Freedom House (Boston, Mass.)

Freedom House, originally the Council on Community Affairs of Upper Roxbury (1947-1949), was founded by Otto P. and Muriel S. Snowden to centralize community activism in the fight for neighborhood improvement, good schools, and harmony among racial, ethnic, and religious groups in Upper Roxbury, Massachusetts.

Freedom House was incorporated in 1949. Early programs focused primarily on providing activities for children, youth and adults, that would strengthen relations between the African American and Jewish residents of Upper Roxbury, and on working with other community organizations on neighborhood improvement programs designed to clean-up and protect Upper Roxbury from urban blight. From 1963 through the late 1960's, Freedom House participated in arranging contracts between the community and the Boston Redevelopment Authority (BRA), and Action for Boston Community Development (ABCD). In 1974, during the Boston school desegregation crisis, the Freedom House Institute on Schools and Education worked in concert with Operation Exodus, the Freedom House Coalition, and the Coordinated Social Services Council, and was a place where community leaders and parents could meet with city officials to work to resolve the crisis. Freedom House continues to be active in community affairs.