 It was designed by prominent American Gilded Age architect Horace Trumbauer, built by Niagara Falls businessman Frank A. Dudley and operated by the United Hotels Company of America.The Benjamin Franklin made news in 1947, when the segregated establishment refused to accommodate the Brooklyn Dodgers, who had used the hotel for years, because of the presence of Jackie Robinson, the first African-American player in Major League Baseball.The Bellevue-Stratford Hotel agreed to house the team that day.