Senate Bill 27 By: Senators Bulloch of the 11Th, Heath of the 31St, Hill of the 4Th, Pearson of the 51St, Powell of the 23Rd and Others

09 SB27/AP

Senate Bill 27 By: Senators Bulloch of the 11th, Heath of the 31st, Hill of the 4th, Pearson of the 51st, Powell of the 23rd and others

AS PASSED A BILL TO BE ENTITLED AN ACT

1 To amend Chapter 4 of Title 1 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to 2 holidays and observances, so as to create Confederate Heritage and History Month; to 3 provide for legislative findings; to encourage observances and celebrations of Confederate 4 Heritage and History Month; to provide for statutory construction; to amend Article 3 of 5 Chapter 3 of Title 50, relating to other state symbols, so as to provide that the Ralph Mark 6 Gilbert Civil Rights Museum shall be an official state historical civil rights museum; to 7 provide for related matters; to repeal conflicting laws; and for other purposes.

8 BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF GEORGIA:

9 SECTION 1. 10 WHEREAS, Savannah has a long and storied role in the civil rights movement, beginning 11 with a meeting between General Sherman and Secretary of War Stanton and twelve Black 12 leaders on January 12, 1865, to discuss the matter of emancipation; and

13 WHEREAS, the Ralph Mark Gilbert Civil Rights Museum, recently named "Georgia's Best 14 New History Museum" by the Georgia Journal, is named in honor of the late Dr. Ralph Mark 15 Gilbert. The father of Savannah's modern day Civil Rights Movement and fearless National 16 Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) leader was known for much 17 more than his outspoken campaigns for civil rights. He was a nationally known orator, 18 pulpiteer, and playwright, producing religious dramas, known as passion plays, throughout 19 the country; and

20 WHEREAS, Dr. Gilbert served as pastor of historic First African Baptist Church on Franklin 21 Square in Savannah for 16 years. In 1942, he reorganized the Savannah Branch NAACP, 22 served as president for eight years and convened the first state conference. Branches from 23 Savannah, Brunswick, Dublin, Atlanta, Columbus, Macon, Albany and three other branches 24 whose identities are uncertain, attended and elected Rev. Ralph Mark Gilbert president.

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25 Under his courageous leadership, more than forty NAACP branches were organized in 26 Georgia by 1950; and

27 WHEREAS, Georgia's best new history museum chronicles the civil rights struggle of 28 Georgia's oldest African American community from slavery to the present. Three floors of 29 handsome photographic and interactive exhibits, includes an NAACP Organization exhibit, 30 a fiber optic map of 87 significant civil rights sites/events, a lunch counter where "sit ins" 31 occurred, segregation exhibits, and video presentation are all part of the continuous education 32 of the public on the history of the civil rights struggle in Savannah and Georgia. The 33 museum is located in historic Savannah in a five level building that was erected in 1914 as 34 the Wage Earners Savings and Loan Bank for Black Savannahians, the largest Black bank 35 in the country at that time.

36 SECTION 2. 37 Chapter 4 of Title 1 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to holidays and 38 observances, is amended by adding a new Code section to read as follows: 39 "1-4-20. 40 (a) The General Assembly hereby finds and determines that tourism is a great economic 41 resource in Georgia; and historical, heritage, and cultural inheritance are among the tourism 42 industry's most popular attractions. Georgia's Confederate heritage, physical artifacts and 43 battle sites, and historic events and persons not only attract visitors, they are potentially of 44 even greater importance and benefit to our state's economy. Increased development of our 45 state's Confederate history and heritage as part of the tourism industry will be enhanced 46 through recognizing, celebrating, and advertising that heritage and history. 47 (b) The month of April of each year is hereby designated as Confederate History and 48 Heritage Month and shall be set aside to honor, observe, and celebrate the Confederate 49 States of America, its history, those who served in its armed forces and government, and 50 all those millions of its citizens of various races and ethnic groups and religions who 51 contributed in sundry and myriad ways to the cause which they held so dear from its 52 founding on February 4, 1861, in Montgomery, Alabama, until the Confederate ship CSS 53 Shenandoah sailed into Liverpool Harbor and surrendered to British authorities on 54 November 6, 1865. 55 (c) Officials and departments of state, county, and municipal governments, boards of 56 education, elementary and secondary schools, colleges and universities, businesses, and all 57 citizens are encouraged to participate in programs, displays, and activities that 58 commemorate and honor our shared history and cultural inheritance throughout each April 59 during Confederate History and Heritage Month."

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60 SECTION 3. 61 Article 3 of Chapter 3 of Title 50, relating to other state symbols, is amended by adding a 62 new Code section to read as follows: 63 "50-3-85. 64 The Ralph Mark Gilbert Civil Rights Museum is designated an official Georgia historical 65 civil rights museum."

66 SECTION 4. 67 All laws and parts of laws in conflict with this Act are repealed.

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