate the jungles in Vietnam It's that powerful and then it's detected in Love Canal. This change pretty much changed the way people began nationally looking at Love Canal
No, it was interesting. So it it did change to the point where we knew it was dangerous. We heard it was dangerous. We read it was dangerous. We have Google and all that stuff we have today right? So we actually had a library and pick up a book and read it. But when the national media and national scientists and national groups like the Vietnam vets started saying oh my gosh, you guys you really should be worried about this. There was panic. I mean, especially in people like Debbie Cirillo. She looked at 97th Street, and she had the highest level of dioxin in her backyard right next to her swimming pool, aboveground swimming pool. And so yeah, it was frightening because you know a lot. A lot of people our age served in Vietnam, they understood what Agent Orange did, again, sort of like in our community. We had workers who worked in the plant with the same chemicals that their children are breathing this this whole dioxin thing in Agent Orange it was just frightening as all hat and and we really thought that you know it was traveling throughout the community and one of the discoveries they made it Love Canal about dioxin, by the way is that it does travels through the dirt. Originally, they said it doesn't it adheres to dirt and sticks there and so you don't have to worry. And we said no, no, no, you're finding it here, here, here and here. And there's a pathway there. So why don't you test that and so what they found is that dioxin actually does travel when it's mixed with a solvent like an oily chemical or substance. And so it was throughout the community and it was frightening. It was very frightening.
And then comes the chromosome announcement that there's chromosome damage. This was another element that added to national interest and began really attracting national attention. How important was that announcement from the EPA?
Oh, it was the straw that broke the camel's back. That at Love Canal by that time, which was May of 1980 when we began organizing in the spring of 1978. By that time, we were told that we would not go with our best we would not go in our yard. If you're pregnant or have a child under the age of two, you need to leave and of course you can return when your pregnancy terminates. Or your child reaches the age of two. We were told not to eat vegetables out of our gardens. We were told not to go in our basements we were told all this stuff. And then we were told it was perfectly fine to live in luck. That was no problem with living in Love Canal as long as you obeyed all these rules and then it was all of a sudden we have this chromosome damage and like what does that mean? And we found out that what it meant is like, not only do we have a high number of these particular breaks, but it means we're going to have more miscarriages and more stillborn babies and more birth defects of children. But the most important thing the straw that broke the camel's back, is when they said that genetic damage created by Love Canal chemicals that broke these chromosomes in this particular way would be passed down to our children, meaning my daughter and my son may have chromosome damage. And if they have children, their children could be born deformed or stillborn or whatever, because of Love Canal and that was it was just terrified. It's like how can you how can you say that and walk away? How can you say this and that you're not going to do anything and it really was it was about holding your child in your arm looking in that child's eyes and saying you might have been damaged and every child you have if its genetic will be passed on to that child and then next child and the next child that we just that was the straw that broke the camel's back and that's when people really lost it in ways that were frightening to me, personally
and then you have to a EPA representatives coming in, who suddenly find themselves held hostage because the people outside the homeowners headquarters pretty aggravated. That was a moment that really was a moment. What do you remember about that?
That was a moment that that was? So it goes back to when we were talking earlier that the health department makes these announcements and then they never send anybody to talk to the people. And this was yet another example these two EPA officials were hiding out in a motel. There was no public meeting to tell people what this chromosome breakage means. They were only meeting one on one with people who had their blood tested on an individual basis. And so I'm like you come down here and talk to these people. You come and tell people tell them they're going to be perfectly okay if that's what you think. And we call them down and then it literally was not a planned event. It happened spontaneously. People in the front lawn saw them come in circled them to come into the house. And that's where they stayed until we released them. And the truth was, by the way, Marie rice I told this to her 1000 times is that we were really detaining them for their own safety. We weren't holding them against their will but we so we held these guys for five hours and it was frightening. It was frightening at a number of levels. On a personal level. Am I going to jail? Am I ever going to see my children again, this is a federal offense. On a personal level across the street, on the roof, from our homeowners office, on sharpshooters with guns we could see that they were pointed out to us and and frankness Paul, who was one of the hostages he was a public relations guy. He he said Let's see this. You know they can shoot you and kill you dead and never split a hair on my head. And I'm like Oh, no. What am I doing? And then and then we got what do you do? Your whole house like what do you do? There's no manual for this, right? There's no you can't google What do you do? And trying to figure out how, you know how do we manage this? How do we do this in a way that that really makes sense and and everybody's safe in the front yard. There were all of these people who were coming out. People I didn't know people I didn't recognize picking beer. It was getting dark it was that was sort of another level of being scared because I didn't know who those people were what they will do. It was a new story. People were there live on the same all day long reporting out and so strangers were coming to see the action just like you know, Rubberneckers everywhere and yeah, so so it was it was very frightening at many different levels.
And and, and then you added that if the White House isn't looking now, the better look because this could be a Sesame Street picnic compared to what could follow.
Yeah, we did. You know, I had we had to let them go. Who and the reason we have learned go with the crowd is just getting just too loud and too it looked like it was going to explode and good reason. By the way. These are not evil people. These are not disruptive people either. These are mine apple pie kind of folk. But they've had all they can make. And so I had to go out and somehow get the crowd. Free to let go. And so that is what we did is I went out there and talked about how our congressmen were false was meeting with the President and that he would talk to them about this issue. And we wouldn't give them so this was Saturday. We would give them Wednesday, noon, to evacuate us and if we didn't get an evacuation then it would look like a Sesame Street picnic at noon to what we're doing today. So that was sort of a shot across the bow and a way for people to say yes, and then to get the hostages out before anybody got hurt, including the hostages,
And helping the cause your cause was actually an actress Jane Fonda and her husband, Tom ate there on the scene. How important was that and anticipate anything like that happened?
You know, it was very important. I did not anticipate it that they were coming with Ralph Nader to to Buffalo for an event and they swung by Love Canal and agreed to come and help us. And here's what was really important about and first of all, Jane and I are still friends today. We got we got arrested together on Friday. In December of last year. We that was her prior fire drill Fridays here in DC. But like, what was important about Jane is she brought the national media with her and the national media because right now we had to put pressure on the President of the United States who was running for office again for his second term and it was very iffy. And so we needed to get his attention. We need his people to say oh my gosh, these homemakers in Love Canal are making you look really bad and so we have to go and appease them. And so Jane Fonda coming brought that media attention in which we should say, President card you got to do the right thing. I mean, even even with the hospitality. We said President Carter, you have Wednesday till noon. We we we always put in and that was one of the important things about the media. Is that we always put the person's name out there that we needed to pressure who could make the decision to change the outcome, whether it was governor Hugh Carey, whether it was Cuomo later whether it was Carter, you know, that that was the only way we could get enough people to say, Oh, well, why is he doing that or why? When they're all he's actually did
You recall President Carter's earlier visit at the airport when the signs were being held up and Governor Kerry said, Okay, lower the signs, he sees the signs. And then and then President Jimmy Carter admitted that, that the governor was was taking more of an initiative than the White House and kind of admitted that he wasn't quite, you know, maybe not doing enough.
Yeah, well, that was the that was true. And what I discovered later, was that the state did not want the federal government involved, did not want EPA involved, did not want Health and Human Services, the ones who helped with the chromosome study was part of the EPA did not want anybody at the federal level involved. They wanted to hold the thing themselves. And in fact, at one point, I went to David Axelrod's office. He was the commissioner of health and I asked him in Albany, I asked him in his office, why is David roll for the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, not here, and it's a federal as a federal health agency that we've been wanting. And he said, I don't know I invited him and he just hasn't come. And I'm like, Well, I talked to him. He told me he never received an invitation. So here's what we're going to do. We're going to pick up your phone right here on this desk. And we're going to call David, and we're going to personally invite them both you and me to come to Love Canal. And he's Oh, that won't be necessary. I forced them to call David. And all of a sudden, then we had EPA involved. That's where the chromosome study came from. That put a number of other things happen. The New York State did not share with President Carter, the White House, the EPA anything except for what they had to. They wanted to keep it all in house. And the reason for that is a chemical industry. I mean, New York and if you look at Rochester, I mean it's not just Niagara Falls, in which the chemical industry controls an awful lot. Of New York, New York's economy outside of New York City. And so they were beholding to the chemical industry and Love Canal was gonna set all of those nasty precedents. That is going to change the way they do business. Change the way lawsuits happen, change the way people look at health and environment. It was going to change things and they wanted to change as little as possible.
You know, you mentioned when we rise earlier, before we get to the President's big visit where we covered so many aspects of love. Library in mind, which you know, Where we rice earlier, before we get to the President's big visit where we covered so many aspects of Love Canal and there's one story that sticks in my mind which actually reminded me that about a week ago is that house that was moved out of there. And Marie was standing right in front as the as the House passed by her. And why would somebody want to move their house when the house might have been infected?
Yeah, well, you know, that's what America is really good at letting people just be stupid if that's what they want to do. That's what democracy is about. I don't know why he moved his house. He was convinced that it wasn't in this house that the chemicals had not seeped through the woods and then the furniture and stuff like that. And so he hadn't picked up and literally moved in. And by the way, sadly to say he moved it by another dump that he didn't know was a dump went out there and bought the land, but actually would wind up to another, but you know, people I mean, that's the thing that we have to embrace as a society you know, I wouldn't ever do that. In fact, I didn't even think my furniture and I was like, I don't want anything. You know, I went to Goodwill and bought my first sofa after I moved. But, you know, people are different and they think differently and they don't feel the same urgency or the same level of risk. And, and that's what makes us work so much harder. It's like, you know, it's like people believe that a tiny little bit of chemicals that you maybe can smell but certainly can't say can no way harm you like dioxin, for example. It really can't create those kinds. of problems. And it's a real hard, hard, hard thing to try to educate people about.
To watch so I can go up from the podium and stay on top. More than 12,000 communities we've helped folks out tell you, what's in your community, what's in the air, what's in the water was buried, what's being transported through to manage all of this information that people can now use and organize around like they did in Philadelphia to stop the trains from coming through. There were, you know, bomb trains, I literally bombed trains that if they crash, they were going to blow up and half the building was going to go with it. So you know, I've just watched people, you know, just do some amazing things and it's just been extraordinarily rewarding over the years.
And a lot of that right to know legislation started in Western New York, I owe in chemical from steel job, Assemblyman Joe Pelletier at the time was leading that fight. And you mentioned the strong union movement in western New York was responsible for bringing this to the public light that teeth were being loosened in the chemical plants and there was lead dust I believe in the government steel. The right to know really, this is all hitting at the same time Love Canal, the right to know legislation and, and West Valley, West Valley which you know, today is also still a very big issue. But I also wanted to ask you your what do you think? What are your concerns now? We have a new administration. President Biden, what are your hopes climate control he's made as a really major, major issue. Are you concerned that perhaps the, the toxic communities may take a second seat to to the issue of global warming and climate change?
Well, they often do. I will say one thing that President Biden before he was President, and I shared a podium in Delaware together, in which I didn't have a watch and he lent me his watch. So I could go up to the podium and say on time, and he really does understand toxics environment. He he gets it. He's dealt with it in Delaware. The question the question is always the same though, and he's made a promise that he is that these things are connected climate and environmental justice and toxics in the community. However, nine out of 10 times what happens is in this happens in all government, so it's not just white is that they look at the bigger picture. How can we save the most people or protect the most people and that's when climate always Trump's a community, like West Valley or a community, like the one in Delaware or or Baton Rouge or you know, somewhere else, that those are contained problems and that's what we've been struggling with for an awful long time. And I'm hoping the Biden camp will will address this, that that, you know, in Port Arthur, Texas, they're making the fossil fuels that are creating the climate change problem. And underneath those fossil fuel plants are low income brown and black families who cannot believe because of the chemicals and was a pandemic this year. They're much more susceptible and they're dying at a huge rate because it's a respiratory irritant. The chemicals and the pandemic of COVID 19 is a respiratory attacker and and it's just an they have to shelter in place. It's just insane. So I am hoping that he's he says he's connecting climate, fossil fuels and environmental justice brown and black people living in these toxic communities together. I'm hoping he does that. But historically, it's always been since since 1990, it has always been how do we protect the most people? And that is like a climate change issue. And it's true and it's not the takeaway from that. I think fettucine incredibly important. We need to do and, and we are working on it. But we we also know the smaller numbers of people who are dying in these communities because they're, they're really 53 million people. So it's a smaller number in reference to the population with a world population that's impacted by climate. But 53 million people it's a lot of people that need protection today, so I'm hoping you will
You know, most so many years after Love Canal, we went back together. I know you paid us a visit. And there was another problem people would move back into the Love Canal neighborhood. And I just remember you couldn't you were just beside yourself. I mean, how we you know, the warning signs were out there and everything was out there. This This was the first super fun, you know, this was the first and yet people move back now. How did how could that have happened? And there were lawsuits now.
Yeah, I mean, I think it was twofold. One it was the it was the lies and the rhetoric we know what lies do when especially when they're repeated over and over again by people in power and authority. The lies who say that the northern end of look and I was perfectly okay to live in. That was a lie. And but it was, you know, the City of Niagara Falls revitalization committee, the state of New York that the you know, Niagara County Health Department, you know, all of them. They all repeated this line over and over and over again, and people believed it. And part of the reason they believe that is because they got a $250,000 house for $70,000
The City of Niagara Falls revitalization committee, the state of New York, you know, Niagara County Health Department, you know, all of them. They all repeated this line over and over and over again. And people believed it. And part of the reason they believed it is because they got a $250,000 house for $70,000.
It was it's a good deal right? And many of them thought they would just live there. It was homesteaded. So they had to live there for five years as their primary residence, but they were going to live there for the five years, sell the home and go buy a home somewhere else where it was cleaner and safer and at least there was less questions. But what happened was people move in they started getting sick, and they couldn't move out. And you know, when they were discovering the chemicals in the backyards in their basements, just as it was before, then nobody's gonna buy their home, right? Like it's no longer $270,000 home or a $300,000 home. It's now worthless, just the same as ours were and so people got caught in this trap and that was unfortunate. And I think the other thing is that it was affordable housing. That was the other it was really cheap housing. And they were lovely homes and and so people were sort of this one woman I spoke to had two little girls and she said she could buy the house there and and she you know, she was asking me not to pass judgment, but she said how dangerous dangerous is it really miss Gibbs because we're living now it's drugs and crime and other things. And you know, I could get that house in love for now. And you know, removed my two daughters from all of this other dangers. And so it's waiting, you know, in the richest country of the world. We shouldn't have our people moms moms have two little girls single mom, two little girls had to make a decision between living where there's crime and drugs and raising their daughter verses where there's toxic poison, but the rest of it's okay. That's that's the society we live in today. It's really kind of sad. So, in closing, Lois, how How are your kids doing?
How are your children? My kids are doing fabulous.
My son in just ran a 50k marathon yesterday in the snow in the ice and rain and he's healthy as a horse and doing really well. And my daughter is in Austin, Texas. Who got three inches of snow yesterday.
And she has she has three beautiful grandchildren that are all perfectly healthy. So I've been truly blessed. Wonderful. Well, we're expecting maybe nine to nine inches to a foot coming our way again in the live in Texas. That's you know, that's just a dusting here in Western New York. You know that.
Thank you so much Lois, for taking time with us. Tom, did I leave anything out?
I'm gonna unmute myself. But can I ask one question, would you mind?
Am I unmuted?
I can hear you. Okay, good. First off, fascinating. Thank you so much. I just love sitting here listening to this.
I teach a class in journalism. And I showed them I showed a lot of the kids the Love Canal stuff, file footage, and they were fascinated and here's my concern and I want to ask you this question if you could pass along some advice to these kids, because I think a lot of them as freshmen reporters, make the same mistake that the mayor made with you thinking just a mom, what does she know? What did these people know? The government says it's safe, it's fine, and they blow off the story. If you're a freshman reporter and you come across the lowest gifts of 1978 in the NL situation, Mo What do you tell them? What's your advice to them?
I have two pieces of advice. One you could you could be a hero like Mike Brown. If you were to look at closer at some of these situations, and you could you too could break open this whole new arena of reporting. I mean, he did laying waste and he did all that he was the dude right for a long time. And that's because he talked to Karen Schroeder and you believe Karen Schroeder and he took it step 234 And five, everybody else blue Karen showed her up she was a mom was sickly kids and whining about it and her pool popped out of the ground. I mean, what kind of weird woman is this? So So really to look look beyond? Don't Don't assume what you see and what you think is real, I think is really, really, really important. And I think the other thing is that if you look at what has changed and when we're looking at social justice, so whether it's a civil rights or the women's rights or the peace movement, whatever, or environmental, almost all of them came from nobody's raising a flag about something. You know, a whistleblower, a woman who started organizing a newbie campus because she wasn't getting paid the same amount of money for the same work as a man. Right and and these are these are, these are the opportunities the Rosa Parks of the of the world, right, that these are the opportunities to really tell a story in society that is so important for people to hear, understand, and hopefully take some steps to change down the road. But it almost never comes from the governor or the mayor. It almost never comes from corporate executives. It generally comes from you know, a teacher at the University of homemaker who smell something weird. A worker who blows a whistle in a way we're seeing this in a pandemic with the vaccines and what's going on with that right. So so those are the people who are more likely to make your career then choosing to ignore them and go interview the governor was just going to give you whatever talking points is a communications person gave me this morning.
Great if I thank you so much. You're welcome. Let me just say, let me just say on camera, just to close out the interview, Lois, thank you Lois, thank you so much. For sharing so much of your life with us and the influence you've had on Western New Yorkers and the country and what you're continuing to do with your life in such an amazing way, bringing about all these changes.
It's just really an amazing story. Thanks for everything.
Thank you. Talk to you later.
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
An Interview with Lois Gibbs [Her battle and victory on behalf of Love Canal homeowners]
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Newberg, Rich (Interviewer)
Description
An account of the resource
Lois Gibbs, a stay-at-home mom who whose family moved into the Love Canal neighborhood when her son was one year old, was never told she would be living on top of a dumpsite where 20 thousand tons of toxic chemicals had been buried.
She says that her son, who had been “perfectly healthy,” suddenly got “sicker and sicker and sicker.” He developed epilepsy. Lois began reading articles by Michael Brown in the Niagara Gazette, questioning whether a disproportionate number of health issues in the community could be attributed to toxic chemical exposure.
Mrs. Gibbs, who said it was “terrifying,” began her search for answers by going to the Niagara Falls school board, City Hall, and the offices of state senators and other representatives. She says no one offered to help. She says Mayor Michael O’Laughlin told her Michael Brown was a “troublemaker,” and that she should “go home and take care of my child.”
In her interview with Rich Newberg, Lois Gibbs reflects on the strategies employed to finally get the president of the United States to come to Niagara Falls and sign legislation benefitting Love Canal families wishing to move out of the neighborhood. It also created a Superfund to assist other communities across the country dealing with the hazards of toxic chemical exposure.
Portions of the Lois Gibbs interview appear in the 2021 documentary, “The Buffalo Story: History Happens Here.” It is part of the Rich Newberg Reports Collection. The Love Canal segment entitled “A Toxic Nightmare: The Awakening,” won a New York Emmy award in 2022 in the category of Science/Environment.
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Gibbs, Lois (Interviewee)
Vetter, Tom (Producer)
Terranova, Michael (Editor)
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2021-02-15
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
Rich Newberg Reports Collection
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Buffalo & Erie County Public Library (publisher of digital)
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
Copyright held by Moments In Time Video, Inc. & TVRE Productions, Inc. Access to this digital version provided by the Buffalo & Erie County Public Library. Videos or images in this collection are not to be used for any commercial purposes. Users of this website are free to utilize material from this collection for non-commercial and educational purposes.
Relation
A related resource
<div class="element-text"><span><a href="http://digital.buffalolib.org/items/show/2175">A Toxic Nightmare: The Awakening [The Story of Love Canal Pt. 1]</a> </span></div>
<div class="element-text"><a href="http://digital.buffalolib.org/admin/items/show/2176"><span>Love Canal: Neighborhood of Fear [The Story of Love Canal Pt. 2]</span></a></div>
<div class="element-text"><a href="http://digital.buffalolib.org/admin/items/show/2177">Turning Anger Into Action [The Story of Love Canal Pt.3]</a><br /><span></span></div>
<div class="element-text"><a href="http://digital.buffalolib.org/admin/items/show/2178">What Have We Learned? [The Story of Love Canal Pt. 4]</a></div>
<div class="element-text"><a href="http://digital.buffalolib.org/admin/items/show/2347">An Interview with Michael Brown</a></div>
<div class="element-text"></div>
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
Video/mp4
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Moving image
Subject
The topic of the resource
Chemical plants -- Waste disposal -- Environmental aspects -- New York (State) -- Niagara Falls
Love Canal Chemical Waste Landfill (Niagara Falls, N.Y.)
Language
A language of the resource
eng
-
http://digital.buffalolib.org/files/original/a24515c332ef28395d779a7b85d9212d.mp4
3a0685720bb241b5a355fc739c441712
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Rich Newberg Reports Collection
Description
An account of the resource
This collection of long-form reports by retired WIVB-TV Senior Correspondent Rich Newberg covers a wide range of social issues, Buffalo history and the arts. Mr. Newberg retired from the Buffalo CBS network affiliate at the end of 2015, after serving the station for thirty-seven years in various roles including main anchor, reporter and documentarian. <br /><br />His New York Emmy Award winning pieces explore the abortion debate, care of the mentally ill, the African American struggle for civil rights, and the lessons of the Holocaust, among many topics. His video memoir, “One Reporter’s Journey, “ reflects on his forty-six year career, beginning as an advocate for those without a voice. <br /><br />"My hope," says Newberg, “is that this collection will provide a lasting chronicle of life and issues in Buffalo during the latter part of the 20th century and into the new millennium."
Moving Image
A series of visual representations imparting an impression of motion when shown in succession. Examples include animations, movies, television programs, videos, zoetropes, or visual output from a simulation.
Transcription
Any written text transcribed from a sound
Okay, so let's just Mike Michael, why don't you start just by giving me your name and the date? It's the 23rd. Right November. And let's start from there. And then I'll ask you,
Michael Brown, it's November 23 2020.
Michael. It's been well recorded that you were the first journalist to become aware of problems in the Love Canal neighborhood. Can you bring us back to that moment? What is your discovery what who contacted you? What was your discovery and what were the what were your first thoughts?
Okay, well, first of all, I like to make clear that a couple of years before two other reporters at the Gazette had written a story on on the fact that there was a sump pump problem and it had an odor and there was some chemicals in there, they did testing. Then it was kind of, you know, set set aside. I that was 7619 76. I came aboard in 1977. And, and there were two. There were two reasons I went after the story. It was not in the news, and it had been a couple articles. More than a year before. And then it was a question it was very quiet and I I had been, I started to cover Chem droll, a company that was dumping highly toxic chemicals and Louis to New York. And I really got on to the toxic waste issue in Niagara County. And when I did that, in one meeting, it started up a lot of activism in the area. It started up controversy the articles did. Toxic Waste became an issue in Niagara County in a big way. I was writing about it every day. And at one of the meetings I on control, a public meeting in which people were complaining about the dump site there. There was a young girl who got up to speak and she started weeping. She was crying that you know, this place Love Canal in Niagara Falls, New York, this old dump was was leaking all over the place and harming, possibly harming her family and neighbors and so forth. And that certainly caught my attention.
How all what was she crying about? Michael? What what? It's a child or birth defects or? No, she was
she was very young. She was she was 21 or younger. And she was just scared because of the odors, the the odors that were coming off in the Love Canal. And, you know, at this point, no one knew that it was a danger to human health. whatsoever. I mean, no one's concerned about the environmental aspect from the sump pumps and so forth that I mentioned. And there were studies that the city had initiated an assessment of it, and I attended one of the meetings. And when I was coming down an elevator for the meeting. I spoke to an engineer they were talking about the dump and covering it up with some clay and I asked him I said is this really a serious situation? He said, If we don't do something about this, our children or our children's children are going to suffer. And that also got my attention from that time. On that was in 77. I started to watch the situation very closely. I kept monitoring it. I kept calling the County Health Department. There was no news for the longest time. And one day in in 19 I was trying to keep it I was trying to make it an item in the news. And I was the city hall reporter Niagara Falls I was in charge of the city. i One day I was sitting at my desk at the Niagara does that and something prompted me I guess you'd call it intuition to go out there. And to you know, take a look around. Ask neighbors how they were doing when and when I did. I was shocked at what I found. I the first person I visited was a family called the Schroeder's Timothy and Karen Schroeder. They had a young daughter who was suffering more than a dozen birth defects and some severe ones. And I started they were all other illnesses in the family including with Tim and and another child. I began to canvass the neighborhood and I went door to door up there st 99 Straight what they later called the first ring of Love Canal. And in case after case door after door house after house. I people were telling me litany of different problems, whether it's was miscarriages or, or, or cancers that they thought were peculiar. And so this, you know, this became a journalistic obsession of mine. And I began to follow up closely and write anything I could on it. I ended up writing, oh 100 news stories and news items about it. And possibly, most importantly, other dumps in the area that could have posed even more of a threat but that when I call the state health department, and I mentioned I remember was a Friday I mentioned that. It seemed like there were illnesses out there. You could tell there was nearly an electrical reaction to that and shortly after that the state announced rather quickly that they were going to hold the health survey there and take blood samplings and a found miscarriages and indications of liver abnormalities and and this and they took some that was from some blood tests the the liver abnormalities and this ended up eventually leading to the declaration of an emergency. Not on August 2 1978.
Michael, what kind of resistance did you need? As you were covering this story? And what let's start with the head but also what was government's reaction and big business reaction when you first when when this issue surfaced at Philip Knapp?
Well, you gotta remember and I'm sure you know that the hooker Chemical Company was the biggest employer in Niagara Falls foul with some people. It's also one of the larger chemical companies in the world owned by Occidental Petroleum, a large entity based in Los Angeles. And so it was extremely important economically the city government the mayor, I knew the mayor very well. I used to talk to him every morning is City Hall reporter that was Michael Lachlan. And this the city manager Don O'Hara they were they were nice guys. We got along fine until this point because they really did not want much publicity on the situation. And I was being assured that it was no big deal that we're going to just cover it with some clay and maybe drain the periphery and that would be that and this is before the declaration of an emergency. I also because I was writing about it at any opportunity. I received a phone call from a state senator who, who told me he asked me says when you're going to go back to being a reporter, instead of an activist this there's no issue here. And when he tried to basically tell me to stop writing about it, and I remember even like it was Senator Lloyd patters. God bless God rest his soul and also there was a health commissioner Niagara County. I don't like I really don't like to cast aspersions on people, especially ones who have passed on as most of these have, but just being a reporter here with the facts. I'm not necessarily blaming them for anything. There was also a health commissioner County Health Commissioner who became very angry at me for questioning whether or not this could be a health hazard. And he was a medical doctor and he said to me, you know, are you a medical doctor and when you're going to be, again, kind of when are you going to go back to being a reporter and I was being a reporter. It's just that I wasn't taking answers that at face value. I knew that there was a problem there. I knew that there were possible health ramifications big time. And in fact, when a state started to sample, not just some pumps, which they had done in a couple of cases, but the air of the homes the basements along 99 Street and South 97th street. They found chlorine they found volatile organic chemicals in the air of those homes including benzene and MS caused a special alarm with me because I happen to know I happen to have read recently that benzene was the the only totally proven human carcinogen from synthetic industrial chemicals back that and as well and there were a host of dozens of other chemicals volatize and evaporating into the atmosphere of their homes. So I knew that this was a big story. I told one I told the councilmen I said this is gonna end up being the biggest story in Niagara Falls history and they simply they simply don't believe that later on. One of the councilmen told me he said, You know, I wish I had listened that was kind of a prophecy if you will, and you know, it was wasn't a prophecy, which is based on what you saw when you went out there.
When did you meet Lois Gibbs and what was your first impression?
Well, again, I had been writing a lot about this and dealing with Karen Schroeder, who would organize the citizens she was for a petition to try to get out of there. This is don't forget at this point. It was it was a problem only they thought for a few homes and only at the southern end in what they call the first ring of homes where Karen Schroeder lived and her mother lived in some other people. So she was organizing Karen was people to sign a petition about the getting out of there. I think there were like 30 homes involved. And so I was writing about that and I was out there a lot and one day and I don't know exactly what the date would have been and I got a phone call from a woman who didn't live as close as Karen she lived a few blocks farther away. And her name was Lois Gibbs and she asked if she could come and see me and talk about the Love Canal. And I said sure. And she came to the office and I gave her a technical report from engineers on what we're going to try to remediate the southern end was some clay and I basically I think I gave her more news clip she had been reading my stories, but I think I gave her more news clips and I just talked to her about the circumstance there. And that was about about the extent of it. I didn't see or hear from her again until August 2, the day it was declared a an emergency by the State Health Commissioner,
And what year are we talking about?
1978.
So did you sense that this woman who described herself as a housewife and a mother and was trying to do the best for her family? Did you have any idea that she would grow into what you know, grow this movement into one of the most incredible grass movements this country has ever seen as far as the environment goes, leading to the super fun
Well I knew that the circumstance that Love Canal was going to lead to that because it was huge news. I mean, it was massive news. It was on Walter Cronkite, it was all over the place. It was the front page of The New York Times just before August 2, a New York Times reporter named Donald McNeil came to Niagara Falls and he called me and he came to my house and had dinner at my house and and I told him about Love Canal and and he was very young reporter and so it's I have the time and I just gave him a box of my of the stuff I had accumulated and I sit here. I didn't care about journalistic competition. At this point. I wanted to see those people get out of there, and he took the material. And then on August 2 He he followed up on the same day of the emergency with a front page article in The New York Times that that that created a firestorm across America, and in an end it was a continual one. And along with the so that was the, you know, that was there was a lot of there was international publicity. There was a deluge it was it was astonishing, and it continued. Up to there. Lois had a tremendous involvement in the second evacuation in 1982 years later, later. But I know by this time I was in New York City I had left Niagara Falls to write a book about Love Canal and other toxic dumps. around America. And and she was they had evacuated the first two rings that Love Canal, but not Lois Gibbs area which, like I said, was farther out and was not as contaminated as a man a matter of fact they the state argued it wasn't contaminated at all. It was a lot of controversy over that. But anyway, she soaked up a lot of grassroots movement for for that to be likewise evacuated. And in 1980 there was they found out there was possibility of some genetic DNA abnormalities with people who did live a little farther away than then that first ring and a second ring that were evacuated. And, and this led to that, along with their grassroots effort keeping it in the news every day. Lois did with her group, gray smoke cloth and another woman, Marie Pozniak. They they constantly kept it in the nose, and especially in in front of the buffalo TV cameras and so this, these forces were to create that second evacuation which also call caused a national Firestorm.
So how important was the visual element here when you mentioned television, which is my medium and Tommy's medium? How important was television coverage? In bringing this in and up close and personal way to the eyes of the public?
Well, back then it possible it was important locally especially, it was important nationally to I mean, this was something that starting in August of 78 was like I said on network news back then, and three major networks dominated there was no cable news, and it was on all three of those major networks as well as PBS, the public stations. So it was important. Back then, newspapers were far more important than the air today, and it was probably more of a newspaper story across the country than a TV story. And also the same was was true of other circumstances. So it was certainly a big TV story and and it was important to have the television stations there for certain like I said there was somewhat of a different environment as far as media back then. And of course no internet and how just today to have his archives, where we can actually see events unfold as they did in that era.
Well, I think it's important especially if we apply it to what's going on today. I mean, after Love Canal, like I said I wrote a book about it called laying waste the poisoning of America that generated a lot of attention around the country. I did hundreds of radio and TV shows about it, including the Today Show Nightline and so forth, traveled twice on national publicity tours. And and I went on a college lecture circuit to speak about Love Canal in about 100 universities and colleges around America during the ensuing years and the reason for that the reason I'm saying all this is because I thought Love Canal would spur this country would spur this country to take a look at the chemicals it was producing and use it and realize that you should not be allowed to use or manufacture at compound unless you can disassemble it in its natural components, not in toxic form. I thought that Love Canal would have a tremendous impact on the production of plastic and we certainly know it hasn't. So I mean, that was the I think that that was the real calling of Love Canal and I I'd love this to materialize that sometime in the future because you know, I'm looking at the problem. We're we're creating more plastic than ever before and toxic chemicals are very much with us.
You recall when dioxin surfaced and people actually said they had seen the military dumping that that I guess that's probably the most toxic, isn't it? I call the most toxic substance created by humans.
It was the finding of dioxin in the conformation of it in December of 1978 that probably caused the biggest single reaction of any single day was Love Canal. I remember very distinctly the health commissioner quietly he called me up and he said I'm gonna have some big news for you and he was gonna you know, and and then he actually at the time he was laboratory director, he later on became Health Commissioner David Axelrod, an excellent human being an unsung hero of Love Canal behind the scenes in Albany, and he tipped me off to the dioxin and I confirm that there was something called trike for if at all in the canal, which always carries dioxin as an unwanted byproduct. And at the time, it may still hold true today. I don't know, dioxin or what they call TCDD was the most toxic synthetic compounds ever tested by by by humans. So this like I said, this created a fantastic uproar and a lot more national publicity
In human terms, did you see the children who had birth defects Did you see the results the human misery that these chemicals created in Love Canal? And what? What was your reaction to fellow human being when you actually saw the results of this?
Well, you take care of Schroeder's daughter Sherry I just wanted them out of there. And I didn't care if I did become an activist. I wanted these people out of there, and I, you know, I was a journalist through it, but yes, the motive was to get these people out because I did see these results. I did see the suffering. I did see the pools of chemicals in the backyard the chemicals that would come and push a fool out of the out of the ground. There was a case across the canal to 90 Southern street in a janiece family was the name and you had black sludge that came up through the drain in their spinner in ground swimming pool and I remember Mrs. janiece telling me that she had gone she didn't know what it was she went down and cleaned up this black gunk this this slurry or sludge and afterwards became very sick first of all, with a tremendous skin rash. And then a litany of panoply of other ailments. At well her ailments you can never prove these things. Her ailments perfectly matched those that are caused by contact with dioxin. I even called up her doctor dermatologist because he had diagnosed her as having lupus and I said to a doctor, and I explained that she was probably in contact with dioxins and and again I heard from him What are you a doctor? You know, why don't you just be a reporter and you know, I was very concerned for her health she ended up dying it at a at a young age. I can't prove it was from chemicals. You can you never can. But it certainly was suspect so I saw that suffering and I certainly other cases up and down 99/97 Street, and soon I found out that the Love Canal was three times the size that the government thought it was and then I started to I was doing some testing of sump pumps with a chemical laboratory and found that the spread of chemicals was farther than the government thought including into neighborhoods that were approaching, for instance, Lois Gibbs neighborhood and others in that area. And again, these type of findings would did not offer comfort to the people there and certainly energize the circumstance and Lois Gibson and grace and Murray. You know, they really kept edit to to try to get those other people out of there and they eventually succeeded.
I call you ever threatened by any special interest groups and that that stood to lose a lot of money and you ever actually threatened?
When I when I was riding, laying waste, and I would return to Niagara Falls, I'd be tailed. There were my one and I'm not blaming anyone in particular, any company in particular but when I went and paperback version of my book laying waste came out the publisher which was Pocket Books was concerned because somehow the My Schedule had had had gotten out. I would go to a city let's say Chicago, and I'd be doing the big morning show their TV show. And there would be a representative of a chemical company in the lobby. Demanding loudly that that he or they be allowed in and and then just basically just disrupting things. Well, they couldn't figure out how the industry had gotten my schedule, my precise schedule and and I even I remember even going down to the basement of the apartment buildings I lived on an East 76th Street in Manhattan and checking to see if there were any devices on on the phone panel down in the basement. You know, for the for the apartments in that in that building. Never proved that that was the case. legal threats, Luis nizer, who at the time was the most famous, the most prominent litigant as far as is suing newspapers for for whatever slander and so forth, threatened my publisher of the heart cover laneways which was a pantheon they're owned by Random House threatened to sue them out of basically out of existence if they published my book. So there was a legal threat. And, and during this time, I don't know I mean, that again, I'm not including a a particular company or politician or whomever but there was a rather suspect, circumstance in which I returned to Niagara Falls to attend a wedding and was briefly arrested. And all charges dropped just so that they can get a little bit of a headline and, and a lawyer that came, you know, it was outraged by what they did. To me. came and made them not just dropped charges, but destroy the fact that the arrest even ever occurred.
What were the charges on that? They were trying to claim I assaulted two police officers who I had been coming out of a place to Niagara Falls and they grabbed me and and holding me off for no reason and and then claiming that I was resisting them assaulting them and so forth. One of them I again, I don't like to be too specific because I can't prove it again. But one of them was a close relative of a politician who was very disturbed at my reporting on Love Canal and in fact, who when one of the councilmen proposed having a Michael Brown day for Love Canal, his response publicly was over my dead body so I don't know why that happened. It didn't deter me. And but you know, it may get back I remember doing a radio show with a guy named Shavon Otto I think you remember him relationship. And during our show, the phones went blank. And when he called me back after it came on, he said to me off year he said, Michael, are you okay? Are you safe? And I said why? And he said I've never heard a phone act. like that before. I've never had that happen before. Be careful. He was he was concerned. But other than that, no, no, I was I can't say somebody called me up and said, We're going to kill you. I got threat threats elsewhere and other situations to toxic ways, including kind of a mob associate in New Jersey, but that was not a good chemical that was not Love Canal and had nothing to do with Niagara Falls or any competency.
We got to wrap up pretty soon. Let me ask you this. What would you like your legacy to be number one. Number two, what, as a society have we learned as a result of your work and the work of those who covered that nightmare?
I guess I'm disappointed with the results so far. I mean, actually Love Canal there was a superfund which I'm sure you're familiar with that caused a lot of the most acute circumstances with these dumps to be remediated as far as putting clay covers on him and draining, draining the lead shape but we were still dumping this stuff for incinerating it in a way that could be hazardous to people. We still have a lot of chemical companies belching stuff out in poor neighborhoods very possibly causing the same type of things that happen Love Canal I don't think Love Canal was the most dangerous situation I saw in America. There was just the one that that was the first one and got a lot of publicity of thanks to being the first one thanks to the activism of people there and so forth. But you know, at least dozens of dumps around America were stopped from from major leakage of seepage I should say and, and, you know, it made the industry look at better means of disposal no question about that. But we but matters have been reversed in recent years the EPA has been got it really and and toxic and so now, once more being allowed into the air and water in a way that that is of major concern. So there's a lot of work to be done, and lessons still to be learned from Love Canal and the many other dumps around America.
Transcribed by https://otter.ai
Original Format
The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data
Moving Image
Duration
Length of time involved (seconds, minutes, hours, days, class periods, etc.)
33:51
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
An Interview with Michael Brown
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Newberg, Rich (Interviewer)
Description
An account of the resource
As a young journalist at the Niagara Gazette in 1977, Michael Brown took a special interest in stories by two fellow reporters at the paper involving sump pump issues in the Love Canal neighborhood. Reported problems included odors and chemicals surfacing in homes. Those articles, published in 1976, did not get much traction at the time.
Mr. Brown had begun covering toxic waste dumpsites in Niagara County. That became his journalistic focus. He managed to stir up a lot of controversy in the process.
While covering a public hearing, a woman in her early 20s from the Love Canal neighborhood broke down in tears when describing her concerns about potential health issues associated with chemicals believed to be leaking into her and her neighbors’ homes.
The city of Niagara Falls had initiated an assessment of the issue and considered covering the old dumpsite with clay. In 1977, Mr. Brown talked with a city engineer who felt the situation was very serious and could effect future generations if not properly addressed.
A period of silence by the city followed. Brown decided to follow up but said he got no answers from the County Health Department. He had become the Niagara Falls City Hall reporter for the Gazette. His journalistic intuition prompted him to go door-to-door, talking with Love Canal families. His goal was to determine whether the presence of toxic chemicals may have been having an effect on their health.
Rich Newberg’s interview with Michael Brown takes us back to that initial period of discovery and what followed next. At the time of the interview, more than four decades had passed since the Love Canal disaster became a “journalistic obsession” for Mr. Brown.
Viewers will learn of the obstacles he faced and how his reporting for the Niagara Gazette led to the rise of Lois Gibbs, leader of the Love Canal Homeowners Association, whose tireless efforts not only ended in victory for her neighbors, but served as the beginning of the environmental justice movement for people exposed to toxic chemicals in their communities.
Portions of the Brown and Gibbs interviews appear in the 2021 documentary, “The Buffalo Story: History Happens Here.” The segment entitled “A Toxic Nightmare: The Awakening,” won a New York Emmy award in 2022 in the category of Science/Environment.
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Brown, Michael (Interviewee)
Vetter, Tom (Producer)
Terranova, Michael (Editor)
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2020-11-23
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
Rich Newberg Reports Collection
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Buffalo & Erie County Public Library (publisher of digital)
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
Copyright held by Moments In Time Video, Inc. & TVRE Productions, Inc. Access to this digital version provided by the Buffalo & Erie County Public Library. Videos or images in this collection are not to be used for any commercial purposes. Users of this website are free to utilize material from this collection for non-commercial and educational purposes.
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
Video/mp4
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Moving Image
Subject
The topic of the resource
Chemical plants -- Waste disposal -- Environmental aspects -- New York (State) -- Niagara Falls
Love Canal Chemical Waste Landfill (Niagara Falls, N.Y.)
Relation
A related resource
<div class="element-text"><span><a href="http://digital.buffalolib.org/items/show/2175">A Toxic Nightmare: The Awakening [The Story of Love Canal Pt. 1]</a> </span></div>
<div class="element-text"><a href="http://digital.buffalolib.org/admin/items/show/2176"><span>Love Canal: Neighborhood of Fear [The Story of Love Canal Pt. 2]</span></a></div>
<div class="element-text"><a href="http://digital.buffalolib.org/admin/items/show/2177">Turning Anger Into Action [The Story of Love Canal Pt.3]</a><br /><span></span></div>
<div class="element-text"><a href="http://digital.buffalolib.org/admin/items/show/2178">What Have We Learned? [The Story of Love Canal Pt. 4]</a></div>
<div class="element-text"><a href="http://digital.buffalolib.org/admin/items/show/2350">An Interview with Lois Gibbs [Her Battle and Victory on Behalf of Love Canal Homeowners]</a></div>
Language
A language of the resource
eng
-
http://digital.buffalolib.org/files/original/fc0ce4019d9dbc37f023bb56683ca243.mp4
604f1b2213dd80bc2776adebe0fae917
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Rich Newberg Reports Collection
Description
An account of the resource
This collection of long-form reports by retired WIVB-TV Senior Correspondent Rich Newberg covers a wide range of social issues, Buffalo history and the arts. Mr. Newberg retired from the Buffalo CBS network affiliate at the end of 2015, after serving the station for thirty-seven years in various roles including main anchor, reporter and documentarian. <br /><br />His New York Emmy Award winning pieces explore the abortion debate, care of the mentally ill, the African American struggle for civil rights, and the lessons of the Holocaust, among many topics. His video memoir, “One Reporter’s Journey, “ reflects on his forty-six year career, beginning as an advocate for those without a voice. <br /><br />"My hope," says Newberg, “is that this collection will provide a lasting chronicle of life and issues in Buffalo during the latter part of the 20th century and into the new millennium."
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Archbishop Desmond Tutu Visits Buffalo
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Walker, Jacquie (Anchor, Reporter)
Newberg, Rich (Reporter)
Sawabini, Wadi (Reporter)
Description
An account of the resource
On January 29, 1989, the late Archbishop Desmond Tutu of South Africa visited Buffalo to seek help in ending apartheid in his country.
Apartheid, which means “apartness” in the language of Afrikaans, was the name given to the official separation of the race. The practice was enforced by a government dedicated to principals of white supremacy. The National Party came to power in 1948.
The National Party, through legislation in 1950, classified South Africans according to race. Based on racial classification, the government decided where people could live and work, what type of schooling they could receive, what facilities would be open to them, who they could associate with, and whether or not they could vote.
Archbishop Tutu called the practice “evil.” His 1989 visit to Buffalo came at a time when an anti-apartheid faction within the National Party was beginning to make significant changes.
Tutu, who won the Nobel Peace Prize, told Buffalo audiences they could help in the fight against apartheid, even if it was just by saying a prayer. He compared the policy of apartheid to Nazism. He preached non-violence in the tradition of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
WIVB-TV anchor Jacquie Walker interviewed Archbishop Tutu for a special program that documented his appearances in Western New York and his thoughts on civil rights. He said he believed he would see an end to apartheid in his lifetime.
In a report by WIVB’s Rich Newberg, African American inner-city residents living on Buffalo’s East Side shared thoughts about their own struggles for equality and the consequences of systemic racism. Violent crime was affecting their quality of life. There were also demonstrations against police brutality.
Deputy Assembly Speaker Arthur O. Eve told Mr. Newberg that conditions had worsened since the urban race riots of the late 1960s. He said there were more homeless people of color, that the Buffalo infant mortality rate among Blacks and Latinos was the highest in the nation, and drugs and Aids were wreaking havoc in the inner-city.
The campaign to end apartheid achieved success in 1994 with the formation of a democratic government in South Africa. The white minority’s rule through fear and intimidation had finally ended.
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Murphy, Kurt (Graphic Arts Director)
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1989-01-29
Subject
The topic of the resource
Tutu, Desmond
Eve, Arthur O.
Apartheid -- South Africa
Racism -- United States
African Americans -- New York (State) -- Buffalo
African Americans -- Civil rights
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
Rich Newberg Reports Collection
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
WIVB (Television Station: Buffalo, N.Y.)
Buffalo & Erie County Public Library (publisher of digital)
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
Copyright held by WIVB-TV. Access to this digital version provided by the Buffalo & Erie County Public Library. Videos or images in this collection are not to be used for any commercial purposes without the expressed written permission of WIVB-TV and the Buffalo & Erie County Public Library. Users of this website are free to utilize material from this collection for non-commercial and educational purposes.
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
video/mp4
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Moving Image
Language
A language of the resource
eng
-
http://digital.buffalolib.org/files/original/2d86153a7a276af6970a455487b5e408.mp4
6c53418775d5308533e5042f4ce82268
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Rich Newberg Reports Collection
Description
An account of the resource
This collection of long-form reports by retired WIVB-TV Senior Correspondent Rich Newberg covers a wide range of social issues, Buffalo history and the arts. Mr. Newberg retired from the Buffalo CBS network affiliate at the end of 2015, after serving the station for thirty-seven years in various roles including main anchor, reporter and documentarian. <br /><br />His New York Emmy Award winning pieces explore the abortion debate, care of the mentally ill, the African American struggle for civil rights, and the lessons of the Holocaust, among many topics. His video memoir, “One Reporter’s Journey, “ reflects on his forty-six year career, beginning as an advocate for those without a voice. <br /><br />"My hope," says Newberg, “is that this collection will provide a lasting chronicle of life and issues in Buffalo during the latter part of the 20th century and into the new millennium."
Moving Image
A series of visual representations imparting an impression of motion when shown in succession. Examples include animations, movies, television programs, videos, zoetropes, or visual output from a simulation.
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Behind the Desert Shield : With the 914th Tactical Airlift Group in the Persian Gulf
Description
An account of the resource
In December 1990 a group of journalists from Buffalo were escorted to a remote desert base in the Persian Gulf as Air Force Reservists from Niagara Falls prepared for war. WIVB-TV reporter Rich Newberg and videographer Mike Mombrea Jr. documented the work of the 914th Tactical Airlift Group, which operated the C-130 transport planes. Their series of reports from the desolate air base called Mirage showed how reservists were attempting to keep up their spirits after being told they would not be rotated back to the States. Their performance record was near perfect and the First Gulf War was only weeks away from being launched. The personal vignettes include a father and son who share their concerns for each other's safety, as Operation Desert Shield was about to turn into Desert Storm.
<em>Originally aired on WIVB-TV.</em>
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Newberg, Rich (Producer, Writer, Host)
Mombrea, Mike, Jr. (Producer, Photographer, Editor)
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Nolf, Neil (Public Affairs Officer -- Niagara Falls Air Reserve Station)
Subject
The topic of the resource
Operation Desert Shield, 1990-1991
Iraq-Kuwait Crisis, 1990-1991
United States--Armed Forces
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
WIVB (Television Station : Buffalo, N.Y.)
Buffalo & Erie County Public Library (publisher of digital)
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1990-12
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Moving Image
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
video/mp4
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
Rich Newberg Reports Collection
Relation
A related resource
Digital Collections of the B&ECPL
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
Copyright held by WIVB-TV. Access to this digital version provided by the Buffalo & Erie County Public Library. Videos or images in this collection are not to be used for any commercial purposes without the expressed written permission of WIVB-TV and the Buffalo & Erie County Public Library. Users of this website are free to utilize material from this collection for non-commercial and educational purposes.
Language
A language of the resource
eng
-
http://digital.buffalolib.org/files/original/08772fc67b8fb5c6a2b0e8c08e81a4a8.mp4
585235b5504cba10d079c80d9bd28d4b
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Rich Newberg Reports Collection
Description
An account of the resource
This collection of long-form reports by retired WIVB-TV Senior Correspondent Rich Newberg covers a wide range of social issues, Buffalo history and the arts. Mr. Newberg retired from the Buffalo CBS network affiliate at the end of 2015, after serving the station for thirty-seven years in various roles including main anchor, reporter and documentarian. <br /><br />His New York Emmy Award winning pieces explore the abortion debate, care of the mentally ill, the African American struggle for civil rights, and the lessons of the Holocaust, among many topics. His video memoir, “One Reporter’s Journey, “ reflects on his forty-six year career, beginning as an advocate for those without a voice. <br /><br />"My hope," says Newberg, “is that this collection will provide a lasting chronicle of life and issues in Buffalo during the latter part of the 20th century and into the new millennium."
Moving Image
A series of visual representations imparting an impression of motion when shown in succession. Examples include animations, movies, television programs, videos, zoetropes, or visual output from a simulation.
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Beyond the Road to Freedom : New Lessons as Freedom's Message is Brought to Life
Description
An account of the resource
Western New York is a leader in presenting re-enactments at authentic sites dating back to the days of abolitionism. Learn why these Underground Railroad sites are now gaining national attention. See how efforts have begun to document and preserve these treasures for future generations. Untouched original hiding places for escaping slaves are revealed. You will understand why the civil rights movement had its earliest origins in the Buffalo/Niagara region. See how the Pan American Exposition in Buffalo offered both hope and despair for an aspiring African American community in the country's eighth largest city at the time.
<em>Originally aired on WIVB-TV.</em>
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Newberg, Rich (Producer, Writer, Host)
Vetter, Tom (Producer, Photographer, Editor)
Dawkins, Don (Producer, Photographer, Editor)
Musial, Chris (Executive Producer)
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Hairston, Mylous (Reporter)
Murphy, Kurt (Graphic Arts Director)
Mombrea, Mike Jr. (Contributing Photographer)
Root, Kim (Contributing Photographer)
Dee, Joe (Contributing Photographer)
Greene, Terry (Contributing Photographer)
Mombrea, John (Post production Non-linear Editor)
Battilana, Tony (Director)
Clemons, Michael (Technical Director)
Benzel, Gary (Audio Engineer)
Griswold, Jason (Tape Operator)
Brown, Dave (Font Operator)
Serio, Sam (Master Control Operator)
Sanders, Greg (Master Control Operator)
Dawkins, Don (Researcher)
Newberg, Rich (Researcher)
Vetter, Tom (Researcher)
Hairston, Mylous (Researcher)
Musial, Chris (Researcher)
Buscaglia, Jennifer (Researcher)
Subject
The topic of the resource
Pan-American Exposition (1901 : Buffalo, N.Y.)
African Americans--New York (State)--Buffalo--History
Abolitionists--New York (State)--Buffalo--History
Underground Railroad--New York (State)--Buffalo--History
Fugitive slaves--New York (State)--Buffalo--History
African Americans--Civil rights--New York (State)--Buffalo--History
New York (State), Western--African Americans--History
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
WIVB (Television Station : Buffalo, N.Y.)
Buffalo & Erie County Public Library (publisher of digital)
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2002-01-30
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Moving Image
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
video/mp4
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
Rich Newberg Reports Collection
Relation
A related resource
Digital Collections of the B&ECPL
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
Copyright held by WIVB-TV. Access to this digital version provided by the Buffalo & Erie County Public Library. Videos or images in this collection are not to be used for any commercial purposes without the expressed written permission of WIVB-TV and the Buffalo & Erie County Public Library. Users of this website are free to utilize material from this collection for non-commercial and educational purposes.
Language
A language of the resource
eng