Dec 18, 2012 3 min read

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More than 250 years of African American history are chronicled in the Senator John Heinz History Center’s new exhibition, “From Slavery to Freedom,” which is presented by BNY Mellon and funded by the U.S. Department of Education Underground Railroad Education and Cultural (URR) Program.

The long-term exhibit highlights the history of the anti-slavery movement, the Underground Railroad, and the impact of 19th century activism on the modern quest for civil and human rights in Pittsburgh.

Visitors to “From Slavery to Freedom” will immerse themselves in the evolution of the region’s African American community, embarking on a journey that begins in 18th century Africa, crosses the Atlantic Ocean on a recreated slave ship, and ends in 21st century western Pennsylvania.

In developing the exhibit over the past four years, the History Center and its director of African American programs, Samuel W. Black, worked with a variety of national scholars, including experts on African history, foodways, and the Trans-Atlantic slave trade.

The exhibit details the unexplored history of slavery, abolitionism and the modern struggle for freedom using artifacts, immersive museum settings, rare documents, interactive activities and audio/video components.

Highlights of the “From Slavery to Freedom” exhibit include:

• Three new lifelike museum figures, including one of Martin Delany, a prominent Pittsburgh abolitionist and the highest ranking African American officer in the Union Army during the Civil War.

• Nearly 60 manumission, indenture and freedom papers from the History Center’s Detre Library & Archives recently discovered by the Allegheny County Recorder of Deeds Office; these documents tell previously untold stories about slave ownership in western Pa. and explain the arduous process of freedom for African Americans in the region.

• A gourd fiddle from the 1850s, on loan from the Smithsonian Institution, that was created by enslaved Africans in America and used for entertainment.

• Several 19th century paintings which depict everyday life for African slaves, including “Slaves Waiting for Sale,” by Eyre Crow, on loan from the Heinz Family Foundation.

• Touch-screen interactive activities, which allow visitors to explore Pittsburgh-area safe houses along the Underground Railroad, such as John B. Vashon’s barbershop, the LeMoyne House and the Monongahela House Hotel.

An exhibit section on the post-Civil War Black Reconstruction era in Pittsburgh transitions into a discussion of the Great Migration of the early 20th century, where visitors will see profiles of working class African American families, learn about the founding of the Pittsburgh Courier newspaper, and see how the progress in political and economic rights indicated new freedoms for descendants of former slaves.

“From Slavery to Freedom” connects the region’s earliest African immigrants to the Civil Rights Movement of the late 1960s and discusses today’s hopes for freedom and equality.

In partnership with the exhibit, the History Center is developing a variety of public programs, educational materials and publications with Carnegie Mellon University, the University of Pittsburgh, Hunt Institute for Botanical Documentation, Pittsburgh Public Schools, the Afro-American Historical and Genealogical Society, The Art Institute of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Civil War 150 and nationally known scholars.

The long-term exhibit will be featured at the History Center for approximately 10 years. “From Slavery to Freedom” is co-sponsored by PPG Industries Foundation, the University of Pittsburgh, The Pittsburgh Foundation and The Double Eagle Foundation.

For more information, visit www.heinzhistorycenter.org.