Ralph Mark Gilbert Civil Rights Museum

Education opens minds. History shapes voices. Opportunity changes futures.

With our **Adopt a School** initiative, you can help break barriers to civil rights education and give students access to stories that matter.

Sponsor a field trip to the Ralph Mark Gilbert Civil Rights Museum and bring up to 50 local students on a powerful journey through history, one that inspires, educates, and empowers.

Let’s connect the next generation with the courage, resilience, and voices that shaped our world.

Be the reason a student sees history not just as the past, but as their future.

📚 Sponsor a school.
🚌 Fund a field trip.
🌍 Shape informed, engaged citizens.

🎤 Poetry Night at the Museum
🗓 Thursday, April 16 | 6 PM
Join us for an inspiring evening of spoken word, creative expression, and community connection at the Ralph Mark Gilbert Civil Rights Museum.
Bring your poetry and share your voice, or simply sit back and enjoy the performances. Everyone is welcome!
📍 460 Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd, Savannah, GA
✨ Let’s celebrate creativity, expression, and the power of words together.
ShareYourVoice

Follow along as we share stories, milestones, and moments from the Ralph Mark Gilbert Civil Rights Museum. This page is dedicated to preserving history, honoring legacy and engaging our community during our 30th Anniversary year and beyond.

Education and community engagement are central to the Museum’s work. From the Earl T. Shinhoster Leadership Institute named for Civil Rights Icon Earl T. Shinhoster to public programs. We serve as a space for learning, reflection, and conversation about civil rights history and its relevance today. We believe the past informs the present and shapes the future.

When you visit the Ralph Mark Gilbert Civil Rights Museum, you will explore exhibits that highlight leadership, activism, faith and commitment during the Civil Rights era. Each space is designed to educate, reflect and inspire dialogue across generations. We welcome the students, families, scholars, and visitors from around the world.

Savannah played a vital role in the Civil Rights Movement through the Savannah Chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), grassroots organizing, community leadership, and courageous activism. The Museum documents these stories to ensure they remain visible, accessible, and honored for generations to come.

Our mission is to preserve, interpret and share the history of the Civil Rights Movement in Savannah and Georgia. Through exhibitions, education, and community engagement the Museum honors those like Mercedes Wright Arnold, who fought for justice and inspires the future generations to continue the work. History lives here as memory and responsibility to continue telling this story.

Welcome to the official Instagram of the Ralph Mark Gilbert Civil Rights Museum. Founded in 1996 by Civil Rights Leader Westley Wallace Law. The Museum, named for Reverend Dr. Ralph Mark Gilbert, the “Father of Savannah’s Civil Rights Movement in the 20th century, preserves and shares the history of Savannah’s role in the Civil Rights Movement and the ongoing struggle for justice and equality. As we mark our 30th Anniversary, we look forward to sharing stories, history and moments that connect our past to the present.

In 2026, the Ralph Mark Gilbert Civil Rights Museum celebrates 30 years of preserving history of Savannah’s Civil Rights Movement. Throughout the year the Museum will present programs to reflect our journey, honor our Heroes and Sheroes of the Civil Rights Movement. We invite you to join us in commemorating this milestone year.

Westley Wallace Law (1923-2002) was a civil rights leader and historian whose work helped shape Savannah’s civil rights legacy. He served as president of the Savannah chapter of NAACP for 26 years. Law founded three Black history museums in Savannah, the King-Tisdell Cottage, the Beach Institute and the Ralph Mark Gilbert Civil Rights Museum. His commitment to preserving history ensured that the stories of struggle, resistance, and progress would never be forgotten. The Ralph Mark Gilbert Civil Rights Museum stands as part of this enduring legacy.

The Gilbert and Sherman Family came to Savannah recently for a celebration of Life for Eloria Sherman Gilbert who passed away, at 101, earlier this year .

“We are Family”! Meet the Lowe Family from the Queen Mother to the next generation! They celebrated their legacy at the Ralph Mark Gilbert on Saturday as part of their Family Reunion.