BUFFALO, N.Y. (WKBW) — The Buffalo History Museum announced it is working with the Buffalo & Erie County Public Library and concerned community members to preserve and protect the mementos left at the Jefferson Avenue Tops Friendly Markets.
A mass shooting occurred at the store on May 14, 10 people were killed and three others were injured. As Western New York mourns with the families who lost loved ones, 7 News wishes to honor their memory. You can learn more about each of the victims here.
The hundreds of mementos that were left outside the store have been moved to the Buffalo History Museum’s Resource Center at 453 Forest Avenue "to prevent them from being destroyed in Buffalo’s pending winter weather."
“The preservation of mementos left at the Jefferson Avenue site is the first step in a broader collecting initiative that will document the May 14 tragedy."
- BHM Executive Director Melissa Brown
"The exclusion and perversion of the history of our people in American History demands that we, in this moment, preserve and document as much as we can. Doing so will allow us to tell our story honestly, accurately and completely to the honor of those lost on 5/14, our ancestors and to the edification of those to come. For real change to occur, we must control our own narrative. We want to recognize the Buffalo History Museum, the Buffalo & Erie County Public Library and the committee for the formation of an African American Museum for guiding us through this painful and complicated undertaking, but especially our community, who thought it not robbery to build the memorial, maintain it and then collect it, that it might be preserved.”
- Garnell Whitfield, the son of Ruth Whitfield who was killed in the shooting
