Where it Began: Savannah civil rights leaders and historic sites call Cuyler-Brownsville home

SAVANNAH, Ga. (WTOC) - Cuyler Brownsville’s historic district in particular is a direct result of slaves migrating. For Where it Began, we spoke to people who grew up in the neighborhood that was home to many Savannah legends.

“We gon say history vive. History is alive right here in Cuyler-Brownsville.”

These Savannah streets have heavy footprints.

“People were empowered here,” Historian Dr. Amir Jamal Toure said. “The generations that come out of captivity and reconstruction and Jim Crowism.”

From slaves to civil rights activists, the people who walked these streets paved the way for the rest of our lives.

“Thank those ancestors because they gave up alot,” Director of Ralph Mark Gilbert Civil Rights Museum Vaughnette Goode-Walker said.

Sacrifice is something William Stokes III knows all too well.

“I was 11 years old when I got here,” Stokes said. “I was immersed in the civil rights movement not knowing what exactly what was going on. We were among one of the first Black students to desegregate Savannah High.”

Living in Cuyler Brownsville in the 60s and 70s are times that stokes and his sister Ethel Bowles could never forget.

“When I was younger, streets were dirt,” Stokes said. “They weren’t paved yet. 36th was paved with old Savannah bricks with the side streets Burroughs, Florence were dirt streets where we played ball. That’s how I knew everyone in the neighborhood and everyone knew me as reverend Stokes boy.”

“This is our dad William Franklin Stokes II. He was pastor of first African Baptist Church on Franklin Square from ‘63 to ‘73.”

A man of many sacrifices who helped fight for civil rights in Savannah.

“He was one of the key members that help desegregate Broughton Street. We couldn’t go to restaurants on Broughton. To Savannah’s credit, we didn’t have the big violence that the other southern cities had because our white community was very amicable to us and worked with us to desegregate the city.”

It was no easy task and took a fight from several leaders whose names we recognize today.

“Over here is a picture that was dear to daddy because it put him in the light with all of the other pastors. Most notable is Reverend Ralph Mark Gilbert during that time period.”

Dr. Gilbert is known as the father of the civil rights movement in Savannah. He also lived where stokes did at 611 West 36th St. While living here, he headed the local and state NAACP.

“We tell it everyday but to actually see where he would have entertained the likes of Thurgood Marshall, Ella Baker, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.”

Vaughnette Goode-Walker also grew up in Cuyler-Brownsville and says there are many more leaders with roots here. Esther Garrison, the first Black woman on the school board who helped segregate schools. Floyd Adams Sr. the publisher of the Savannah Herald. And Wesley Wallace Law local NAACP leader for 25 years. They are just a few of the people inspiring generations from right here.

“Children had role models, to see entrepreneurs, to see professors, to see educators, to see nurses to see lawyers, to see business owners right here to understand it’s in their neighborhoods.”

Dr. Amir Jamal Toure is known around town as the people’s historian. But he was one of those children looking up to role models as he called 42nd street home for more than two decades.

“Do you think that shaped your future, growing up right here? Absolutely. The friendships, the relationships we still have today.”

36th St. was also home to Calvin Kiah and Viginia Jackson Kiah when Toure was young. Virginia created the The Kiah House Museum.

“Children here had an african art museum they could go to. Wow, that’s Cuyler Brownsville.”

The blighted home recently received a historic designation. Civis Foundation bought the home and Architects now hope to bring it back to life.

“The artifacts that are going to be in here will be reminiscent of when she was here,” Architect Josh Ward said. Hopefully we can get some of her old artwork back. You can see on this wall ghosting of where there was some artwork hanging on the walls.”

The list of historic buildings go on. Florence Street and Cuyler Street Schools both gave African-Americans a place to learn. St. Mary’s did the same. As well as the iconic Charity hospital, the home of the McKane training school for nurses.

While history will always dwell here, it’s the strong sense of community that’s given us the historians we have today.

“There were so many stories,” Goode-Walker said. “The ladies who sat on the porch you better speak to them.”

“That’s the way we lived, block by block. We knew each other,” Stokes added. “We walked past each other every day...and it was a very community oriented time.”