One of the former black-owned bank buildings on MLK Jr. Boulevard is now home to the Ralph Mark Gilbert Civil Rights Museum (460 MLK Jr. Blvd., 912/231-8900, www.savcivilrights.com [1], Mon.–Sat. 9 a.m.–5 p.m., $8 adults, $4 children). Named for the pastor of the First African Baptist Church [2] and a key early civil rights organizer, the building was also the local NAACP headquarters for a time.
Three floors of exhibits here include photos and interactive exhibits, the highlight for historians being a fiber optic map of nearly 100 significant civil rights sites. The first floor features a re-creation of the Azalea Room of the local Levy’s department store, an early boycott diner where blacks were not allowed to eat, though they could buy goods from the store.
The second floor is more for hands-on education, with classrooms, a computer room, and a video/reading room. A film chronicles mass-meetings, voter registration drives, boycotts, sit-ins, kneel-ins (integration of churches), and wade-ins (integration of beaches).
Links:
[1] http://www.savcivilrights.com
[2] http://www.moon.com/destinations/charleston-savannah/savannah/sights/city-market/first-african-baptist-church