Buffalo, N.Y. (WBEN) - When you think of the Underground Railroad, Buffalo might not immediately spring to mind as a place where enslaved individuals sought refuge. But Buffalo played a key role in helping Black Americans find a new life.
The Michigan Street Baptist Church was one of the final stops on a freedom-seeker's journey as they fled the South. The church's basement provided a safe haven for many as they looked to head to Canada.
"The enslaved individuals traveled North from here towards the foot of West Ferry Street. It was at that place where freedom-seekers launched across the Niagara River into Canada," said Terry Alford, Executive Director of Buffalo's Michigan Street African American Heritage Corridor.
Canada wasn't the final destination for everyone, though. A large amount of of those that stopped at the church decided to make it their last and stay in Buffalo.
"Once they were here they felt protected by the community. They felt a unified brotherhood and sisterhood with those that were here already," said Alford.
Michigan Street also played a role in the establishment of the Civil Rights movement. Rev. J. Edward Nash, the longest tenured pastor at the church owned a house next door that Civil Rights activist Mary Talbert lived.
"It was at her home next to the church where she and Rev. Nash and others entertained people like W.E.B. DuBois and William Trotter. And it was there where the Niagara Movement was founded," says Alford.
The Niagara Movement is what led to the formation of the NAACP.
Alford says informing Buffalo's youth about these places and people is integral.
"When you talk about black and brown young people, especially in this day and age where young people are having such trouble about self-esteem and things, you like to be able to present to them where they came from," he said.
Though the stories on Michigan street are empowering, they don't paint the entire picture of Black history.
"It didn't start 300 years ago with enslavement in this country. We have thousands of years of history that started in the motherland Africa that span generations, where we were represented by kings, by queens. That's interwoven in our DNA," Alford said.
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