Ralph Mark Gilbert was an American civil rights

Civil rights movement

The civil rights movement was a worldwide political movement for equality before the law occurring between approximately 1950 and 1980. In many situations it took the form of campaigns of civil resistance aimed at achieving change by nonviolent forms of resistance. In some situations it was...

 leader and a Baptist

Progressive National Baptist Convention

The Progressive National Baptist Convention, Incorporated is a convention of African-American Baptists emphasizing civil rights and social justice....

 minister.

Religious Ministry

From 1939 until his death in 1956, he was the Pastor of the First African Baptist Church

First African Baptist Church (Savannah)

First African Baptist Church, located in Savannah, Georgia claims evolution from the first black Baptist congregation in North America. While it was not officially organized until 1788, it grew from members who founded a church in 1773...

, located at
23 Montgomery Street on Franklin Square in Savannah

Savannah, Georgia

Savannah is the largest city and the county seat of Chatham County, in the U.S. state of Georgia. Established in 1733, the city of Savannah was the colonial capital of the Province of Georgia and later the first state capital of Georgia. Today Savannah is an industrial center and an important...

'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)

National Association for the Advancement of Colored People

The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, usually abbreviated as NAACP, is an African-American civil rights organization in the United States, formed in 1909. Its mission is "to ensure the political, educational, social, and economic equality of rights of all persons and to...

. Under his tenure, the local chapter was reorganized, hundreds of Blacks were registered to vote, a progressive white Democratic politician, John G. Kennedy, 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.

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
• The Ralph Mark Gilbert Civil Rights Museum

Footnotes