'Road to Freedom' extended

The Buffalo and Erie County Historical Society is extending the run of its "On the Road to Freedom" exhibit through April 2008.

The exhibit is housed in the Historical Society's Pan American Building, 25 Nottingham Court at Elmwood Avenue in Buffalo.

"On the Road to Freedom" illuminates the Niagara Frontier's local, national and international impact in the struggle for civil and human rights, from the region's role in the Underground Railroad and abolitionist movements in the 19th century, through current politics.

Western New York was the birthplace of the Niagara Movement, a civil rights convocation in 1905 that preceded and later merged with the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP).

The region was also the home of Mary Burnett Talbert, pictured, who served as vice president of the NAACP, chairperson of the Anti-lynching Committee of the United States and president of the Frederick Douglass Memorial. In 1922, the NAACP awarded her its highest honor, the Spingarn Medal, which is on view in this exhibit.

The Declaration of Principles of the Niagara Movement advocated the abolition of all forms of racial discrimination. By the 1960s, many of its demands were yet to be met in America. Bus boycotts, freedom rides, sit-ins and civil rights marches often met with harsh opposition. Violent street demonstrations erupted in June 1967 on the East Side of the city; in 1970 the University at Buffalo was a lightning rod for protests against the Vietnam War, Defense Department

research and military recruitment

on campus.

In U.S. District Court, Federal Judge John T. Curtin ultimately made a landmark decision on "The Buffalo Plan" for magnet schools, which served as a national model for desegregating schools and spared Buffalo some of the violence that occurred elsewhere.

Details for group and school tours, admission rates and museum hours are available at 873-9644, Ext. 301, and by visiting www.bechs.org.