This Black History Month, We’re Celebrating Co-Founder Lucy Brown

Posted Feb 3, 2025

This Black History Month, we’d like to highlight a remarkable Black woman who has made history right in our backyard!

Lucy J. Brown, a co-founder of INHS, has dedicated her life to advancing racial justice, educational equity, and affordable housing. She was instrumental in INHS’s establishment in 1976, alongside co-founder and current board member Thys Van Cort. In her role as a longtime INHS board member, Lucy acted as a strong advocate for neighborhood residents, ensuring their concerns remained central in INHS’s decision-making.

Born and raised in Ithaca, Lucy raised four children in the city, and she has served on the Ithaca City School District board, Ithaca Board of Public Works, Ithaca Common Council, and worked with the Ithaca Urban Renewal Agency. A Cornell employee of 30 years, she supported the movement for Africana Studies and racial equity at Cornell and the student organizers of the 1969 occupation of Willard Straight Hall.

“Ms. Lucy Brown has spent her life working to transform our community. Ms. Brown was an early voice working to elevate educational equity and help chart new paths to affordable housing,” said Ithaca City Mayor Robert Cantelmo. “Those working hard to build an Ithaca that is safe, welcoming, and accessible do so on a foundation of values and accomplishment that Ms. Brown helped lay.”

In honor of her contributions to the African American community, Lucy received the J. Diann Sams African American History Month Recognition Award from the City of Ithaca in 2008. Lucy now lives in Atlanta with her family—but you can still visit her right on Clinton Street!

In August of 2024, Lucy Brown was honored with a statue installed at the historic Henry St. John Building in Ithaca. Her statue is part of the global Talking Statue network, which allows visitors to listen to a narration about Lucy and her life, written and voiced by Lucy herself. You can access the narration at nyts.de/lb — or visit the statue and scan the QR code to listen as you sit on the bench alongside Lucy’s likeness.