On Wednesday morning, a new historical marker was unveiled outside the Ralph Mark Gilbert Civil Rights Museum, honoring the man often called the father of Savannah’s civil rights movement.
Approximately 100 people, including community members, local officials, and members of the Savannah NAACP chapter, gathered to commemorate Dr. Ralph Mark Gilbert and reflect on his lasting impact.
Born in 1899 in Jacksonville, Florida, Gilbert came to Savannah in 1939 to lead First African Baptist Church. He remained its pastor until his death in 1956. In 1942, he became the president of the local NAACP chapter, which had gone dormant due to economic hardships from the Great Depression and violent opposition from whites in the area. Once in office, he quickly got to work rebuilding the organization’s presence in the region.
“It was an act of bravery during the ’30s and early ’40s to be a member of the NAACP,” said former Savannah mayor and civil rights activist Otis Johnson. “If they found out you were a member of the NAACP, you got fired. They were afraid to join because they might lose their job.”
Gilbert expanded the organization statewide, opening more than 50 chapters in Georgia by 1950. He led voter registration drives at a time when Black voters faced violent resistance from white supremacists, election violence, and Jim Crow enforcement.
By the mid-1940s, nearly half of Savannah’s Black residents were registered to vote, a number that helped reshape the city’s political landscape.
The city’s newly shaped voting demographic played a key role in the election of progressive Mayor John G. Kennedy, who won the 1946 election in a landslide. The entire city council was also replaced, and in 1947, Savannah hired its first Black police officers. It was a major turning point for the city, driven by the political pressure and organizing that Gilbert helped lead.
“Dr. Gilbert was not just a civil rights activist,” said his granddaughter, Judge Quintress Gilbert of the Bibb County Superior Court. “He was a humanitarian. His thirst for education and his desire to help his fellow man are what truly defined his life.”
He also mentored Wesley Wallace Law, who would go on to lead the chapter after Gilbert and become one of Savannah’s most recognizable civil rights leaders. Law organized sit-ins and protests around the city, including the 1960 sit-in at the Azalea Room on Broughton Street.
“Two of my homeroom classmates at Beach High School were among the three arrested in the Azalea Room,” said Johnson. “That moment was my entry point into the civil rights movement, and I can’t ever forget it.”
The Georgia Historical Society now maintains over 2,200 historical markers throughout the state.
“If you don’t know your history, you don’t know where you come from,” said State Rep. Edna Jackson. “It’s because of Dr. Gilbert that the NAACP is here and thriving in this community.”
“He made life better through his work,” added former Georgia Labor Commissioner Albert Scott, who spoke during the ceremony, “Not just for Black Georgians, but for all Georgians.”
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