Black History & Culture Sites of Ithaca
Africana Center
Alex Haley Marker
Calvary Baptist Church
Dennis-Newton House
Ithaca City Cemetery
Sage Chapel
St. James AME Zion Church
Willard Straight Hall
A brief history
During the Revolutionary War, New Yorkers helped to win the colonies’ political freedom from a monarch. Yet during the first decade of a nation established on a Constitution defined by individual liberty, New York was one of the last Northern states to abolish slavery. “In the 1780s, New Yorkers failed to traverse the distance between denunciation of metaphorical political enslavement to the British Empire and abolition of actual slavery in their midst,” argues historian David N. Gellman.1
It was only in 1799 that the state passed legislation outlawing slavery, and even then the process of formal legal freedom would take several decades to be realized. The New York legislature enacted a policy of gradual emancipation. According to the law, all enslaved New Yorkers were to remain in bondage until 1827 unless individually manumitted. However, children born to enslaved women after July 4, 1799 would be considered free.2 Still, those children were considered legally indentured servants until they reached the age of 25 for women and 28 for men. This was the political context in which the lands of Central New York were divided and distributed.
In 1789,3 ten years before gradual emancipation began, New York State began mapping traditional Haudenosaunee homelands in Central New York. Through military attacks, land purchases of questionable legality, and unequal treaties,4 New York state and the U.S. government had wrested this land from members of the indigenous confederacy that included the Cayuga, Seneca, Onondaga, Oneida, Mohawk, and Tuscarora nations. These 1.5-million-acre “New Military Tract”5 bounty lands were given to Continental Army veterans as payment for their wartime service.6 Few former soldiers came to settle their allotted property; most sold their allotments to speculators.7 By 1817, Tompkins County had been carved from the New Military Tract, encompassing much of the region surrounding the south end of Cayuga Lake, and Ithaca became its county seat.8
Black Americans, both enslaved and free, came to Tompkins County beginning in 1787, when a group of white families cut hay and brought cattle, “accompanied by . . . two boys—one a negro.”9 According to Tompkins County Historian Carol Kammen’s analysis, the earliest official documentation enumerated 158 black residents of Tompkins County in 1826, or .4 percent of the population.10
Navigating within legal limitations to their participation in the civic affairs of the new nation—as well as racial discrimination and segregation—black Ithacans set up familial, cultural, economic, and institutional practices that asserted their humanity and their rights as Americans. They founded churches and clubs, supported freedom seekers, served in the military, and secured financial independence. They sought out educational opportunities, including integrating Cornell University. Guided by founder Ezra Cornell’s principle of “any person . . . , any study,” the land-grant institution opened in 1868 promising an education to all people regardless of race, class, religion, or gender—a radical idea at the time. The continuing fight to assure civil rights and access to economic, political, and educational attainment remains a dominant strain among the heterogenous communities of Ithaca today.
1 Gellman, David N. Emancipating New York: The Politics of Slavery and Freedom, 1777-1827, Louisiana State University Press, Baton Rouge, 2006, p. 130.
2 Ibid., p. 153.
3 Schein, Richard H. “Framing the Frontier: The New Military Tract Survey in Central New York,” New York History, January 1993, p. 5.
4 Jordan, Kurt. “Cornell: A ‘Land-Grab University?’” blog post, Cornell University and Indigenous Dispossession Project, https://blogs.cornell.edu/cornelluniversityindigenousdispossession/2020/07/29/cornell-a-land-grab-university/.
5 Ibid., p. 5.
6 Ibid., p. 7.
7 Ibid., pp. 21-22.
8 Sisler, Carol U., Margaret Hobbie, and Jane Marsh Dieckmann (eds.). Ithaca’s Neighborhoods: The Rhine, The Hill, and The Goose Pasture, DeWitt Historical Society of Tompkins County, Ithaca, New York, 1988, p. 3.
9Sachse, Gretchen. “Then and Now: Tompkins County’s First Black Settler Has Place in History,” Ithaca Journal, February 20, 1999.
10 Kammen, Carol. The Peopling of Tompkins County: A Social History, Heart of the Lakes Publishing, Interlaken, New York, 1985, p. 107.
The Sites
National Susan B. Anthony Museum & House
Rochester's first National Historic Landmark, the National Susan B. Anthony Museum & House was the longtime home of legendary suffragist, abolitionist, and civil rights leader Susan B. Anthony.
From her home on Madison Street, Anthony conducted many of her most significant political activities, including the writing of fiery speeches, petitions, and campaigns. Although Anthony, who served as president of the National American Woman Suffrage Association, traveled widely, she always returned to her beloved Rochester home.
Frederick Douglass Tour
Frederick Douglass was one of the most renowned human rights leaders of the nineteenth century. A brilliant orator and author, Douglass was at the forefront of the abolitionist movement and became the first black citizen to hold a high rank in the United States government.
Visitors to Rochester today can embark on a self-guided tour tracing Douglass’ legacy throughout the region. Locations significant to his life and work have been marked by thirteen life-sized replica statues of the Frederick Douglass Monument found in Rochester’s Highland Park. Each statue installation includes a QR code that, when scanned, brings viewers to a website with more information on the importance of the site and the Douglass legacy.
Kelsey’s Landing: the final stop on the Underground Railroad
The Underground Railroad in Rochester
The Underground Railroad, a national network of people and groups offering shelter and assistance to escapees fleeing the South, began operating in Rochester and surrounding regions during the 1830s.
Due to its proximity to Canada—the final destination for thousands of freedom seekers—Rochester was an active hub and gateway on the Underground Railroad. Many individuals, black and white, and denominations were involved in the local effort to create secret hubs along the route to freedom. Many of these sites are accessible to Rochester visitors.
The Rochester Museum & Science Center
The Rochester Museum & Science Center (RMSC) offers visitors, young and old, the opportunity to learn more about Underground Railroad history in the permanent exhibition Flight to Freedom: Rochester’s Underground Railroad.
This interactive exhibit allows visitors to explore the paths that freedom seekers traveled and learn how Rochester area activists fought to abolish slavery and assist escaped slaves to freedom. Featured historical black figures include Austin Steward, abolitionist and author of the autobiography Twenty-Two Years a Slave; Frederick Douglass, renowned human rights leader; Harriet A. Jacobs, author of the autobiography Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl; and Reverend Thomas James, abolitionist and founder of Rochester’s AME Zion Church.
The Baobab Cultural Center
Founded in 2005 by Dr. Moka La and his wife, Dr. Cheryl Kodjontum, as an art gallery to exhibit their collection of African art in Rochester, Baobab has since developed into a comprehensive cultural center devoted to sharing the history and worldwide influence of African culture.
The Center was named for the sacred African baobab tree, also known as “the tree of life.” As the Center’s website describes, “This enormous tree…has provided shelter as well as medicine and general nutrition through its seeds, leaves, and bark. The cultural center has, therefore, become the place to nourish the mind and spirit of every visitor.”
Visitors to the Baobab Cultural Center can arrange private Magnificent Africa tours for children or adults, stop in to view works of art in the gallery, register for yoga or drum classes, or attend one of many special events.
AKWAABA Tours
AKWAABA Tours allows groups to experience the nineteenth century freedom movement, particularly in relation to the Rochester and Finger Lakes regions, through reenactments, educational presentations, and tours.
AKWAABA’s living history presenters are Rochester area residents from a variety of professional backgrounds and are all devoted to telling the story of the Underground Railroad.
Examples of AKWAABA’s Rochester tours include Riverwalk, a tour along Rochester’s Main Street and Genesee River that highlights the life and work of black abolitionists Frederick Douglass, Austin Steward, and Harriet A. Jacobs, and Riverstroll, which expands upon the Riverwalk tour to include historic sites such as the “Let’s Have Tea” sculpture of Frederick Douglass and Susan B. Anthony, the Douglass Family plot in historic Mount Hope Cemetery, and the Douglass Monument in Highland Park. AKWAABA customers may also work with members of the organization to design tours or add additional sites to any of the custom tours.
Tours must be arranged in advance by contacting AKWAABA at https://akwaabatours.org/our-tours/; by phone at (585) 482-5192; by fax at (585) 288-3681); or by mail at 181 Royleston Road, Rochester NY 14609-6705.
Walk the Walk: Encounters with Rochester’s African-American Ancestors
Enjoy this free, entertaining and moving performance, as African-Americans from Rochester’s past come to life to share their stories. Share the experiences of Rochesterians from the past, as you meet notables such as Frederick Douglass and Austin Steward—as well as those who may not be as well known, such as Bessie Hamm. This program is appropriate for adults and families.