The Fronczak Room Collection was established in 1970 through the efforts of Dr. Walter M. Drzewieniecki, then Professor of History and Director of the East European and Slavic Studies Program at Buffalo State College.

The Fronczak Room Collection is a repository of primary source and other materials related to the Polish-American community in Western New York, one of the largest ethnic communities in the area. It includes papers, manuscripts, publications, flyers, official documents, photos, paintings, WWII memorabilia, and other items.

The Fronczak’s most important and extensive collections are related to lives and careers of Dr. Francis E. Fronczak (1874-1955) and Dr. Walter M. Drzewieniecki (1914-2010) and their families.

The Fronczak Room also houses collections of materials donated by other local Polish Americans, including Zofia Drzewieniecki, Capt. Jacob F. Swist, Stanislaw Skrzypek, and Dr. Marek Zaleski (who donated a radio cassette collection related to the Polish labor and social movement “Solidarity”). In addition, the Fronczak Room houses books by Western New York Polish-American authors and anniversary publications of local Polish American churches and organizations.

The digital collection constitutes a small portion of the materials available to researchers. For more information, please visit https://library.buffalostate.edu/archives/fronczak/home