BLACK SOCIAL HISTORY : AFRICAN AMERICAN " MAYOR EDNA JACKSON " IS THE 65th MAYOR OF SAVANNAH AND THE FIRST AFRICAN AMERICAN WOMAN TO HOLD THIS POSITION : GOES INTO THE " HALL OF BLACK HEROES "

           BLACK          SOCIAL          HISTORY                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            Office of the Mayor

The Mayor
Mayor Edna Branch Jackson is the 65th Mayor of Savannah, and the first African-American woman to hold this position. 

Prior to her election in 2011, she served three terms as alderman at large on city council, including serving as mayor pro tem for two terms. Mayor Jackson serves on the board of directors of both the National League of Cities and the Georgia Municipal Association, and is former president of the National League of Cities Women in Municipal Government. Ms. Jackson was fully engaged in the civil rights movement, first joining the NAACP Youth Council in Savannah at age nine. 

A protégé of the late W.W. Law and Eugene Gadsen, she participated in sit-ins at downtown Savannah businesses, wade-ins at Tybee Beach, and kneel-ins at various local churches. She helped conduct voter registration drives and participated in demonstrations throughout the South, including the 1963 March on Washington and the 1965 March from Selma to Montgomery. Mayor Jackson earned her bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Savannah State, where she later worked as an administrator for 30 years.