Ralph Mark Gilbert (March 17, 1899,

Jacksonville, Florida Jacksonville ( ) is the most populous city proper in the U.S. state of Florida, located on the Atlantic coast of North Florida, northeastern Florida. It is the county seat of Duval County, Florida, Duval County, with which the City of Jacksonv ...

- August 23, 1956,

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

) was an American

civil rights Civil and political rights are a class of rights that protect individuals' political freedom, freedom from infringement by governments, social organizations, and private individuals. They ensure one's entitlement to participate in the civil and ...

leader and a

Baptist Baptists are a Christian denomination, denomination within Protestant Christianity distinguished by baptizing only professing Christian believers (believer's baptism) and doing so by complete Immersion baptism, immersion. Baptist churches ge ...

minister.

Religious Ministry

From 1939 until his death in 1956, he was the Pastor of the First African Baptist Church, located at 23 Montgomery Street on Franklin Square in

Savannah A savanna or savannah is a mixed woodland-grassland (i.e. grassy woodland) biome and ecosystem characterised by the trees being sufficiently widely spaced so that the canopy does not close. The open canopy allows sufficient light to reach th ...

's Historic District.

Civil Rights

From 1942 to 1950, Gilbert served as president of the Savannah Branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). Under his tenure, the local chapter was reorganized, hundreds of

Blacks Black is a racial classification of people, usually a political and skin color-based category for specific populations with a mid- to dark brown complexion. Not all people considered "black" have dark skin and often additional phenotypical ch ...

were registered to vote, a progressive white Democratic politician,

John G. Kennedy John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Second Ep ...

, became Mayor of Savannah and the city's Police Department hired its first Black police officers, known as the ''Original Nine''.

Death

Reverend Gilbert died August 23, 1956, while on vacation in New York City, New York.Savannah Tribune, August 30, 1956, page 1 and Savannah Morning News, August 28, 1956, page 17

Honors

Savannah's Ralph Mark Gilbert Civil Rights Museum is named in honor of Dr. Gilbert. The museum is located at 460 Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.in the Wage Earners Bank building constructed in 1914. Renovation of the building began in 1993 to house the museum and opened as Ralph Mark Gilbert Civil Rights Museum in 1996.

External links

Ralph Mark Gilbert Civil Rights Museum article
- New Georgia Encyclopedia

Footnotes

1956 deaths Activists for African-American civil rights Movements for civil rights Activists from Savannah, Georgia Clergy from Savannah, Georgia 1899 births {{GeorgiaUS-bio-stub