Tybee Island Wade-Ins

Tybee Island Wade-Ins. . In the early 1960s, Savannah Beach, now Tybee Island, GA, was the site of Civil Rights protests called wade-ins, akin to the sit-in demonstrations of the time., These protests, planned and conducted by the NAACP Savannah Youth Council, sought to challenge national Jim Crow laws (1870s-1964), which were racial segregation laws, which supported racial inequality and enforced racial segregation. These laws prohibited African-Americans from equal access and enjoyment of the public beach. They protested by going to the beach and wading into the ocean., The first protest wade-in was August 17, 1960, when 27 African-American students entered the ocean at 10th Street on Savannah Beach. Eleven students clad in swimsuits were charged with disrobing in public and were convicted of disorderly conduct. They were ordered to pay $54 or spend 30 days in jail., The last wade-in was July 15, 1963, when six protesters were arrested for being on the beach and wading into the water., These protesters endured racial taunts from white beach-goers, forcible removal by lifeguards and police, and arrest. Decades later, activist Rev. Dr. Amos C. Brown recalled the danger of their trip and the fear that protesters might not make it out alive because Savannah Beach had one way in and one way out. They in fact risked their lives. All were aware of racial terror involving murders, lynching and other atrocities against social justice activists., Captions , . (Left) “Wade-in at Tybee Island during the summer of 1960.” Left to right: Mrs. Mercedes Arnold, Dr. E. J. Josey, ? McIntosh, Eleanor Mitchell, James R. Alexander, Carolyn Nelson (Snider), W. W. Law, Charlie Smart, Marg DeVida, Amos C Brown (San Francisco), Attny [sic] B. C. Mayfield, Benjamin Van Clark, Annie Mae Mustipher, Judson Ford, Carrie Orr, Hosea L Williams.Photo Credit: WW Law Collection City of Savannah Archives , . (Right) Angry white beachgoers-jeer and curse Black swimmers who were later arrested during the 1963 wade-in. Source: Don Teuton Collection, United Press International Telephoto