The Greenbriar Children's Center records, a subset of the W. W. Law Collection, is now open for public access at the Municipal Archives.
The center was established in 1944, based on an initial donation of $2,200 from the estate of Adeline Graham. Using Graham's seed money, the newly formed Gamma Sigma Omega chapter of the Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority took on the mission of fundraising and constructing a building to house orphaned Black children.
At the time, there were only orphanages for white children, and vulnerable children of color were at risk of ending up homeless or being sent to the Chatham County penal farm until guardians could be arranged.
Early advocates of the center included Rev. Ralph Mark Gilbert, Capt. Frank W. Spencer, Agatha A. Cooper and Martha Wilson. The Center occupied several buildings before finding a permanent home, including leasing the Women's Army Corp (WAC) building on Hunter Army Airfield from the city of Savannah in 1949, then utilizing several houses in Carver Village from 1950 until 1955.
With help from the Chatham County government and the Savannah Foundation, the center moved to their permanent home on Oct. 1, 1955, at 3709 Hopkins St., near DeRenne Middle School. In 1964, the center started admitting children of all races.
As of 2021, the center is still housed in the Hopkins Street building and operates two accredited early learning centers for low income families, an emergency shelter for neglected or abused children, and a Family Preservation and counseling program (which provides free counseling to children and families who are most vulnerable).
To learn more about the Greenbriar Children's Center records and how to access the collection through the Archives, go online to bit.ly/3h0ZAH8.
City of Savannah Municipal Archives, Archives@savannahga.gov, Discover the Archives: savannahga.gov/MunicipalArchives.
This article originally appeared on Savannah Morning News: Savannah Archives: Greenbriar Children’s Home has deep, varied history
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