Into the Temple of Music

1866-1901

Into the Temple of Music culminates in the tragic confrontation of President William McKinley and assassin Leon Czolgosz in the Temple of Music of the Pan American Exposition. The rapid growth of industry and trade in Buffalo created fortunes larger than ever known before. The wealthy built many fine homes described in this book. They sponsored great public buildings like the Buffalo Library on Lafayette Square. Perhaps most important of all, the wealthy invited Frederick Law Olmsted to town to create a parks system. But the wealth came about through exploitation of cheap immigrant labor on the Buffalo docks. Conflicts between capitalists and labor grew over these years. When elite Buffalo planned its great Pan American Exposition of 1901, payback came in the form of an anarchist laborer from a Polish immigrant family who knew he was trapped forever on the factory floor.

I learned a lot!

This entire 6 book series is a great trip through the history of Buffalo NY. My favorite era to read about is the Pan American exhibition in 1901. The growth of Buffalo from the tiny village burned to the ground during the War of 1812 to the major metropolis in the early 20th century is fascinating. I would highly recommend it. The only drawback to the audio book was the AI referring to Polish people as "polish" people is a little disconcerting.