NIAGARA FALLS, N.Y. — During the month of February, 2 On Your Side will be highlighting facts about the African American community in Western New York for Black History Month.
The first fact we brought to you this month was about the Buffalo institution that was connected to the Underground Railroad, and we are ending the month by informing you about a place you can explore more about Western New York's involvement in helping freedom seekers make it to Canada.
The Niagara Falls Underground Railroad Heritage Center provides an immersive experience about the underground railroad in Niagara Falls.
The museum is located right at the train station where a suspension bridge once stood that spanned across the river enslaved people needed to cross, by boat or on the bridge, to get to freedom. You can look out the windows and see just how close Canada was.
The Heritage Center seeks to not just inform people about the significance of the area but to tell the story in a way that it often isn't.
"Having this exhibit that doesn't focus on trauma and it doesn't focus on the enslaver as the primary focus. You have a lot of history, a lot of media, that primarily focuses on white people, and focuses on this historical trauma that I feel - of course, slavery was disgusting, it was evil - but I feel the way that it is often portrayed is even more dehumanizing for the people who were enslaved," Matt McKenzie, a tour guide at the Heritage Center, said.
The museum takes you through various journeys enslaved people would take to get across the river to freedom while setting to the context of the country at the time with Fugitive Slave Acts.
Parts of those journeys include the Cataract House, a hotel and restaurant that employed formerly enslaved people and attempted to keep them from their former enslavers.
It also takes your through a replica of the old suspension bridge that spanned between the US and Canada, getting you to freedom from slavery on the other side. There you are met with the freedom gallery, where you can reflect on the ways people still fight for freedom today.
McKenzie says the significance of the museum is in part that it centers Black people in the story, unlike what is usually told about slavery, but also that the museum works to really connect with the community.
"I believe that it was important that we as a museum to give back to our community. We have a lot of amazing programs for residents to come here for free, we have a lot of programing. With that, we're not this space outside of the community, we talk a lot about building on these movements and we are not this thing that is out of touch or just for tourism, we're for the people of Niagara Falls," McKenzie said.
Through Black History Month the Heritage Center held many events for the community and plans on holding more throughout the year. Visit the Niagara Falls Underground Railroad Heritage Center website for more events throughout the year.
Follow Channel 2 on TikTik @WGRZ_TV for more video from throughout the month.
