Ralph Gilbert Marks Civil Rights Museum
Black History Month is in February and as part of our continuing series we are highlighting the Ralph Mark Gilbert Civil Rights Museum which chronicles the civil rights struggle of Georgia’s oldest African-American community from slavery to the present.
The innkeepers of Savannah Inns visited the museum last week while taking the African American History - Freedom Trail Tour. The museum has three floors of photographic and interactive exhibits that includes a NAACP Organization exhibit, a map of 87 significant civil rights sites and events, a lunch counter where “sit-ins” took place, segregation exhibits and a video presentation. These are meant as part of the continuous education of the public on the history of the civil rights struggle here in Savannah and Georgia.
The Museum was named for the Rev. Ralph Mark Gilbert. Dr. Gilbert served as pastor of the historic First African Baptist Church on Franklin Square. Known as the father of Savannah’s modern day Civil Rights Movement and Leader of the NAACP, in 1942 he reorganized the Savannah branch of the NAACP and served as its president for eight years. He also convened the first state conference of the organization. Under his courageous leadership, more than forty NAACP branches were organized in Georgia by 1950. His tenure as president is marked by significant contributions for equality and justice in Georgia. The thing I found most encouraging about his handling of this piece of our history was that he and his followers were able to work toward their goal for equality without violence.
The museum located at 460 Martin Luther King Blvd. in the Savannah Historic District is just 5 blocks south of the Visitor’s Center. The museum is housed in a building that was erected in 1914 as the Wage Earners Savings and Loan Bank for Black Savannahians. It was the largest Black bank in the country at that time. This is a must see for anyone interested in African-American History and the Civil Rights Movement.
Contact Savannah Inns today to book your Black History Vacation package.
