Hidden Histories, Historical Marker Resource
Tybee Lighthouse
This Hidden History was created by SCAD student Mia Santarelli as part of her SCAD art history department coursework, with guidance from art history professor Holly Goldstein, Ph.D., in 2019.
The Tybee Lighthouse historical marker was dedicated in 1958. View the Tybee Lighthouse historical marker listing.
Gallery
Figure. 1. Tybee Lighthouse Historical Marker. From visit to Tybee Island Light Station and Museum April 28.
Figure 2. Project with Michael at Susie King Taylor Community School. May 1, 2019.
Figure 3. Tybee Island Light Station. From visit to Tybee Island Light Station and Museum April 28.
Figure 4. Photograph of Tybee Lighthouse Station, Tybee Island, GA. From Foltz Photography Studio collection.
Figure 5. Aerial view of property. From visit to Tybee Island Light Station and Museum April 28.
Figure 6. The Morning News Savannah, Ga. 1887-1900, published June 06, 1897, Page 6, Image 6.
Figure 7. Copy of official plan of the siege of Fort Pulaski. Cockspur Island. Savannah Georgia April 1862 : by Union forces under Genl Gillmore and Hunter. Library of Congress. 1862-65. https://www.loc.gov/item/gvhs01.vhs00084/.
Figure 8. Head Keeper’s Cottage. From visit to Tybee Island Light Station and Museum April 28.
Figure 9. Garden and Summer Kitchen. From visit to Tybee Island Light Station and Museum April 28.
Figure 10. George Jackson and his wife Laura. Courtesy of Sarah Jones at the Tybee Historical Society.
Figure 11. Entrance to Tybee Lighthouse. From visit to Tybee Light Station April 11, 2019.
Figure 12. The Jackson Family circa 1940s. Right to Left: Henry, Ralph, Grace, Laura, Dorothy & George. Courtesy of Sarah Jones at the Tybee Historical Society.
Figure 13. Courtesy of Sarah Jones at the Tybee Historical Society.
Figure 14. Ralph Jackson 1943. Courtesy of Sarah Jones at the Tybee Historical Society.
Figure 15. NAACP Tybee Island Wade-In. Courtesy City of Savannah Municipal Archives.
Figure 16. Highsmith, Carol M, photographer. Aerial view of Tybee Island, Georgia, and the Tybee Island Lighthouse. Chatham County Georgia Tybee Island United States, 2017. -05-26. Photograph. https://www.loc.gov/item/2017880496/.
Figure 17. Visit to Tybee Island May 18, 2019.
Figure 18. Creative component.
Figure 19. Creative component.
Figure 20. Creative component.
Figure 21. Plaque on inside of lighthouse that contains quote from Margaret Mead. From visit April 28th, 2019.
I chose this marker because the lighthouse is a symbol of Tybee Island, Georgia, and there have been many people including lightkeepers, military personnel, and Civil Rights activists who have influenced the physical and social climate surrounding this structure, especially during the 20th century (Figure 1). Throughout the history of the lighthouse, there was a team of lightkeepers that consisted of a Head Keeper, First Assistant Keeper, and Second Assistant Keeper. I wanted to primarily focus on the last official light keeper, George Jackson and his family, because I wanted to acknowledge the life they experienced at the station. Additionally, it is important to share the incredible story of Amos C. Brown and his fellow Civil Rights activists who decided to initiate a wade-in at Tybee Beach, adjacent to the lighthouse structure, creating a ripple effect of subsequent Civil Rights efforts on Tybee Island. I wanted to share the different experiences had on Tybee Island of the Jackson family and the African-American community of Savannah to highlight the ways in which although sharing a space, there can be very different experiences. I truly believe that there is a rich history surrounding the Tybee Lighthouse that must be shared. It is because of these “hidden” stories woven into the history of the light station that Tybee has become the proud community and tourist destination it is today; this insight reveals a more complex way of looking at Tybee and its lighthouse (Figure 2).
“1930s-1940s” placard in Summer Kitchen at Tybee Island Light Station and Museum.
Adams, James Mack. Images of America: Tybee Island. Charleston, SC: Arcadia, 2000.
Bansemer, Roger. Bansemer's Book of Carolina and Georgia Lighthouses. 1st ed. Sarasota, Fla: Pineapple Press 2000.
Chambers, Cullen G. A Brief History of the Tybee Island Light Station, 1732-1999. Tybee Island, GA: Tybee Island Historical Society, 1999.
Ciucevich, Robert A. Tybee Island: The Long Branch of the South. Charleston, SC: Arcadia Pub., 2005.
Civil Rights History Project, U.S, David P Cline, and Amos C Brown. Amos C. Brown Oral History Interview Conducted by David P. Cline in San Francisco, California, -03-02. San Francisco, California, March 2, 2013. Video. https://www.loc.gov/item/afc2010039_crhp0060/.
Copy of official plan of the siege of Fort Pulaski. Cockspur Island. Savannah Georgia April 1862 by Union forces under Genl Gillmore and Hunter. Library of Congress. 1862-65. https://www.loc.gov/item/gvhs01.vhs00084/.
“Dorothy and Grace Jackson, Lighthouse Keeper’s Daughters,” placard at military battery.
“Early 19th Century” placard in Summer Kitchen at Tybee Island Light Station and Museum.
“Early 20th Century” placard in Summer Kitchen at Tybee Island Light Station and Museum.
Finney, Jeffery R., and Amy E. Potter. 2018. "You're Out of Your Place": Black mobility on Tybee Island, Georgia from civil rights to orange crush. Southeastern Geographer 58 (1): 104.
Freeman, Michael. “Wade in the Water,” in Blog Archives of Freeman's Rag. Published December 16, 2018. Accessed May 20, 2019. https://www.freemansrag.com/historical-ruminations/previous/4
Hackney, Diane. “Historic Light Station Information: Georgia,” in U.S. Coast Guard Historian’s Office Document.
Highsmith, Carol M, photographer. Aerial view of Tybee Island, Georgia, and the Tybee Island Lighthouse. Chatham County Georgia Tybee Island United States, 2017. -05-26. Photograph. https://www.loc.gov/item/2017880496/.
"History: Tybee Island Light Station And Museum." Tybee Lighthouse. Accessed May 19, 2019. https://www.tybeelighthouse.org/history-1-1.
Holland, F. Ross. Great American Lighthouses. Washington, D.C: Preservation Press. 1989.
“Keeper’s Diet” placard in Summer Kitchen at Tybee Island Light Station and Museum.
“Keeper’s Garden” placard near garden at Tybee Island Light Station and Museum.
Manhatton, Mike. “Tybee Lighthouse, Savannah Sentinel.” WTOC 11 Reflections.
Morris, Patricia. Images of America: Georgia's Lighthouses. Charleston, SC: Arcadia Publishing, 2008.
Paprocki, Ray. “Tybee Lighthouse: Henry Jackson Lived His Childhood in Its Shadow,” Savannah Evening Press. Friday June 28, 1985.
Photographs of Jackson family from Sarah Jackson at Tybee Historical Society.
“Regular Army Values the Girl Scouts,” placard at military battery.
Reynolds, J.R. "History of the Tybee Lightstation." YouTube. August 28, 2011. Accessed May 19, 2019. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a8h5qkNS2WI.
Roberts, Bruce, and Ray Jones. 1998. Southeastern lighthouses: Outer banks to cape florida. 1st ed. Old Saybrook, Conn: Globe Pequot Press.
“Tybee Island Day Mark” placards at Tybee Island Light Station and Museum. At entrance to lighthouse.
W. W. Law Photograph Collection. Courtesy City of Savannah Municipal Archives.