HISTORIC

š THUNDERBOLT, GEORGIA ›

Colonial Settlement

› š

Thunderbolt & the American Revolution

Spring 2002

Designed by

Luciana M. Spracher

š African Americans in Thunderbolt ›

The seafood industry was a uniting force between the white and African American communities in Thunderbolt. Unlike many businesses during the early 20^th century, shrimping was not as discriminatory towards African Americans. Though the less favorable jobs in the canning and seafood processing factories were still reserved for black workers, there were many black shrimpers operating out of Thunderbolt, who owned their own boats. Fishing was a family business with fathers teaching their sons the profession at a very young age. “They provided a future for them,” by passing on the skills and leaving their boats to their children.

Several black families were involved in the fishing industry, including the Murrays, the Washingtons, the Halls, and the Thorpes. These fishermen worked both independently, selling their catch to wholesalers, and as suppliers to the Thunderbolt seafood plants.

African American residents of Thunderbolt were very important to the processing plants, providing much of the labor for processing the shrimp. Mrs. Elizabeth Ward, a native of Thunderbolt, worked for several of the larger seafood companies in Thunderbolt throughout her life. Though she handled shrimp on a daily basis, she can still say today, “I love shrimp!” During the 1930s, Ward worked in L. P. Maggioni & Company’s Thunderbolt plant, heading, peeling and cleaning the shrimp to be canned. During the late 1940s and the 1950s, she worked for Trade Winds, the first producer of frozen breaded shrimp, and finally the Ambos Plantation. In all three jobs, Ward split the shrimp down the back, from neck to tail, and cleaned out the vein and sand.

Heading the Shrimp

Cordray-Foltz Collection VM 1360 PH, Box 17, Folder 3, Item 12

Georgia Historical Society, Savannah, Georgia

Shrimping was vital to all in Thunderbolt. The industry promoted cooperation and friendliness between residents, while supplying a healthy income. Myrtle Baulkmon remembers never having to buy seafood because friends of her family who were fishermen would give them all the fish and shrimp they desired. The decline of the shrimping industry in the 1980s and 1990s hurt the black community the same as it did the white residents, with many losing their trawlers. The loss of a self-supporting industry greatly changed the community and many residents today reflect on a lost era of innocence and friendliness.

Louise Johnson moved to Thunderbolt in 1942 from Savannah. She was attracted by the quiet and safe qualities of Thunderbolt, which promised a better way of life and a family oriented environment in which to raise children. According to Johnson, “It was wonderful at that time…Everybody seemed like one big family, we didn’t lock our doors when we went out.”

Though times have changed, most African American residents still cite the closeness of the community as its most important quality today. Neighbors keep in touch and rely on each other. The importance of community and cooperation is encouraged by the Thunderbolt Community Improvement Association. Formed over fifty years ago, the Association is open to all members of the community. The group, which is the only active organization of its kind in Thunderbolt, has evolved into a primarily black organization with only a few white members.

The Association was set up to support the community through improvement projects, neighborhood meetings and education. Support of the area children is a top priority. The Association built the Nellie Johnson Memorial Park in a vacant lot on the corner of Cedar Street and Falligant Avenue. Named for “Aunt Nellie,” a local woman who was very active with neighborhood children, the park is owned by the Town of Thunderbolt but is maintained by the Association. During the summer, the group supervises a lunch program in the park for local children. In addition to the neighborhood park, the group contributes to the appearance of Thunderbolt with an annual clean-up campaign in April and community beautification projects.

At their monthly meetings, the Association invites local town council members, prospective candidates, and the police, providing a forum for them to reach Thunderbolt residents. The police advise the residents regarding safety issues and the Neighborhood Watch program. Additional contributions to the community include: a current project with the Savannah Sand Gnats to promote community spirit with a "Thunderbolt Night" at Grayson Stadium; financial support of Savannah State University’s annual scholarship fund; and an annual Christmas luncheon given by the Association for Town of Thunderbolt employees to recognize their hard work. The Association is a large part of the African American community in Thunderbolt, promoting interaction and family-like ties almost lost with the decline of shrimping.

Since the decline of the industry, a distinction between the white and black communities has begun to re-emerge. For the most part, the two operate as separate sub-communities parallel to each other. The loss of a uniting profession discouraged interaction and today the local government acts as the link between the two communities.

In November of 1970, Leroy Brown was the first African American member elected to the Thunderbolt Town Council. Brown ran an auto mechanics shop on Falligant Avenue and was Assistant Professor of Mechanical Engineering Technology at Savannah State University. Brown, who had lived in Thunderbolt for over forty years at the time of his election, broke the barrier into the local government for African Americans. Today the government is mixed with blacks serving side by side with white residents and community leaders on the town council, the zoning board, and in the town’s administration. Mrs. Murtis Lewis emphasizes the importance of the African American residents to the entire community of Thunderbolt, “I think we [black community] have always been an integral part of the Thunderbolt community and very proudly so.”

African American residents were not limited to the fishing industry during the mid-20^th century. Though many worked in domestic service, as was the case in many cities and towns at the time, there were numerous black business owners operating confectionaries, beauty shops, auto shops, and other businesses. After working as a maid for Henry Ambos’ mother, Louise Johnson started her own business, Louise’s Sandwich Shop, in 1946 next door to her home on Shell Road. Her small confectionary served sandwiches and hot dinners. Until she closed in the 1970s, Johnson catered to “everybody, foreign, white and colored.” Johnson stressed that though her business was black owned her clientele was not strictly African Americans.

George Dixon and Mr. Simmons are examples of farmers who managed to make a living by tending small plots around town. Owners of vacant lots would allow them to clear the land and grow garden vegetables including butterbeans, okra, sugar cane, corn, collard greens and tomatoes. Dixon would then sell his goods in Savannah at City Market and at stands along the side of the road.

Savannah State University also provided employment and business opportunities to the African American community of Thunderbolt. Louise Johnson’s customers included students from the college and her husband worked on the campus tending lawns and gardens.

The college did play a supporting role to Thunderbolt and vice versa, however it was not an integral part of the community. The black communities of Thunderbolt and Savannah State revolved separately much the same way the black and white communities within Thunderbolt did. Myrtle Baulkmon, who moved to Thunderbolt in the 1950s from Bainbridge, Georgia to attend the college, explained that many of Thunderbolt’s black residents believed that the college students and faculty considered themselves superior to the locals because they had more education. Baulkmon noticed this but felt more accepted by the local community because she operated a small beauty parlor, with the help of her mother, out of her Thunderbolt home. The beauty parlor gave her ties within the community outside of her schoolwork. The reason for the distinction between the two groups can also be attributed to the fact that most of the students attending the college during the first half of the 1900s were from out of town and with only a short stay in the area did not create a strong connection with Thunderbolt.

Georgia State Industrial College, 1936

Cordray-Foltz Collection VM 1360 PH, Box 3, Folder 26, Item 7

Georgia Historical Society, Savannah, Georgia

For many that moved to the area for school and then stayed, attending the college often became a family tradition with children and grandchildren following suit. Baulkmon came to Thunderbolt only after her brothers had already graduated from Savannah State and returned to the area after serving in the military. Residents of Thunderbolt and college alumni have only positive things to say about the college. Though it did not play a huge role in Thunderbolt, it did encourage the higher education of area residents, promoted a greater appreciation of the black community among the white residents, and helped to support local black businesses. One white native remembers delivering newspapers as a boy, during which he came into greater contact with educated black persons, changing his perception of the race.

Mrs. Murtis Lewis, a resident of Thunderbolt, grew up on the college campus where her father owned and operated B. J. James Confectionary. Benjamin Joseph James had come from a small town in Georgia to study agriculture. While attending school he started a small confectionary business, selling small candies and nuts, to support himself through school. The business grew into a general store with almost anything one needed. By the time James graduated in 1932, the business was so successful he did not pursue any agricultural work and ran the business on the campus for over forty years. James’ success is a good example of the college promoting area businesses, however his store located on and serving the campus demonstrates how the college was a community all its own, separate from Thunderbolt.

While Lewis was studying social studies in the 1950s, the college ran a Laboratory School were prospective teachers could receive training in teaching children. Many Thunderbolt children attended this school from the first through sixth grades. This project is one of the ways in which the school and Thunderbolt’s African American community could work together to the benefit of both.

The Savannah Tribune, the historically black paper serving the greater Savannah are from the late 19^th century through the 20^th century, often reported events in Thunderbolt’s African American community. The Thunderbolt columns generally announced births, deaths, marriages, out-of-town visitors, movements of the residents and the activities of the local churches. The paper’s attention to the churches stressed the importance of the church in the African American community. Thunderbolt’s black community still revolves around the four sister churches: Central Missionary Baptist Church, College Park Baptist Church, Litway Baptist Church and Wilmington Baptist Church. Though Central and College Park are the only two churches physically located within Thunderbolt town limits, the four work together, sharing Thunderbolt’s African American population, and are involved in all aspects of the community.

Wilmington Baptist is the oldest of the four and was originally located on Wilmington Island. At present, Litway Baptist is the largest of the four congregations with about seven-hundred members. Litway Baptist was formed in 1879 on Whitemarsh Island when several members of the Thunderbolt and Whitemarsh Island communities sought letters of dismissal from the First African Baptist Church of Savannah in order to organize a prayer house more accessible to their communities. The letters were granted and the first structure, a “palmetto camp,” was constructed of palmetto poles and palms woven together to create a shelter. Jasper Holmes was the first to be baptized by the church. Holmes had joined the congregation after helping construct the camp. Though it was originally across the Wilmington River from Thunderbolt, Litway Baptist has always drawn from Thunderbolt’s population. In 1921, the church moved to Thunderbolt and built a new church building on Shell Road (the present church is the third structure at this site).

The role of the sister churches in Thunderbolt’s African American community is very important. The church is involved in every aspect of community life and the pastor is expected to serve not only as a spiritual advisor but also as a political and social leader. Traditionally in most African American communities, including Thunderbolt, the black minister plays a “more integral role than their Caucasian counterparts.” The sister churches have and continue to be involved with the community in child care and education, scholarship, travel, social events, and civil rights.

The African American community of Thunderbolt is an important aspect of Thunderbolt’s history. Though in many areas, especially the seafood industry, the white and black communities share the same past, there are important distinctions between the two, mainly the influence of area churches and Savannah State University on the local residents and the ongoing participation and cooperation of the Thunderbolt Community Improvement Association.