Lincoln Highway Experience to Host Talk on Freedom House Ambulance Service

Latrobe, Penna -- The Lincoln Highway Experience hosts its second Lincoln Highway Talk of the year on Saturday, April 6 at 1 p.m. at the Lincoln Highway Experience Museum.

Andrew Blenko of North Huntingdon, Pa will give a presentation entitled “Freedom House Ambulance Service: A Lincoln Highway Pioneer” which will explore how African Americans in the Hill District of Pittsburgh, a neighborhood just off the Lincoln Highway, founded a mobile emergency medical service to address the needs of residents in their communities. The lecture will trace the beginnings and innovations of the Freedom House Ambulance, America's first emergency medical service, and how their example sparked a national movement to provide the country with skilled medical assistance on the move.

Andrew Blenko worked in emergency medical services in the Pittsburgh area for 26 years, during which time he became interested in the unique story of Freedom House Ambulance Service, a legacy from which he and many others benefited greatly. “I want to make sure this crucial though relatively unknown introduction to modern emergency medical services is not forgotten to history,” Blenko says.

The Lincoln Highway Experience hosts presenters like Blenko every quarter. Spencer Simpson, Site Director at the Lincoln Highway Experience, hopes this unique topic will resonate with the community. “Can you imagine being sick or injured and needing medical assistance, but help never arrives because of your zip code,” Simpson says. “While many think this kind of treatment only happened in the South in the mid-twentieth century, this was also the fate of Pittsburghers in predominantly Black neighborhoods.”

The cost is $5 per person, with cookies and coffee available for a suggested donation of $1. More information can be found at: https://lhhc.org/news-events/lincoln-highway-talks.html.

Those in attendance will have the opportunity to tour the museum at a discounted rate. All proceeds benefit the Lincoln Highway Heritage Corridor.