Mission and History
Our Mission
The mission of the Ithaca YMCA is simple. The Y empowers everyone, no matter who they are or where they’re from, by ensuring access to resources, relationships, and opportunities for all to be healthy, learn, connect, and have fun.
By bringing together people from different backgrounds, perspectives, and generations, the Y’s goal is to improve overall health and well-being, ignite youth empowerment and engage in work centered on social responsibility.
The History of the YMCA of Ithaca and Tompkins County
It was a Monday evening, Nov. 23, 1868, when a group of young men in Ithaca gathered in the meeting room of the Cornell Library with G.R. Williams as the chair. Situated in the basement of the library, the first YMCA consisted of a gymnasium, baths, parlor, reading room, and offices. In December 1888, YMCA memberships were given as Christmas presents by local businesses to their young male employees.
July 1891 saw the Y jumping into a social swim with a moonlight excursion from Ithaca to Sheldrake for men and women. The steamship, Frontenac, was used with 125 people on board, with 50 more turned away because the ship was at capacity. In 1898, the local Y sponsored evening classes in German, writing, arithmetic, bookkeeping, mechanical drawing, and elocution.
In 1908, Rev. Dr. William Crawford, President of Allegheny College, delivered the principal address at the cornerstone laying service for the construction of the YMCA building. Mayor Jared Newman also spoke briefly at the event. In 1910, the Y established the first resident camp for boys. Seven years later, sponsorship of the first two Boy Scout troops in Ithaca became the responsibility of the Y.
By the middle of the century, the Ithaca YMCA boasted that one out of every five members identified as a woman as compared to the national average of 1:15. The Ithaca Y was closed on Tuesday & Thursday for men, giving the women the opportunity to use the facility separately.
Following a 1978 fire, the YMCA received approval in May 1981 for a new $1 million center located north of Pyramid Mall. An additional phase for completing the pool was planned for 1982, bringing the entire project to $2.3 million. The programs and membership continued to grow into the new century, attributed to the expansion of the facility that served the community in the Health & Wellness Program for all ages.
In 2018, the YMCA of Ithaca and Tompkins County celebrated our 150th anniversary, as we continued to practice our mission to foster youth development, healthy living, and social responsibility.
