The Allen-Berry Bridge in Elmira, formerly the Madison Avenue Bridge, received its new plaque this week highlighting two local pioneering civil rights leaders: A’Don Allen and Bessie Berry.
According to Elmira Mayor Daniel Mandell, the plaque was completed earlier this year and installed on June 20. The dedication ceremony was held on June 25.
City officials, Mandell, Fifth District City Councilmember Jackie Wilson and former Mayor James Hare attended the unveiling of the plaque on Wednesday.
Hare was instrumental in coordinating efforts to rename the bridge to commemorate Allen and Berry.
The bridge was dedicated and renamed the Allen-Berry Bridge during a Juneteenth ceremony last year. The recommendation to rename the bridge was introduced to the Elmira City Council last March and unanimously approved.
Other members of the committee to rename the bridge included community leaders Holly Strickland, Jeff Aaron, Second District Councilmember Corey Cooke and Georgia Verdier, president of the Elmira-Corning chapter of the NAACP.
Verdier said Berry was her mentor.
“When they said the ceiling couldn't be broken, she would break through it anyway,” Verdier said. “She was the first [of] many arenas, and she didn't let barriers prevent her from making an attempt to open the door. And she not only went to open the door, she wanted to leave it open so others [can] walk through.”
The plaque includes a quote from Berry: “Being first doesn’t faze me at all.”
Bessie Berry was the first African American elected to the Elmira City School Board (1966), the first African American appointed social worker and probation officer in Chemung County (1967), and the first African American appointed as a corrections counselor for the Elmira Correctional Facility (1981).
A’Don Allen was the first African American appointed to the Elmira Civil Service Commission (1966), the first African American member elected to the Chemung County Board of Supervisors, now known as the Chemung County Legislature (1969), and the first African American elected to the Elmira City Council (1977). He was also appointed deputy mayor in 1988.
“I’ve been a minority all my life, I think I can handle it,” reads a quote by Allen included on the plaque.
“It's a time for remembrance,” Verdier said. “So that young people who maybe never heard of them really would be able to see this and ask questions about, well, who were these bridge builders and keep the memory alive.”
The plaque is located on the south side of the bridge.
