The first woman in U.S. political history to speak at a National Republican Convention was honored Thursday by her hometown of Savannah, Georgia.
A crowd of nearly 70 people gathered at the Carnegie Library to unveil a new historical marker in honor of the 1920s women’s rights advocate and community activist Mamie George S. Williams.
Savannah Morning News reported that the marker was dedicated to Williams by a collective effort which included The Georgia Historical Society, the League of Women Voters of Coastal Georgia, Savannah’s Alumnae Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta, and The Savannah Tribune
.Williams’s honor comes after over 30 years of service in her community. The Savannah native believed deeply in women’s rights and moved throughout Georgia advocating and educating women on voting rights and registering African American women to vote.
Williams organized 160 voter campaigns in Georgia and was appointed to serve on the National Republican Committee, making history as the first African American woman to hold the position.
“Mamie George Williams was fearless,” said Shirley James, Savannah Tribune’s publisher, at last week’s ceremony. “She was courageous. She was a visionary.”
Williams is credited for organizing the National Republican League of Colored Women Voters, which the Georgia Women of Achievement reported was the first and only national political organization of its kind in the country.
“She was forthright, determined,” James added. “She was an action-oriented woman who worked
within the system and made the system work for her, and through that, she made such a significant contribution to this state and definitely to our community as a suffragist and as a community activist.”According to WTOC 11, the new marker for Williams lies in Dixon Park, near where the politician lived.
“It’s her spirit that we want to continue to have among us, that will encourage us, that will inspire us, that will motivate us. If Mamie did it during the times when she was alive with all of the obstacles and the roadblocks and everything that was in her path, what does that say to us today?” James said.
Historian Velma Maia Thomas Fann emphasized how Williams spoke up for African Americans and how much she cared about the youth.