Eye On History: Celebrating 47 Years
This Columnist will observe the 47th Anniversary of the Eye on History Column in February. I will host a special Anniversary Celebration at the Frank E. Merriweather Library on Saturday, February 28, 2026, at 1:00 p.m. in the Dr. Eva M. Doyle auditorium inside of the Merriweather library located at 1324 Jefferson Avenue. This program is free and open to the public. It will include a display of my books, speakers, award presentations to our youth, music, and a discussion of some of my films.
The Eye on History column is the longest running column on Black His tory in Western New York. It features little-known facts of African American History. The column began in 1979 in the Challenger. It continues today in the Criterion newspaper, the oldest Black newspaper in Western New York published by the Merriweather family.
Mr. Frank E. Merriweather, Jr., publisher and editor, gave me the opportunity to write for the Criterion. I used to take my column to him each week to the Criterion press located at 623 William Street. He would tell me about local African American History, going back many years. I learned a lot from him. It was great history about the people, places, and politics of African Americans in Buffalo. Later I met Mrs. Evelyn Merriweather. I had many con versations with her late at night on var ious topics. My Late husband, Brother Romeo Doyle Muhammad would take the column to the Merriweather family every Tuesday for many years.
I met Frank Merriweather, III years ago at the Langston Hughes Institute. He is well known as a photographer and public relations director for the Criterion. Mr. Merriweather always comes to my events and takes photos. Mr. Frank Merriweather has taken numerous photos of my events for many years including a photo of me and my Late husband with Muhammad Ali, Don King, Heavyweight fighter Timmy Witherspoon, Sugar Ray Leonard, and many other celebrities that included the Honorable Shirley Chisholm when she came at Buffalo State College. He continues to take photos of some of the major events in my life including the photo of the Mar tin Luther King, Jr. award ceremony at City Hall a few weeks ago with Mayor Sean Ryan.
This columnist has produced sev eral books under the heading of Eye on History. My book entitled “Eye on History, Articles on African and Afri can American History, Lost History, Forgotten History” was published in November 2021. It is now available to borrow at the Buffalo and Erie County Public Library. I published my 13th book in December 2023, which was entitled at the time of the publication: “My 45 Year Journey Teaching African and African American History in the Home, School, and Community. I had a successful book signing on December 16, 2023.
The Eye on History billboards are also a result of this column. These bill boards were featured across Western New York in tribute to such people as Dr. Martin Luther, Jr., Malcolm X, Harriet Tubman, Rosa Parks, the Honorable Shirley Chisholm and other Historical leaders. The Eye on History billboards were another way to high light African American history. I considered them to be teaching tools for the entire Western New York area.
The Eye on History T-shirts were introduced in the early 1980’s. They featured famous African Americans such as Dr. Martin Luther King, Har riet Tubman, the Black explorer, Estevanico, Nelson and Winnie Mandela, Frederick Douglass, and many others. I also did a T-shirt in honor of civil rights icon Julian Bond. This T-shirt has a very special meaning for me. Prior to creating this shirt I contacted Julian Bond in Atlanta, Georgia to get his permission to use his image on the shirt. One morning when I was teaching at the Campus West School, I received a phone call from our school secretary in my office. She said the fol lowing: “Mrs. Doyle you have a phone call from Julian Bond.” I could not believe that this great civil rights lead er was on the phone!! I answered the phone and he said that the T-shirt was a great idea and he gave me permission to use his picture. The Late artist William Y. Cooper did the artwork for the shirts. These shirts were also featured in Essence magazine. They came in colors including red, purple, white and yellow.
In addition to the shirts, I produced Eye on History puzzles with images of African Americans. The Eye on His tory book includes many of the articles that have appeared in this column. The Eye on History Award was presented to people in our community who have made outstanding contributions. My goal has been to find different ways of teaching our history. I remember my Late husband Brother Romeo Doyle Muhammad because he was the one to encourage me to continue writing. I would always read my articles out loud to him to get his opinion. Sometimes he would say, “you need a punch line” something to catch the readers’ attention.
Writing this column for 47 years has taken an enormous amount of time doing research. AI was not invented so I had to do some deep research because the internet was just getting started in those days. There was no YouTube or google to find information. I often wrote this column on an old typewriter and sometimes printed it on paper. The Buffalo and Erie County Public Library was very important on my journey in writing this column, especially the rare book room. This is where I spent hours reading some of the most important books in our his tory going back to the 1700s and 1800s. I also spent time at the Buffalo History Museum library on Elmwood Avenue across from Buffalo State College. Afri can American history is so vast. You can never really learn it all even in a lifetime. I greatly appreciate the sup port of my readers who take the time each week to read the column. I still do the intense research for this column to find the correct information for each article.
The Eye on History column is even more important today as many people in this country seek to ignore our his tory, banning our books and taking it out of the school curriculum. God Willing, the Eye on History column will continue. I will write and research our history for a long time to come. I hope you will join me on February 28th for the 47th anniversary celebration of the Eye on History Column beginning at 1:00 p.m. The theme for this event is: “Keeping African American History Alive in 2026 and beyond.” I would like to thank all of my readers for their con tinued support and the positive com ments that I have received over years. “To God be the Glory.” for these many blessings!!