The Daily Bulletin

Stephen Vermette, professor of geography and planning, organized a series of events during the month of September to celebrate the 250th birthday of Alexander von Humboldt, for whom Humboldt Parkway and the former Humboldt Park and Basin were named. Mayor Byron Brown will declare September 14, 2019, as Alexander von Humboldt Day in Buffalo. A number of organizations are participating in the celebration through the month of September (PDF, 3.7 MB).

Dr. Vermette will present on Humboldt at 4:00 p.m. Friday, September 13, in the Andrew L. Bouwhuis S. J. Library at Canisius College as part of the Canisius Archives Speaker Series. He will also present the lecture and discussion "The 'Nature of Paintings' of Alexander von Humboldt: His Revolutionary Use of Art to Reveal Scientific Concepts" on Saturday, September 28, from 7:00 to 9:00 p.m. in the Burchfield Penney Art Center's Tower Auditorium.

In 1869 the newspapers of the day covered Humboldt’s Buffalo’s Centennial celebration. A newspaper account of the celebration concluded by posing the question: “It is a curious query whether the records we are making to-day will have anything that can be heartily endorsed there, or whether our doings and sayings will be a mere matter of curiosity to the masses who will bask in the light of another century’s increase of knowledge. What will they think of our opinions of Humboldt…?”  The celebration, in part, is a response to that query.