PA History Presents…
The Spring 2025 issue (92.2) of Pennsylvania History: A Journal of Mid-Atlantic Studies features an award-winning essay by Jericho Church, who won the 2024 National History Day’s African American History Award (bestowed by the National Park Service) for the best Junior Paper on African American History. Featured as this quarter’s open-access article,“Freedom House Ambulance Service: A Forgotten Turning Point in America’s EMS” details a story was recently mentioned on “The Pitt”, Episode 8, on MAX.
Abstract: In response to the need for improved emergency medical services (EMS) post–World War II and the high percentage of unemployed African Americans in underserved areas of Pittsburgh, renowned physician Peter Safar, civil rights activist James McCoy, and community leader Philip Hallen worked together to create Freedom House Enterprise Ambulance Service (FHE). Their collaboration formed the first paramedic service in the United States, predominantly composed of “unemployable” African Americans from the Hill District of Pittsburgh. Despite conflict with city officials, the FHE used their personal connection to the Hill District to empower the community and work toward social justice, a change no other group of people could have accomplished. In the process, FHE became a turning point in history by defying the stereotypes of the 1960s and revolutionizing America’s ineffective prehospital care. Although FHE remains largely forgotten, their work set the foundation for the life-saving paramedic systems that provide care for people today.
Jericho Church was a homeschooled eighth grader from Palmyra, Pennsylvania at the time she wrote this essay. The Pennsylvania Historical Association wishes Jericho all the best in her future endeavors!
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“Pennsylvania History Presents” is an online feature of the Pennsylvania Historical Association’s (PHA) website. Begun in 2019, we offer for free public access one article from the current issue of its quarterly award-winning journal, Pennsylvania History: A Journal of Mid-Atlantic Studies.