Freedom House Ambulance Service honored at Pittsburgh's Black History Month kickoff

In celebration of Black History Month, the city of Pittsburgh honored the contributions of pioneering Black people who built the foundation for modern-day emergency services.

Black History Month kicked off Thursday at the City-County Building with a tribute to the Freedom House Ambulance Service. The event introduced an exhibit that features photographs and memorabilia honoring the ambulance service and its place in history as the first paramedic team. The exhibit will be on display all month.

“Without Freedom House, there would be no EMS,” Mayor Ed Gainey said. “Black history is American history.”

Freedom House Ambulance Service was founded in 1967 in Pittsburgh’s Hill District. The service was the first in the United States and was staffed by all Black women and men — some of whom were in the audience on Thursday night.

The service initially served mainly Black people and gave medical training to Black women and men to provide emergency care for people en route to the hospital.

The ambulance service was formed because of the Freedom House Enterprises, founded in 1966 with a grant from the federal government to address hiring bias and provide employment for people in the Hill District.

Freedom House Enterprises was developed out of United Negro Protest Committee, located at 2027 Centre Ave. It started in partnership with Peter Safar, a medical practitioner, and Phillip Hallen. The home base for the service was initially Presbyterian and Mercy hospitals.

George McCary III, former Freedom House paramedic, started in 1968. McCary said he had a hard time getting people to understand what he was doing when it started.

McCary’s entrance into the program was a second chance to remain in good graces with his grandmother after she kicked him out.

“She said, ‘I don’t like what you are doing,’ ” McCary said. He called up his cousin, who was already a member of Freedom House. McCary went through the training, passed, and took the job.

He was able to stay with his grandmother.

The event was hosted by Marlon Martin, host of “Morning Inspiration” on radio station WAMO.

“It’s been an amazing night, hearing the inspiration of how one idea could impact not just our city but the world,” Martin said. “There are so many people that have ideas every day.”

Martin said it’s important to avoid that feeling of discouragement, “because you might be right there on the breaking point of that idea going forward. So I just encourage people to not give up on their dreams.

“And seeing this today — Freedom House, all the people that are still here and that were part of it, that many years ago — is so inspiring. I’m honored to be part of this,” he said.

Hill District resident David Morris said Thursday night was a “full circle” moment. Morris recently retired as a city paramedic after 31 years. “This is really special,” Morris said. “And I hold this very sacred because my career would not have been possible had Freedom House not happened.”

Florean Austin is a former school teacher from Sheraden who came out to learn more about Freedom House.

“I hope this brings more awareness and even sparks some interest for kids to learn about (Black history) in schools and not just during the month of February,” she said.

Lawrenceville resident DaVonn Brown, 27, learned about Freedom House around high school age.

“This gives me a lot of pride,” Brown said. “I’m from the Hill District ancestrally, my grandma immigrated to the area from the South. I have a deep connection to the area, and to see this recognized means a lot to me.”

Sasha King is a futurist who helps Black people address hate crimes and natural disasters. Her family traces back to the Hill District for more than 100 years; her father lived in the Hill when Freedom House was being developed. Pittsburgh EMS Chief Amera Gilchrist, the first Black woman to serve in the position, introduced a pilot program the Pittsburgh Bureau of EMS is launching, called Freedom House EMT Training.

“It means a lot when you walk into someone’s house and they look like you, that connection,” Gilchrist said.

The 12-week training program honors the original Freedom House Ambulance Service. Residents will be able to receive EMS training and full-time jobs within the bureau.

To learn more about the program visit pghjobs.net or pittsburghpa.gov/ems.

“This coming out of my city gives me a sense of pride,” Martin said. “A lot of times, we hear something happening somewhere else and we implement it here.

“But this is homegrown, and people all over the world are coming to learn about something that started here. I’m encouraged.”