Savannah Black History

05/27/2025

Hermitage Plantation 1872

05/25/2025

This makes my soul happy! When we realize the sacrifices of those who came before us, we owe it to their legacy to pick up the torch. To wage on… To keep their stories alive! Not just in sharing their story, but continuing their work.

“I promise to wage on! I promise you, that your story will live in my mouth. Know that when I walk, your name goes with me.”

05/25/2025

Local civil rights activist, attorney and city alderman Robert "Robbie" Robinson. was only 41 on Dec. 18, 1989, when a mailed bomb exploded at his law office on Abercorn Street, causing fatal injuries. Robinson died later that evening at Memorial Hospital.

Robinson represented many in Savannah who could not afford an attorney, spending time with Legal Aid before practicing law with Bobby Hill, a civil rights attorney and state legislator, and Fletcher Farrington, who came to Savannah in 1971 after working in the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division.

Some of that focus on civil rights started early for Robinson. He was one of a dozen black students to enter all-white Savannah High on September 3, 1963, graduating the next year.

Robinson's mother was also active in the NAACP.

Robinson served as counsel for the NAACP – a fact that in the opinion of many – got him killed.

05/25/2025

05/25/2025

The War Veterans grave site at Laurel Grove Cemetery Sunday May 28, 1950
The gathering took place after the Memorial Day parade which left Franklin Square and headed to the cemetery. Negros from all branches of the military gathered to salute their fallen comrades.

05/25/2025

“I was the result of a composite
contribution. I tried not to have
a big ending, but rather, to live my
life doing the best that I could
each day, because a good name
is rather to be chosen than great
riches. A man is poor, not because
he doesn't have money, but
because he doesn't have enough
vision in his head and heart.”



https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/10711051/westley-wallace-law

05/25/2025

05/25/2025

June 1939. Savannah, Georgia. "Negro grocery store."

05/25/2025

Abby Fisher was born in 1832. She was a former South Carolina slave, and was the author of the first cookbook ever published by an African-American. In 1881 Mrs. Fisher's Old Southern Cooking was published.

Published in 1881, the cookbook is the oldest known cookbook written by a former slave.
Abby (maiden name unknown), grew up in the plantation kitchens in South Carolina. There she honed her culinary skills and became a phenomenal cook, which catapulted her to success later in life.