Savannah, GA – Embrace Savannah’s Black Heritage
SEE, FEEL AND LIVE
SAVANNAH’S ENDURING BLACK HERITAGE.
When you set foot in Savannah, you can’t help but
think about those who gave up everything they
once knew and loved to be here. During the height of
the trans-Atlantic slave trade, Africans were brought
to the Port of Savannah to work the cotton and rice
fields. For generations, they toiled, raised families,
formed their own Geechee and Gullah cultures, created
their own churches and survived the only way they
knew how.
It took several generations and a war between the
states to end slavery in America. However, during that
time, slave labor made Savannah a pillar of global economic
strength. There’s no denying how their immense effort
helped make Savannah the thriving city it is today.
Here in Savannah, Black Heritage lives on as a proud,
significant reminder of the lasting strength and character
of these original African-Americans. We hope you’ll
spend some time getting to know their history and
inspirational stories.
ARTS
ART THAT MOVES YOU AND STAYS WITH YOU.
The Walter O. Evans Center for
African-American Studies 0
SCAD Museum of Art • 601 Turner Blvd.
912.525.7191 • scadmoa.org/about/learning
In January of 2010. the SCAD Museum of Art broke
ground to begin its monumental expansion that will
feature The Evans Center, a dynamic new center of art,
literature and history celebrating the cultural identity
of African-Americans.
Dr. Walter O. Evans is a Savannah native, nationally
renowned art collector and listed frequently among
America’s top XX) collectors by Art & Antiques Magazine.
He and his wife. Linda, have assembled a legacy collection
that spans more than 150 years of African-American
art from *?th century landscape paintings of the Hudson
River School to works by masters of the Harlem
Renaissance. The Evans Collection is regarded as one
of the premie’ collections of African American art in
the nation and has been widely exhibited.
The museum expansion will include the rehabilitation of
the 1853 Central of Georgia Railroad building, the only
surviving antebellum railroad complex in the country
and a National Historic Landmark. SCAD will incorporate
the original handmade bricks, which were likely made
by African-American slaves, as a poignant, historic
component of the museum that seeks to celebrate and
preserve African-American culture and history.
Beach Institute: African American
Culture Center O
502 East Harris Si • 912.234.8000 • KingTisdell.org
The Beach Institute was erected in 1867. by the Freedmen s
Bureau, as the first educational facility, in Savannah,
built for blacks. It was named in honor of Alfred Ely
Beach, then editor of the Scientific American, who
donated funds to purchase the lot.
In 1865, black Savannahians organized the Savannah
Education Association opened schools for the newly
freed blacks. And, the number of children
entering those classes took a financial toll. Ultimately
to continue its mission, the Association reached out to
Northern church societies and the American
Missionary Association (AMA) answered the call to
operate the Freedmens school.
In the 1870s, the Savannah Board of Education ran the
Beach Institute: then after a few years, its operation
returned to the American Missionary Association before
the school closed in 1919. Robert Sengstacke Abbott
is among its most notable Alumni.
Not until the mid-20th century would the Beach
Institute be owned by the Savannah Board of
Education again, which continuously used it as a school
until the 1970s.
Many remember it as Harris Elementary School and
Harris Trade school. In 1989, the Savannah College of
Art and Design, SCAD, purchased the building from
the Board of Education and after making repairs, deeded
the oldest surviving Black educational center in Georgia
to the King-Tisdell Cottage Foundation.
King-Tisdell Cottage: History and
Preservation Q
514 E. Huntington St. • 912.234.8000
KingTisdell.org
The King-Tisdell Cottage opened as Savannah’s first
black history museum in 1981 and remains as Savannah’s
only black history house museum. Built in 1896 on
another site as rental property, the Victorian-style cottage
is significant for its unusually intricate gingerbread
ornamentation.
Today, the Museum’s front parlor welcomes you into a
representation of the typical interior of the home of a
working class family in the 1920s and 1930s. Artifacts
in the other rooms tell the story of Sarah King and her
husband Eugene, who bought the house in 1925. After
Mr. King’s death in 1941, Sarah remarried Robert Tisdell,
which gave the Cottage its name.
The King-Tisdell Cottage is owned and operated by
the King-Tisdell Cottage Foundation. The Cottage and
its preservation is a result of the work of Mr. W.W. Law,
a civil rights activist, local historian and preservationist.
Law forged partnerships with the city of Savannah and
the Historic Savannah Foundation to save the Cottage
from demolition and move it to its current location.
African-American Families
Monument O
West End of Historic River Street
Made of bronze and granite, this monument created
by local artist and professor Dorothy Spradley, depicts
a black family in a tight embrace with broken shackles
at their feet. The monument commemorates and honors
contributions of African-Americans to the cultural,
social, educational, economic and spiritual life of the
Savannah community.
The inscription, by poet Maya Angelou, in part reads:
“We were stolen, sold and bought together from the
African continent. Today, we are standing up together,
with faith and even some joy.“
Yamacraw Public Art Park 0
Yamacraw Square • 565 West Bryant Street
Yamacraw Square is the first square to be dedicated to
the African-American and American-lndian history
in Savannah’s Yamacraw area. The art represents the pride,
cultural heritage and community spirit of the space.
WALK IN THE FOOTSTEPS OF GEORGIA’S OLDEST BLACK COMMUNITY.
Owens-Thomas House G
124 Abercorn Street * 912.790.8889
Telfair.org/Visit/Owens-Thomas-House
Built in 1819, this elegant residence is one of the finest
examples of English Regency architecture in America.
The home features one of the earliest intact urban slave
quarters in the South, including America’s largest example
of “haint blue” paint. ”Haint blue” paint, made of indigo,
lime and buttermilk, was believed to ward off evil spirits
by many African cultures. Visitors will see important
African-American textiles, ceramics and furniture, as well as
experience the stories of the free and enslaved people
who lived and worked there.
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