Historic District - North in Savannah in Chatham County, Georgia — The American South (South Atlantic)
The Georgia Civil Rights Trail: The Savannah Protest Movement
Photographed By Cosmos Mariner, April 27, 2019
1. The Savannah Protest Movement Marker
On March 16, 1960, black students led by the NAACP Youth Council staged sit-ins at white-only lunch counters in eight downtown stores. Three students, Carolyn Quilloin, Ernest Robinson, and Joan Tyson, were arrested in the Azalea Room here at Levy's Department Store (now SCAD's Jen Library). In response, African-American leaders W.W. Law, Hosea Williams, and Eugene Gadsden organized a nearly complete boycott of city businesses and led voter registration drives that helped elect a moderate city government led by Mayor Malcolm Maclean. Sit-ins and the boycott continued until October 1961, when Savannah repealed its ordinance requiring segregated lunch counters. The boycott continued until all facilities were desegregated in October 1963, eight months before the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. In 1964, Martin Luther King, Jr. declared Savannah the most desegregated city south of the Mason-Dixon Line.
2016.4 • 25-54
Erected 2016 by Georgia Historical Society, the Georgia Department of Economic Development, The Hodge Foundation and Savannah College of Art and Design. (Marker Number 25-54.)
this page online
Topics and series. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: African Americans • Civil Rights. In addition, it is included in the Georgia Historical Society series list. A significant historical date for this entry is March 16, 1960.
Location. 32° 4.693′ N, 81° 5.375′ W. Marker is in Savannah, Georgia, in Chatham County. It is in the Historic District - North. Marker is on East Broughton Street east of Abercorn Street, on the left when traveling west. Marker is mounted at eye-level on the Savannah College of Art & Design Jen Library building, near the northwest corner entrance, facing Abercorn Street. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 201 East Broughton Street, Savannah GA 31401, United States of America. Touch for directions.
Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within walking distance of this marker. Lucas Theatre (within shouting distance of this marker); Savannah: Colonial Capital and Birthplace of (about 300 feet away, measured in a direct line); Owens-Thomas House (about 300 feet away); a different marker also named Owens-Thomas House (about 300 feet away); The Beverly M. Whitehead Human Resources Building (about 300 feet away); Richardson-Owens-Thomas House (about 300 feet away); Tabby, Coquina, Sandstone, and Stucco (about 300 feet away); Moravian Colonists In Savannah (about 300 feet away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Savannah.
via Georgia History, 1960
2. Protester being asked to leave the Azalea Room in Levy’s Department Store, March 1960.
Also see . . . Civil Rights Movement in Georgia. New Georgia Encyclopedia entry:
In Savannah, a united, widespread, and unremitting campaign led by W. W. Law, head of the local NAACP, forced city leaders to agree to desegregate public and private facilities some eight months ahead of federal civil rights legislation. Law himself was fired from his job as a postman during the height of the crisis but was reinstated when the trumped-up nature of his charges became a national scandal. (Submitted on April 28, 2019, by Cosmos Mariner of Cape Canaveral, Florida.)
Photographed By Cosmos Mariner, April 27, 2019
3. The Savannah Protest Movement Marker (wide view; building entrance in background)
Photographed By Cosmos Mariner, April 27, 2019
4. Savannah College of Art & Design Jen Library building (marker visible near entrance)
Credits. This page was last revised on April 1, 2024. It was originally submitted on April 27, 2019, by Cosmos Mariner of Cape Canaveral, Florida. This page has been viewed 598 times since then and 117 times this year. Photos: 1. submitted on April 28, 2019, by Cosmos Mariner of Cape Canaveral, Florida. 2. submitted on August 22, 2022, by Larry Gertner of New York, New York. 3, 4. submitted on April 28, 2019, by Cosmos Mariner of Cape Canaveral, Florida.
