GeorgiaDesignated Georgia's official civil rights museum in 2009, this Savannah institution chronicles the city's long freedom struggle through photographs and interactive exhibits arranged across three floors. It opened in 1996 through the efforts of longtime local NAACP leader W. W. Law, who secured county sales-tax funding to preserve the story. The museum honors the Rev. Ralph Mark Gilbert, pastor of First African Baptist Church and head of Savannah's NAACP branch in the 1940s, whose organizing helped revive the local movement. Fittingly, it occupies the 1914 former Wage Earners Savings Bank on Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard, once one of the country's largest Black-owned banks. Displays trace boycotts, sit-ins, and demonstrations, including the 1960s protests at Savannah's downtown department stores.
Ralph Mark Gilbert Civil Rights Museum
Georgia history, up close and curated.
Ralph Mark Gilbert Civil Rights Museum is a museum in Savannah, Chatham County. It is one of 19 museums documented in Chatham County, among 480 historic sites cataloged across the county on Georgia Roam.
The site sits at 32.0720, -81.1003 near Savannah. The nearest cataloged historic site is Dr. Ralph Mark Gilbert (1899-1956) (historical marker), about under a tenth of a mile away. Others within a short drive include St. Philip AME Church, Levi Sheftall Cemetery, and Mordecai Sheftall Cemetery.
This record is drawn from the Institute of Museum and Library Services. Use the map below for its exact position and turn-by-turn directions.
Designated Georgia's official civil rights museum in 2009, this Savannah institution chronicles the city's long freedom struggle through photographs and interactive exhibits arranged across three floors. It opened in 1996 through the efforts of longtime local NAACP leader W. W. Law, who secured county sales-tax funding to preserve the story. The museum honors the Rev. Ralph Mark Gilbert, pastor of First African Baptist Church and head of Savannah's NAACP branch in the 1940s, whose organizing helped revive the local movement. Fittingly, it occupies the 1914 former Wage Earners Savings Bank on Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard, once one of the country's largest Black-owned banks. Displays trace boycotts, sit-ins, and demonstrations, including the 1960s protests at Savannah's downtown department stores.
Sources: en.wikipedia.orggeorgiaencyclopedia.orgexploregeorgia.org
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