ITHACA, N.Y. (WENY) -- Dr. Martin Luther King’s travels brought him to Upstate New York in the 1960s. Fast forward to 2009, the City of Ithaca Freedom Walkway Committee developed a walkway, in honor of Dr. King and the city’s Black history. 

In 1960, Dr. King visited Ithaca to deliver a sermon at Sage Chapel on Cornell University’s campus. A year later, he returned to Ithaca to speak at a fundraiser at Bailey Hall.  

Leslyn McBean-Clairborne came to Ithaca in 1990 and became very interested in the city’s Black history and Dr. King’s impact on the community. In 2005, she became the Chair of the Ithaca Freedom Walkway Committee and hit the ground running to develop a physical trail that shines a light on key markers in the city.  

There is a southside loop and a northside loop to explore on the walkway. A statue of Dr. King is the start and end point for the either look of the walkway.  

“We felt that the Ithaca Commons was a place that so many people came to...that we wanted to make sure that our Black history, and especially an icon of our Black history, is represented here...and one who came to Ithaca,” she said. “Martin Luther King Jr. Came to Ithaca, came to Cornell University, and so...we were excited about celebrating that.” 

On the southside loop, McBean-Clairborne emphasized the importance of the 190-year-old St. James AME Zion Church on Cleveland Avenue. She said the church is a national historic landmark for being an underground railroad station and a place where soldiers enlisted between 1863 and 1864 to fight in the Civil War.  

“These were 26 men from Tompkins County who enlisted to fight in the Civil War and to fight for our freedom...the very thing that Martin Luther King, several years later, was fighting for,” she said. “The Civil Rights Movement.”  

McBean-Clairborne said many of the soldiers who fought in the Civil War came back to live on Cleveland Avenue when the war ended.  

“There was so much...and on this street, we will have celebrations of Black life and Black history and Black love,” she said. 

Further down the street, McBean-Clairborne said the Forest City Lodge was a place where many Black stars would perform in the 1950s. Traveling around the block, ending the southside loop, is the Southside Community Center that remains a place for gathering, education, learning skills, and support.  

“It stands here because it faces out onto Cleveland Avenue...where so much happened,” she said. “It’s where the Black people live...and so many things happened on this street that was about Black progression, Black life, Black history, Black love, Black everything.”