Love Canal StoryMap
Explore historic images of the Love Canal neighborhood in Niagara Falls, New York
Introduction
Among the thousands of boxes of records that document the history of the University at Buffalo, the University Archives collects manuscripts, photographs, and documentation of significant events, organizations, and topics that have shaped the communities, landscapes and peoples of Western New York. The Love Canal environmental disaster is one of those subjects.
In 1977, Penelope Ploughman was a member of the University at Buffalo's Sociology Department and Dr. Adeline Levine's "Love Canal Research Group." Building on her work as part of the group, Ploughman wrote her dissertation on the news coverage of Love Canal. She undertook extensive research, conducted numerous interviews, and took hundreds of photographs of the Love Canal neighborhood, its residents, homes, the 99th Street elementary school, the Love Canal Homeowner's Association, and demolition and remediation work at the Love Canal site.
The Penelope Ploughman Love Canal Collection was donated to University Archives in February 2008 by Dr. Penelope Ploughman. In 2008, a portion of slides from the Penelope Ploughman Love Canal Collection, 1978-1994, were digitized for inclusion in the Love Canal digital image collection .
About Love Canal
The following text is taken from the exhibit Love Canal @25, created by Fred Stoss and Carole Ann Fabian, August 1998
Love Canal is probably the country's most notorious and infamous hazardous waste site. It wasn't the first. It wasn't the worst. But it did grab headlines, draw attention, and stimulate scientists, industrial leaders, politicians, government officials, and grassroots activists.
The Love Canal neighborhood is in the southeast section of the La Salle area of Niagara Falls, New York. William T. Love, an 1890's visionary and entrepreneur, sought to develop a planned industrial community, Model City, in the area. Waters from the Niagara River were to be routed around the Niagara escarpment (the other famous attraction of the region, Niagara Falls) to produce cheap hydroelectric power.
Model City never happened, but work on the canal to transport waters from the Niagara River did. In 1942, Hooker Chemicals and Plastics Corporation purchased the site of the Love Canal. Between 1942 and 1953 Hooker Chemical disposed of about 22,000 tons of mixed chemical wastes into the Love Canal. Shortly after Hooker ceased use of the site, the land was sold to the Niagara Falls School Board for a price of $1.00. In 1955, the 99th Street Elementary School was constructed on the Love Canal property and opened its doors to students. Subsequent development of the area would see hundreds of families take up residence in the suburban, blue-collar neighborhood of the Love Canal.
Unusually heavy rain and snowfalls in 1975 and 1976 provided high groundwater levels in the Love Canal area. Portions of the Hooker landfill subsided, 55-gallon drums surfaced, ponds and other surface water area became contaminated, basements began to ooze an oily residue, and noxious chemical odors permeated the area. Physical evidence of chemical corrosion of sump pumps and infiltration of basement cinderblock walls was apparent. Subsequent studies by the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry would reveal a laundry list of 421 chemical records for air, water, and soil samples in and around the Love Canal area.
In April of 1978 the New York Department of Health Commissioner, Robert Whalen, declared the Love Canal area a threat to human health and ordered the fencing of the area near the actual old landfill site. In August, the Health Commissioner declared a health emergency at the Love Canal, closed the 99th Street School, and recommended temporary evacuation of pregnant women and young children from the first two rings of houses around the site. Within a week, Governor Hugh Carey announced the intended purchase of all "Ring 1" houses (later expanded to 238 houses in Rings 1 and 2). President Jimmy Carter simultaneously announced the allocation of federal funds and ordered the Federal Disaster Assistance Agency to assist the City of Niagara Falls to remedy the Love Canal site.
Amid this setting, individuals (most notably Lois Gibbs, Dr. Beverly Paigen, and Sister Margeen Hoffmann, OSF) and local neighborhood (such as the Love Canal Homeowners Association) and community groups (such as the Ecumenical Task Force of the Niagara Frontier) became concerned about the situation. Their primary concern was the actual extent of the chemical contamination and its impact on the health of Love Canal residents. Second, and perhaps more important, was the lack of readily available information to explain the science: the levels of uncertainty, political and corporate agendas, manipulation of the media -- in general an overall paucity of reliable information that would answer the simple question, "Is it safe?"
Explore
Explore historic images using the map below. Use the zoom buttons to see parcels and street addresses. Select points on the map to view photographs of residences in ring 1 and 2 of the Love Canal Containment Area (red line) and the Emergency Declaration Area (green line). Information about each image is highlighted to the left of the map. Alternatively, select an image from the list below.
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Frontier Avenue between 97th and 99th Street
Love Canal between 97th and 99th Street with chain link fence in foreground, Niagara Falls, NY, June 1982
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Frontier Avenue between 97th and 99th Street
Remediation work area behind a chain link fence with view of clay capping in background, Love Canal neighborhood, Niagara Falls, NY, June 1979
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Frontier Avenue between 97th and 99th Street
Clay capping of Love Canal as viewed through a chain link fence from Frontier Avenue, fall 1978
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Frontier Avenue between 97th and 99th Street
Clay capping and laying of leachate collection piping with 97th Street residences at left, a crane at center, and the 99th Street Elementary School in background, Love Canal neighborhood, Niagara Falls, NY, December 12, 1978
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Frontier Avenue and 99th Street
Ring 1 residences behind a chain link fence, Frontier Avenue and 99th Street, Love Canal neighborhood, Niagara Falls, NY, January 1981
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Frontier Avenue and 99th Street
Demolition of residences on 99th Street as viewed from Frontier Avenue looking north, 1982
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97th Street and Frontier Avenue
Ring 1 residences behind a chain link fence, Love Canal neighborhood, Niagara Falls, NY, September 1978
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Frontier Avenue and 97th Street
Protesters blocking truck access to remediation site, 97th Street and Frontier Avenue, in winter after dioxin is discovered on the site, December 12, 1978
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707-733 97th Street
Clay capping and remediation work with 97th Street residences in background, Love Canal neighborhood, Niagara Falls, NY, February 1979
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707-749 97th Street
Clap capping and remediation work with ring 1 residences in background, Love Canal neighborhood, Niagara Falls, NY, February 1979
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710-726 97th Street
Ring 1 residence, Love Canal neighborhood, Niagara Falls, NY, August 1978
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725-733 97th Street
Pooled water behind ring 1 residences, Love Canal neighborhood, Niagara Falls, NY, August 1978
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730-738 97th Street
Ring 1 residences, Love Canal neighborhood, Niagara Falls, NY, June 1979
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746 97th Street
A "NO TRESPASSING" sign on a ring 1 residence, Love Canal neighborhood, Niagara Falls, NY, December 12, 1978
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749 97th Street
Ring 1 residence with preparation for clay capping in background, Love Canal neighborhood, Niagara Falls, NY, June 1979
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745-753 97th Street
Ring 1 residences, including Deborah Cerrillo's home (center), Love Canal neighborhood, Niagara Falls, NY, May 1982
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749 97th Street
Rising toxic waste on the ground surface of the Love Canal, Deborah Cerrillo's yard and house on south 97th Street in background, Love Canal neighborhood, Niagara Falls, NY, July 1978
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South 97th Street behind 749 97th Street
Barrels containing toxic waste that have risen to the surface of the ground behind 749 97th Street, Love Canal neighborhood, Niagara Falls, NY, August 1978
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South 97th Street behind 749 97th Street
Barrels containing toxic waste that have risen to the surface of the ground behind 749 97th Street, Love Canal neighborhood, Niagara Falls, NY, August 1978
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South 97th Street behind 749 97th Street
Toxic waste residue that has risen to the surface of the ground behind 749 97th Street, Love Canal neighborhood, Niagara Falls, NY, August 1978
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South 97th Street behind 749 97th Street
Toxic waste residue that has risen to the surface of the ground behind 749 97th Street, Love Canal neighborhood, Niagara Falls, NY, August 1978
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South 97th Street behind 749 97th Street
Collapsed barrel head and toxic waste residue that has risen to the surface of the ground behind 97th Street, Love Canal neighborhood, Niagara Falls, NY, August 1978
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South 97th Street behind 749 97th Street
Barrels containing toxic waste that have risen to the surface of the ground behind 97th Street, Love Canal neighborhood, Niagara Falls, NY, August 1978
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South 97th Street behind 749 97th Street
Barrels containing toxic waste that have risen to the surface of the ground behind 97th Street, Love Canal neighborhood, Niagara Falls, NY, August 1978
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753 97th Street
Ring 1 residence with large crane in background, Love Canal neighborhood, Niagara Falls, NY, December 12, 1978
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791 97th Street
Ring 1 residence, Love Canal Neighborhood, Niagara Falls, NY, May 1982
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783-795 97th Street and Wheatfield Avenue
Clay capping and heavy machinery with a barrel in the foreground and 97th Street residences in background, Love Canal neighborhood, Niagara Falls, NY, November 10, 1978
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799 97th Street
Newco Chemical Waste Systems Water Treatment Facility and ring 1 residence in background, Love Canal neighborhood, Niagara Falls, NY
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97th Street and Wheatfield Avenue
Environmental Protection Agency treatment facility and 99th Street Elementary School in background, Love Canal neighborhood, Niagara Falls, NY, June 1982
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842-856 97th Street and 903 97th Street
Ring 1 residences at 97th Street and Read Avenue with Griffon Manor apartments in background, Love Canal neighborhood, Niagara Falls, NY, May 1982
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902-906 97th Street
Residences on 97th Street with Griffon Manor apartments in background, Love Canal neighborhood, Niagara Falls, NY, August 1978
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902 97th Street
Ring 1 residence, Love Canal neighborhood, Niagara Falls, NY, 1979
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903-907 97th Street
Ring 1 residences, Love Canal neighborhood, Niagara Falls, NY, May 1982
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911 97th Street
Ring 1 residence with view of clay capping in background, Love Canal neighborhood, Niagara Falls, NY, May 1982
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920 97th Street
Ring 1 residence, Love Canal neighborhood, Niagara Falls, NY, June 1978
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921 97th Street
Ring 1 residence with view of clay capping in background, Love Canal neighborhood, Niagara Falls, NY, May 1982
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928 97th Street
Ring 1 residence with environmental monitoring unit in foreground, Love Canal neighborhood, Niagara Falls, NY, 1979
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925-929 97th Street
Ring 1 residences, Love Canal Neighborhood, Niagara Falls, NY, May 1982
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929 97th Street
Ring 1 residence with child's tricycle in background, Love Canal neighborhood, Niagara Falls, NY, May 1982
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953 97th Street
Ring 1 residence, Love Canal neighborhood, Niagara Falls, NY, June 1979
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949-961 97th Street
Ring 1 residences, Love Canal neighborhood, Niagara Falls, NY, May 1982
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982 97th Street
Ring 1 residence, Love Canal neighborhood, Niagara Falls, NY, 1979
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95th Street
Griffon Manor apartments with backyards of residences on 97th Street in background, Love Canal neighborhood, Niagara Falls, NY, August 1978
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95th Street
Griffon Manor apartments with a "Emergency Evacuation Pick Up" sign at left, Love Canal neighborhood, Niagara Falls, NY, November 10, 1978
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95th Street and Read Avenue
Griffon Manor apartments with a chain link fence in foreground, Love Canal neighborhood, Niagara Falls, NY, August 1978
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95th Street and Read Avenue
Emergency evacuee buses on Read Avenue and 95th Street and residences and 99th Street Elementary School in background, November 10, 1978
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95th Street
Griffon Manor apartments, Love Canal neighborhood, Niagara Falls, NY, November 10, 1978
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9711 Colvin Boulevard
Ring 1 residence at 97th Street and Colvin Boulevard, Love Canal neighborhood, Niagara Falls, NY, August 1978
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9820-9826 Colvin Boulevard
Occupied residences at the intersection of 99th Street and Colvin Boulevard, August 1978
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9906 Colvin Boulevard
A cameraman standing in front of a residence on Colvin Boulevard, a sign in the background lists four things Hooker Chemical Company is responsible for, Love Canal neighborhood, Niagara Falls, NY, May 19, 1980
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9905 Colvin Boulevard
People gathering outside the Colvin Boulevard Love Canal Homeowners Association offices on the day of the Environmental Protection Agency officials 'hostage-taking,' Dr. Adeline Levine (far right) , Love Canal neighborhood, Niagara Falls, NY, May 19, 1980
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9905 Colvin Boulevard
Lois Gibbs (back row left) speaking to residents at the Love Canal Homeowners' Association offices about the Environmental Protection Agency's announcement regarding the chromosome damage study, Love Canal neighborhood, Niagara Falls, NY, May 17, 1980
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10002 Colvin Boulevard
Love Canal resident Marie Posniak evacuates her Colvin Avenue residence that bears sign: '4 Sale Buy 1, Get 1 Free', husband Al Posniak in background, July 3, 1980
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10002 Colvin Boulevard
Love Canal residents Al and Marie Posniak evacuate their Colvin Avenue home as a local television film crew covers the story, July 3, 1980
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10002 Colvin Boulevard
Love Canal resident Marie Posniak receives assistance evacuating her Colvin Avenue residence as local television film crew covers the story, July 3, 1980
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10002 Colvin Boulevard
The Posniak family receives assistance evacuating their Colvin Avenue residence, July 3, 1980
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99th Street and Colvin Boulevard
Handmade sign reading, "DANGER CONTAINS DIOXIN" at the entrance gate, 99th Street and Colvin Boulevard, Love Canal neighborhood, Niagara Falls, NY, December 12, 1978
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99th Street and Colvin Boulevard
Protesters blocking truck access to remediation site, 99th Street and Colvin Boulevard, after dioxin is discovered on the site, Love Canal neighborhood, Niagara Falls, NY, December 12, 1978
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99th Street and Colvin Boulevard
Fenced-in containment zone at 99th Street and Colvin Avenue with sign 'Admittance by permit only,' Spring 1979
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684 99th Street
Ring 1 residence, Love Canal neighborhood, Niagara Falls, NY, May 1982
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680-684 99th Street
Ring 1 residences at 99th Street and Read Avenue, Love Canal neighborhood, Niagara Falls, NY, May 1982
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673 99th Street and Read Avenue
Ring 2 residence, Love Canal neighborhood, Niagara Falls, NY, October 1978
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627 99th Street
Ring 1 residence with defoliated bush in foreground, Love Canal neighborhood, Niagara Falls, NY May 1982
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Wheatfield Avenue and 99th Street
An Environmental Protection Agency tanker truck and hazardous waste treatment facility on Wheatfield Avenue and 97th Street, 97th Street residences in the background, playground equipment in the foreground, Love Canal neighborhood, Niagara Falls, NY, February 1979
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99th Street Elementary School
Playground equipment at the 99th Street Elementary School with 97th Street residences and Griffon Manor apartments in background, August 1978
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99th Street Elementary School
Playground equipment at the 99th Street Elementary School with 97th Street residences in background, August 1978
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99th Street Elementary School and Wheatfield Avenue
99th Street Elementary School with playground equipment in foreground and wire fence with sign that reads, "DANGER KEEP OUT," June 1979
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99th Street Elementary School
Playground equipment at the 99th Street Elementary School with wire fence in foreground and residences in background, July 1979
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99th Street Elementary School
Playground equipment at the 99th Street Elementary School with wire fence in foreground and sign that reads, "DANGER KEEP OUT," clay cap in background, July 1979
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99th Street Elementary School
99th Street Elementary School with playground equipment at left and wire fence in foreground with a sign that reads, "DANGER KEEP OUT," July 1979
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99th Street Elementary School
99th Street Elementary School athletic field with 97th Street residences in background, Love Canal neighborhood, Niagara Falls, NY, August 1978
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99th Street Elementary School and Read Avenue
Clay cap behind 99th Street Elementary School, Love Canal neighborhood, Niagara Falls, NY, May 1982
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99th Street Elementary School
A large crane sits at the 99th Street Elementary School, a wire fence in the foreground and a sign that reads, "DANGER KEEP OUT," Niagara Falls, NY, July 1979
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Read Avenue
Toxic waste barrels and other debris, Love Canal neighborhood, Niagara Falls, NY, October 1978
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99th Street Elementary School
Remediation work behind the 99th Street Elementary School with a New York State Department of Environmental Conservation mobile laboratory and heavy machinery in foreground, Niagara Falls, NY, September 1978
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99th Street Elementary School
Love Canal Bulletin Board inside the 99th Street Elementary School, Love Canal neighborhood, Niagara Falls, NY, 1978
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99th Street Elementary School
Love Canal Homeowners Association office inside the 99th Street Elementary School with a sign that reads, "In our city you don't live you die from chemical abuse," Love Canal neighborhood, Niagara Falls, NY, fall 1978
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99th Street Elementary School
Security Guard standing in the Voucher and etc. office in the 99th Street Elementary School, Love Canal neighborhood, Niagara Falls, NY, 1978
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99th Street Elementary School
Marie Posniak, Lois Gibbs, and Adeline Levine (left to right) working in the Love Canal Homeowners Association offices in the 99th Street Elementary School, Love Canal neighborhood, Niagara Falls, NY, October 1978
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99th Street Elementary School
Debbie Cerrillo in the Love Canal Homeowners Association offices with banner reading, "Love Canal Victims, Niagara Falls, New York, Created by Hooker's chemical negligence," January 1981
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99th Street Elementary School
Rubber boots contaminated with toxic mud left on cardboard inside 99th Street Elementary School, Love Canal neighborhood, Niagara Falls, NY, fall 1978
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99th Street Elementary School
Niagara Falls Mayor Michael C. O'Laughlin addresses Love Canal residents at the 99th Street Elementary School (protest signs and placards in background), October 1978
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99th Street Elementary School
Demolition of homes along 99th Street with the elementary school in background, Love Canal neighborhood, Niagara Falls, NY, June 1982
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506-514 99th Street and Wheatfield Avenue
Ring 1 residences, Love Canal neighborhood, Niagara Falls, NY, May 1982
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503-515 99th Street
Ring 1 residences, Love Canal neighborhood, Niagara Falls, NY, May 1982
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502-510 99th Street
Backyards of ring 1 residences with heavy equipment and playground equipment in foreground, Love Canal neighborhood, Niagara Falls, NY, November 10, 1978
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493-503 99th Street
Ring 1 residences, Love Canal neighborhood, Niagara Falls, NY, May 1982
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479 99th Street
Paint peeling from the interior of a ring 1 residence, Love Canal neighborhood, Niagara Falls, NY, May 1982
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479 99th Street
Ring 1 residence, Love Canal neighborhood, Niagara Falls, NY, May 1982
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South 99th Street
Toxic waste seepage in the basement of a south 99th Street residence, Love Canal neighborhood, Niagara Falls, NY, May 1982
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South 99th Street
Toxic waste seepage in the basement of a south 99th Street residence, Love Canal neighborhood, Niagara Falls, NY, May 1982
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South 99th Street
Toxic waste seepage ('bathtub effect') in the basement walls of a south 99th Street residence, Love Canal neighborhood, Niagara Falls, NY, May 1982
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South 99th Street
Toxic waste seepage ('bathtub effect') in the basement walls of a south 99th Street residence, Love Canal neighborhood, Niagara Falls, NY, May 1982
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South 99th Street
Toxic waste seepage ('bathtub effect') in the basement walls of a south 99th Street residence, Love Canal neighborhood, Niagara Falls, NY, May 1982
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440 99th Street
Ring 1 residence, Love Canal neighborhood, Niagara Falls, NY, June 1979
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429 99th Street
Ring 1 residence, Love Canal neighborhood, Niagara Falls, NY, June 1979
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99th Street and Frontier Avenue
School bus stop at 99th Street and Frontier Avenue, Love Canal neighborhood, Niagara Falls, NY, August 1978
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410 99th Street
Toxic waste seepage in the basement of 410 99th Street showing sump pump and leachate, Love Canal neighborhood, Niagara Falls, NY, May 1982
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410 99th Street
Ring 1 residence, Love Canal neighborhood, Niagara Falls, NY, May 1982
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389 99th Street
Ring 1 residence, Love Canal neighborhood, Niagara Falls, NY, June 1979
Aerial Photographs
Analysis of historic aerial photographs can provide unique information regarding leachate migration, especially where the landfill and surrounding area have undergone substantial change.
Use the swipe bar to expose aerial images of modern day Love Canal and the neighborhood as it appeared through color-infrared photography in 1979. In infrared imaging, white often indicates the hottest part of an image. Bare soil also often appears as white. Vegetation appears as red.
Aerial infrared photograph of the Love Canal neighborhood, Niagara Falls, NY, taken by Warren Philipson/New York State Department of Health and the United States Geological Survey, June 4, 1979.
View side by side color infrared aerial photographs of the Love Canal neighborhood, Niagara Falls, NY, taken by Dr. Warren Philipson and the New York State Department of Health, August 1978.
Aerial infrared photographs of the Love Canal neighborhood, Niagara Falls, NY, taken by Warren Philipson and the New York State Department of Health, August 4, 1978.
Select the highlighted areas to explore color aerial photographs taken by Dr. Warren Philipson and the New York State Department of Health in August 1978.
Aerial photographs of the Love Canal neighborhood, Niagara Falls, NY overlaid on a modern day street map.
Resources
The University Archives has numerous resources to assist researchers seeking information about the environmental and public health crisis in the Love Canal neighborhood of Niagara Falls, New York. The Love Canal Research Guide offers a timeline of events and links to other relevant archival collections including photograph collections , manuscripts , and newspaper clippings .
Project information
This StoryMap was created as a project for "Implementing Digital Curation in the Workplace," the third course in a certificate program in Digital Curation for Information Professionals offered by the University of Maryland's College of Information.
The project addresses different aspects of digital curation including design and implementation for long-term digital curation of a discrete project; application of technologies and standards for description of digital assets; implementation of strategies to provide access to a digital collection.
The vision for this project was to bring together maps and photographs in a digital space, placing the photographs in their geographical context using residential street addresses, and offering these unique primary resources side by side, or in this case superimposed on one another. A StoryMap was envisioned that would provide researchers a space to navigate geographically through historical photographs; an alternative to static digital collections, but also including enhanced description about the photographs.
Tools
- ArcGis
- ArcGis StoryMaps
- Omeka Classic
- Microsoft Excel
- IrfanView
- Adobe Bridge and Photoshop
Future development
- Explore ways to overlay historical aerial photographs onto the map
- Further metadata remediation in the digital collection of origin
- Over the next two years, the UB University Archives plans to partner with other regional cultural and community organizations to create programming (lectures, exhibits, artwork) about the Love Canal environmental disaster. This project could be utilized in the programming and expanded beyond its current focus to include additional historical images, maps, newspaper clippings, audiovisual content, and data.
About the creator
Sarah Cogley is the Digital Collections and Repositories Librarian at the University at Buffalo Libraries . She spent ten years as a processing archivist and digital archivist in academic libraries before moving into the (adjacent) world of digital collections and repositories.